Two departures — 09/05/09 » Editorials » Daily Independent (Ashland, KY)

Editorials

Discussion

September 5, 2009

Two departures — 09/05/09

League of Cities and KACo both needed new leaders

Anonymous The Daily Independent Sat Sep 05, 2009, 06:39 AM EDT

The executive committee of the Kentucky Association of Counties Friday took an important and an absolutely necessary step toward restoring the organization’s credibility by requesting and receiving the resignation of Executive Director Bob Arnold.

Arnold’s departure follows the resignation of Sylvia Lovely as the long-time executive director of the Kentucky League of Cities, an organization that provides essentially the same services to cities that KACo provides for counties.

While Arnold’s resignation essentially was forced, Lovely recognized that her departure was the best way for the League to escape the damage caused by revelations by the Lexington Herald-Leader that leaders of the League spent more than $300,000 on meals, travel and other items over a three-year period.

The Lexington newspaper also found that top leaders of KACo spent nearly double that in only two years on travel, meals and other expenses. Yet, the initial response by KACO board members to Lovely’s resignation was that no changes were necessary in KACo’s paid leaderrship.

That response brought criticism from some members of the Kentucky General Assembly. State Sen. Damon Thayer, a Georgetown Republican, saidKACo had not acted as swiftly or boldly as the League has in responding to the scandal. That, Thayer says, has some lawmakers frustrated.

Lovely accepted responsibility for the decisions that created the scandal in the organizatin she headed for more than two decades. She recognized that she had become a lightning rod for the organization and the best way for the League to restore its reputation was for her to step down.

In contrast, Arnold never apologized for the lavish spending of KACo executives. Even KACo’s press release announcing Arnold’s resignation had nothing but praise for the departing executive.

Of course, neither Lovely nor Arnold nor the other the paid employees of League and KACO deserve all of the blame for the scandals. The lavish spending would never have occurred if the elected local leaders — mostly mayors of county judge executives — who serve on the boards of the two organizations had been doing their jobs. Instead, while their employees spent lavishly, board members were asleep at the wheel.

If the board members of the two organizations have learned anything from the scandals, it is that they must be better wachdogs over the organizations they oversee. If the aren’t, then simply changing the paid leaders of the organizations will not solve the problems.

Text Only

Editorials

Earmarks again?
Immediately, following the midterm elections of 2010 which saw Republicans regain control of the House of Representatives and capture seats in the U.S. Senate, Republican leaders in Congress announced they had heard the voice of the voters and vowed to cease using “earmarks,” the name given to appropriations slipped into bills by influential legislators without a vote.

May 26, 2012
Best in the nation
It may surprise many readers that Newsweek’s “best high school in America” is located right here in Kentucky and is open to selected students throughout the state, but then the Carol Martin Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green is hardly your typical high school. In fact, it would be impossible for even the best public high schools to emulate the amazing success of students at the Gatton Academy.

May 25, 2012
After the vote
We offer today a few reflections on the messages voters sent in Tuesday’s primary election in Kentucky.

May 24, 2012
A mild winter
As we approach the Memorial Day weekend, long hailed as the unofficial start of the summer vacation season, we pause to reflect upon the winter that wasn’t.

May 23, 2012
Devices banned
Emergency breathing devices that tests have proven unreliable are being phased out under a directive issued by the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration. However, MSHA has given mine operators more than 18 months to remove all the air packs from underground mines.

May 22, 2012
A free weekend
In an effort to promote increased recreational use of the two lakes in the Daniel Boone National Forest, the U.S. Forest Service will offer free fishing and boating during the first weekend in June.

May 22, 2012
Ho-hum election
Psst! Want to know a secret? There’s a primary election Tuesday. And it’s right here in Kentucky! However, there has been so little interest in this election, that Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes, the state’s top election official, is predicting that only betwixen 10 and 12 percent of the state’s eligible voters will take the time to go to the polls tomorrow.

May 21, 2012
A real rush job
By giving first reading approval to two identical ordinances creating the Northeast Regional Jail Authority, elected leaders in Boyd and Carter counties are reviving a 30-year-old political issue — only this time with different results.

May 20, 2012
KCTC leads way
The ability of Kentucky to compete with other states and the rest of the world for the good jobs of tomorrow keeps improving by degrees.

May 19, 2012
Slow decline?
Louisville’s Churchill Downs is seeing its shortest spring meets since 1975, and some owners, trainers and breeders fear they could get even shorter. That is unless the Kentucky General Assembly has a change of heart and gives the home of the Kentucky Derby the option of increasing its nonracing revenue by offering new forms of gambling.

May 18, 2012
More Editorials Headlines

Editorials

Search Results

Discussion

Two departures — 09/05/09

League of Cities and KACo both needed new leaders

Site Map

Contact Us