At the Oldham County Fiscal Court meeting conducted on March 2nd, 2010 I brought up the issue of the Hatch Act. The reason for doing so is that there are two Oldham County employees who are running for partisan office. Oldham County Deputy Judge/Executive Paula Gish is seeking the Republican nomination for Oldham County judge . Meanwhile, Stuart Ulferts is seeking the Democratic nomination for County Attorney.
The report that I furnished to the Oldham County Fiscal Court was prepared by the personnel department of Delaware County NY. To view that report click here. I have obtained the position description pertaining to Gish. You may view that description by clicking here. You can view the alleged position description of Stewart Ulferts by clicking here. I use the term “alleged” because what I received is the poorest excuse for a position description that I have ever seen. I believe that any reader looking at that description will agree if he/she has any experience with position descriptions. I have made this material available for my readers in order that each individual can reach an independent conclusin regarding this matter.
Without going into detail I will simply state that Oldham County has received many federal grants and a lot of federal funds. A review of Gish's position description reflects that she supervises 10 other supervisors in the County. I am only aware of 10 supervisors in the County; therefore, it follows that Gish has supervisory authority for everything that goes on in the County. Further, Gish acts in behalf of Judge/Executive Murner in his absence. Obviously I am not the final authority on this issue. However, it appears to me that Gish is in violation of the Hatch Act.
At yesterday's court meeting Judge Murner indicated that he had asked the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) for an opinion on the matter. Statements that he made during the meeting left me with the impression that if he is not happy with the decision of the OSC, he intends to litigate the issue. As has been indicated in the past by Murner's actions if he is not happy with the opinion of a non-judicial entity, he will not abide by the decision. Therefore, it is very likely that a final decision on this issue will not be forthcoming immediately. For the record, let me state that I have also asked the OSC for an opinion on the issue.
If the OSC finds that Gish is in violation of the Hatch Act, Gish should either resign from her position as Deputy County Judge/Executive or she should withdraw from the race for the Republican nomination for County Judge/Executive.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Saturday, February 20, 2010
OLDHAM ERA STOPS SHORT OF THE FULL STORY ONCE AGAIN
Yesterday, while traveling and surfing the internet, I decided to check the online version of the Oldham Era. It was the first time that I had read anything from the Era for months as I stopped my subscription over a year ago. Once again I was reminded why I no longer choose to receive the Era. The quality of their reporting is simply less than what you would find in a high school newspaper.
In the Wednesday edition there was an article about Magistrate Scott Davis having filed a lawsuit against Kevin Eldridge who is the chairman of the Stormwater district. They interviewed Eldridge to get a response to the lawsuit. However, according to Magistrate Davis the article was written without any personal input from him.
To make matters worse the Era reported that Magistrate Davis had also filed a lawsuit against Judge Murner. My opinion is that they were trying to indicate that Magistrate just likes to file lawsuits. What the Era failed to do was finish the story by explaining to its readers that Judge Murner was convicted of failing to release information under the Open Records law. That would have only taken one more sentence, but then that would have reflected that Magistrate Davis does not file lawsuits unless they are justified.
Yes, I can continue to save my money. Once again I remind people that the Era did not cover the hearing conducted by the Police Merit Board to determine if an Oldham County Police Officer would be fired.
I challenge you to get another side to any story that the Era prints. This is not the first time that the editor of the Era has written an article about Magistrate Scott Davis that did not have all of the facts in it. The editor has ties to the Murner administration. I would hope that those ties would not cloud her vision but everything indicates that for some reason the vision of the Era is clouded where Magistrate Scott Davis is concerned. Fortunately for Magistrate Davis the circulation of the Era is not formidable. Does anyone wonder why?
In the Wednesday edition there was an article about Magistrate Scott Davis having filed a lawsuit against Kevin Eldridge who is the chairman of the Stormwater district. They interviewed Eldridge to get a response to the lawsuit. However, according to Magistrate Davis the article was written without any personal input from him.
