By Mark Hansel
NKyTribune managing editor
Kenton Commonwealth’s Attorney Rob Sanders has asked the Kentucky Attorney General’s Office to investigate whether Covington city officials engaged in official misconduct by possibly using city resources and/or employees to conduct campaign activity.
The request for an investigation was prompted after Covington Professional Firefighters Union officials turned emails obtained through an open records request over to the Commonwealth Attorney’s office for potential investigation.
A letter from Sanders to the Hon. Shawna Kincer at the Office of the Attorney General includes this opening paragraph:
“I am writing to request an investigation by the Kentucky Attorney General’s Office, pursuant to KRS 15.190, into allegations of illegal campaign contributions and/or official misconduct by elected and/or appointed officials within the City of Covington, and/or possible violations of the Kentucky Open Records Act.”
The emails, which have been obtained by the NKyTribune, are from Covington City Manager Larry Klein to Mayor Sherry Carran and from Klein to Fire Chief Dan Mathew.
Firefighter union officials have expressed concerns that the emails contain materials the city manager prepared, or had other Covington public officials prepare, for Carran, and current city commissioners Jordan Huizenga and Bill Wells. The release indicates the materials were assembled in preparation for the September 8 candidates’ night organized by Local 38.
In the request for investigation to the Attorney General’s Office Sanders addresses the concerns as follows:
“Specifically, the City Manager (Larry Klein) appears to have emailed information and suggested answers on specific topics to be addressed at the political forum.The City Manager’s email also thanks other city employees for their assistance in collecting the data and preparing the answers for the incumbent candidates. It is not clear from the emails whether the City Manager was acting on his own, or if he was acting at the direction of the Mayor and/or Commissioners.”
The Union also indicates that a subsequent review of emails from Klein to Fire Chief Dan Mathew, indicates the city manager directing the fire chief to further assist Mayor Carran and Commissioners Huizenga and Wells.
As recently as Wednesday, I.A.F.F. Local 38 officials indicated they were not prepared to release any information regarding the emails prior to the Tuesday, Nov. 8, General Election.
Yet I.A.F.F. Local 38 released the following statement late Thursday afternoon and acknowledged on Friday that they had forwarded the emails to the Commonwealth’s Attorney:
Multiple emails sent from Covington City Manager Larry Klein to Mayor Sherry Carran and from Klein to Fire Chief Dan Mathew were turned over to the Kenton County Commonwealth Attorney’s office.
The emails were turned over to the Covington Professional Firefighters IAFF Local 38 within the past week.
The emails from Klein to Mayor Carran were discovered after the city delivered 179 emails to Local 38 late October 27, 2016 as a result of an open records request. The union requested emails sent by the city manager to the mayor between August 15, 2016 and September 11, 2016. Four emails were found to be troubling by the union.
Additional emails covering the same time frame sent from Klein to Chief Mathew were delivered earlier this week. Again, more troubling emails were discovered and turned over to the Commonwealth Attorney’s office.
Sanders states in the letter to the Attorney General that if the material disseminated by city employees and our resources are considered campaign activity it may violate Kentucky Revised Statutes:
“If, in fact, city resources and or employees were being used to conduct campaign activity, it may be a violation of KRS 121.045, KRS 522.020, KRS 522.030, or other sections of the Kentucky Revised Statutes. Additionally, as documented in the attached email from Local #38’s attorney, several Open Records Requests submitted to the City of Covington, have yet to be answered months after originally being submitted. Given the political activity apparently documented in the first batch of emails received from the City, Local # 38 is also questioning whether the delay in answering is actually an effort to thwart the additional incriminating emails before Election Day.”
Tyler Cherry, secretary/treasurer of I.A.F.F. Local 38 said the Union has requested approximately 1,600 emails, but only about 220 have been received to date.
Cherry said the Union requested the emails to obtain information about a Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant, but when the activity related to the candidate forum was discovered, the messages were turned over to the I.A.F.F. legal counsel. Cherry said the legal counsel shared the information with state officials, who instructed them to turn it over to the Commonwealth’s Attorney for possible investigation.
Sanders said in the request for investigation that he is asking for assistance from the Office of the Attorney General because he has known the challenger in the mayoral election his entire life and has publicly made statements in support of his campaign.
“Though I know I am completely capable of conducting a fair and impartial investigation into these allegations, I am requesting the assistance of the Office of the Attorney General in order to avoid any allegation or perception of bias.”
Calls by the Tribune to Klein and Carran for comment for this story Friday were not returned.
Has the mayor been contacted for a comment? Does she deny this?
Sadly, neither the Mayor nor the City Manager nor the Commonwealth Attorney have taken the Tribune’s call or returned the calls. We are as interested as you to hear the responses.
The Commonwealth Attorney has now replied to the Tribune’s inquiries and we have updated that story. He has turned the emails over to the state Attorney General.