GOVERNMENT CONFLICTS, CORRUPTION AND INDICTMENTS

- KENTUCKY -

Date	Individual / State Agency	Who, What, Where?
07/01/06	Personnel Board	Governor Takes Plea in Hiring Scandal Gov. Ernie Fletcher signed an agreement admitting wrongdoing by his administration and promising to reconstitute the state’s Personnel Board. Under the deal with the attorney general, all charges will be dropped. The seven-page accord said, “The governor acknowledges that the evidence strongly indicates wrongdoing by his administration with regard to personnel actions within the merit system,” adding that he takes responsibility and that he “hereby states that these actions were inappropriate.” The agreement stipulates that the governor will accept the resignations of the four members of the merit board. After he and 15 members of his administration were indicted, Mr. Fletcher issued a blanket pardon to any staff members affected by the scandal, and he has consistently maintained that the indictments were politically motivated. Attorney General Gregory D. Stumbo, a Democrat, called the agreement a victory for change in the state. “This will help ensure that it is no longer who you know, but what you know that determines hiring,” Mr. Stumbo, who is widely viewed as having ambitions for the governor’s office, said. “And that will help us achieve a better and more professional work force.” When Mr. Fletcher took office, he campaigned on promises to clean up the mess left by the last governor, Paul E. Patton, a Democrat who spent most of his last year in office fending off accusations of campaign irregularities and bad press about a lengthy extramarital affair.