To make matters worse the Era reported that Magistrate Davis had also filed a lawsuit against Judge Murner. My opinion is that they were trying to indicate that Magistrate just likes to file lawsuits. What the Era failed to do was finish the story by explaining to its readers that Judge Murner was convicted of failing to release information under the Open Records law. That would have only taken one more sentence, but then that would have reflected that Magistrate Davis does not file lawsuits unless they are justified.
Yes, I can continue to save my money. Once again I remind people that the Era did not cover the hearing conducted by the Police Merit Board to determine if an Oldham County Police Officer would be fired.
I challenge you to get another side to any story that the Era prints. This is not the first time that the editor of the Era has written an article about Magistrate Scott Davis that did not have all of the facts in it. The editor has ties to the Murner administration. I would hope that those ties would not cloud her vision but everything indicates that for some reason the vision of the Era is clouded where Magistrate Scott Davis is concerned. Fortunately for Magistrate Davis the circulation of the Era is not formidable. Does anyone wonder why?
Thursday, February 18, 2010
OLDHAM COUNTY FISCAL COURT TARGET ONCE AGAIN OF A NEW WEB SITE
Once again the Oldham County Fiscal Court is the target of a web site. A new web site has been established for the purpose of bringing to the attention of the public that a "Squires' Club" now exists in Oldham County. During the current admisnistration some of the magistrates often refer to each other as "Squire". The most obvious person using the term is Judge Murner. I suppose that it may be easier to say Squire Jones than it is to say Magistrate Jones. Perhaps a sylable or two is saved.
If you would like to visit the site click here.
If you would like to visit the site click here.
Friday, February 12, 2010
MAGISTRATE SCOTT DAVIS FILES LAWSUIT AGAINST STORMWATER DISTRICT CHAIRMAN KEVIN ELDRIDGE
On February 12, 2010, Magistrate Scott Davis filed a lawsuit alleging that Oldham County Storm Water District Chairman Kevin Eldridge willfully withheld and refused to provide public information to Davis when formally requested by means of an "Open Records Request" pursuant to Kentucky law. Davis claims that Eldridge refused to provide all of the information related to bids and proposals for outsourcing the operations of the Storm Water District, which is now handled by Veolia Water.
Magistrate Scott Davis has been a foe of the methods used by the Murner administration and the Storm Water District since the formation of the District last year. He has stated that he believes that Oldham County needs to comply with the legal requirements of the environmental laws surrounding Storm Water regulations, but that he does not believe that it was necessary to form a separate District to comply with the laws nor was it necessary to charge the excessive fee that the county has mandated on homeowners, businesses, and others.
The Storm Water District has proven that Magistrate Scott Davis was correct. First, the District recently recommended that the fee be suspended for four months because it has collected excess money - imagine that. Why the District would temporarily suspend the fees but not reduce the fees is a question worth asking. My guess is that the District really wants to keep the fee at an excessive rate until the public furor over the rate subsides. Once that furor subsides there will be no suspensions of the collection of the fees and the fees will remain the same. The excessive fees will then likely be used for purposes that can disguised as Storm Water related, but are truly not.
Davis' claim that the District was not needed is also supported by Eldridge and the District because it has now recommended that the Fiscal Court consider combining the Storm Water District with the Sewer District. In my opinion, that would facilitate the channeling of Storm Water funds to the financially strapped Sewer District. Just remember everyone, follow the money trail. At the end of the money trail lies many answers to questions about control and influence in this county.
Lastly, let us not forget that Davis previously accused Judge-Executive Duane Murner of illegal secrecy concerning an open records violation and improper closed-door meeting of the Fiscal Court. Murner was convicted on both issues and Davis was proven to be correct.
To view the entire lawsuit/complaint click here
Magistrate Scott Davis has been a foe of the methods used by the Murner administration and the Storm Water District since the formation of the District last year. He has stated that he believes that Oldham County needs to comply with the legal requirements of the environmental laws surrounding Storm Water regulations, but that he does not believe that it was necessary to form a separate District to comply with the laws nor was it necessary to charge the excessive fee that the county has mandated on homeowners, businesses, and others.
The Storm Water District has proven that Magistrate Scott Davis was correct. First, the District recently recommended that the fee be suspended for four months because it has collected excess money - imagine that. Why the District would temporarily suspend the fees but not reduce the fees is a question worth asking. My guess is that the District really wants to keep the fee at an excessive rate until the public furor over the rate subsides. Once that furor subsides there will be no suspensions of the collection of the fees and the fees will remain the same. The excessive fees will then likely be used for purposes that can disguised as Storm Water related, but are truly not.
Davis' claim that the District was not needed is also supported by Eldridge and the District because it has now recommended that the Fiscal Court consider combining the Storm Water District with the Sewer District. In my opinion, that would facilitate the channeling of Storm Water funds to the financially strapped Sewer District. Just remember everyone, follow the money trail. At the end of the money trail lies many answers to questions about control and influence in this county.
Lastly, let us not forget that Davis previously accused Judge-Executive Duane Murner of illegal secrecy concerning an open records violation and improper closed-door meeting of the Fiscal Court. Murner was convicted on both issues and Davis was proven to be correct.
To view the entire lawsuit/complaint click here
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
THE GISH DOG AND PONY SHOW
I recently viewed a taped advertisement for Paula Gish. The ad featured Duane Murner, Ann Brown and Dennis Diebel. What a trio! The only thing missing was a member of the Bob Jones' family. After all, one would expect a member of the family that is providing the most financial support for Gish to also support her in the video.
Ann Brown is the person who made the decision that helped put the Oldham County School District into a lawsuit that could have dire consequences if the school board loses the lawsuit. Then there is Duane Murner, the man who increased fees and taxes in Oldham County more than any other County Judge that I can remember. We must not forget to give Dennis Diebel the credit that he deserves. He is the man who led the sewer district and resigned with the sewer district in the worst financial condition that it has ever been in. The books were so bad, according to Duane Murner, that an audit could not be done without the books being reconstructed by the county treasurer, Stan Clark. I don't believe that I would want that trio supporting me.
Two other observations were interesting. It is worth noting that Paula Gish did not speak. I do not expect to see her doing much talking anywhere as I expect someone else to be talking for her. Some things must be avoided. Frankly, I hope that there is a debate between her and the other candidate for County Judge, David Voegele. That would be worth the price of admission.
Also, I couldn't help but notice that Ann Brown appeared to be reading a script as her eyes continually glanced downward. What is it with these democrats? Do they all have to have a teleprompter or other device to assist them when they are talking?
David Voegele should hope that the Gish campaign puts this ad on television without any further polish.
Ann Brown is the person who made the decision that helped put the Oldham County School District into a lawsuit that could have dire consequences if the school board loses the lawsuit. Then there is Duane Murner, the man who increased fees and taxes in Oldham County more than any other County Judge that I can remember. We must not forget to give Dennis Diebel the credit that he deserves. He is the man who led the sewer district and resigned with the sewer district in the worst financial condition that it has ever been in. The books were so bad, according to Duane Murner, that an audit could not be done without the books being reconstructed by the county treasurer, Stan Clark. I don't believe that I would want that trio supporting me.
Two other observations were interesting. It is worth noting that Paula Gish did not speak. I do not expect to see her doing much talking anywhere as I expect someone else to be talking for her. Some things must be avoided. Frankly, I hope that there is a debate between her and the other candidate for County Judge, David Voegele. That would be worth the price of admission.
Also, I couldn't help but notice that Ann Brown appeared to be reading a script as her eyes continually glanced downward. What is it with these democrats? Do they all have to have a teleprompter or other device to assist them when they are talking?
David Voegele should hope that the Gish campaign puts this ad on television without any further polish.
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