The "CESSPOOL" Has QUICKLY Claimed Two "Victims"!
Read the following, from Ryan Alessi:
Top highway official forced to resign over conflict
The state's chief highway engineer, O. Gilbert Newman and another Transportation aide resigned afterNewman questions surfaced about Newman overseeing a widening of a section of a Franklin County road adjacent to property that Newman owns.
On Monday, highway officials withdrew from bidding a project on U.S. 421 in Franklin County that was slated for widening of a two mile section.
Newman, who joined the Beshear administration in December, is a partner in CHN Developers LLC in Frankfort, according to the Secretary of State's documents.
CHN Developers owns a 162-acre piece of property along Leestown Road, which is U.S. 421, at Taylor Mill Road, according to a search of Franklin County property records.
The Transportation Cabinet confirmed that Secretary Joe Prather accepted the resignations of Newman and Bill Gulick, executive adviser to the Office of Project Development.
A cabinet auditor caught the potential conflict, according to the cabinet. Newman had disclosed his ownership of the property when taking the position but still participated in overseeing the road widening project, including signing off on a change order, according to the cabinet.
Gulick also participated in discussions with the road project's designer, WMB, Inc, which was Gulick's former employer, according to the cabinet's statement.
“I want to thank them for the work they have done on behalf of the cabinet," Prather said in a statement. "At the same time, though, as we create a culture of integrity in the Transportation Cabinet, we must ask everyone to live up to a higher standard of expectations and conduct. Even the mere perception of a potential conflict must, if possible, be avoided.”
UPDATE 6:08 p.m.: Newman, in his resignation letter, said he "may have erred" by signing the engineering consultant services change order earlier this month.
"The change order was presented to me for routine signature under the recommendations and signatures of two others. Contrary to my attempt to completely remove myself from any involvement in the project, I signed the change order without reviewing the details," Newman wrote in his letter, dated Aug. 22. "I regret any embarrassment this may cause to an administration that is attempting to make the Transportation Cabinet transparent and forthright."
Newman wrote that he would "welcome any investigation" into the matter. Cabinet spokesman Chuck Wolfe confirmed to the Herald-Leader that Prather plans to ask the Executive Branch Ethics Commission next week to review the issue.
Both Newman and Gulick's resignations are effective at the end of August, according to their letters.
Prather tapped his chief of staff, Mike Hancock, as interim state highway engineer.
Newman, who previously served as the state highway engineer during Gov. Wallace Wilkinson's term between 1988 and 1991, had been one of the top cabinet officials Beshear tasked with cleaning up the Transportation Cabinet, which has battled chronic corruption problems for decades.
Most recently, the FBI launched an investigation into potential bid-rigging during the previous administration.
Prather said Newman and Gulick's potential conflicts of interest were unrelated to that probe.
"While I respect the work done by Mr. Newman and Mr. Gulick and have no reason to question their intent in this matter, even the perception of a potential conflict must be avoided, if we are to maintain the trust of the people we serve," Prather said in a statement.
Gov. Steve Beshear, who has repeatedly pledged to run a clean Transportation Cabinet, issued a statement saying the forced resignations "demonstrates clearly that we mean what we say."
"If we are to create a culture of integrity in the Transportation Cabinet and throughout state government, if we are to shore up the public’s trust in our ability to look after their interests, we must hold ourselves accountable to a standard of conduct that is more stringent than ever before," Beshear's statement says.
Editor's comment: While I applaud the Governor and Secretary Pratcher on this issue and their PROMPT and SWIFT actions, I have to ask: Why do we need a State Highway Engineer, and if we do, why cannot the Secretary assume those duties himself, so we can dispense with that office ONCE AND FOR ALL!?
HELLO?
IS ANYONE EVEN LISTENING?!
Top highway official forced to resign over conflict
The state's chief highway engineer, O. Gilbert Newman and another Transportation aide resigned afterNewman questions surfaced about Newman overseeing a widening of a section of a Franklin County road adjacent to property that Newman owns.
On Monday, highway officials withdrew from bidding a project on U.S. 421 in Franklin County that was slated for widening of a two mile section.
Newman, who joined the Beshear administration in December, is a partner in CHN Developers LLC in Frankfort, according to the Secretary of State's documents.
CHN Developers owns a 162-acre piece of property along Leestown Road, which is U.S. 421, at Taylor Mill Road, according to a search of Franklin County property records.
The Transportation Cabinet confirmed that Secretary Joe Prather accepted the resignations of Newman and Bill Gulick, executive adviser to the Office of Project Development.
A cabinet auditor caught the potential conflict, according to the cabinet. Newman had disclosed his ownership of the property when taking the position but still participated in overseeing the road widening project, including signing off on a change order, according to the cabinet.
Gulick also participated in discussions with the road project's designer, WMB, Inc, which was Gulick's former employer, according to the cabinet's statement.
“I want to thank them for the work they have done on behalf of the cabinet," Prather said in a statement. "At the same time, though, as we create a culture of integrity in the Transportation Cabinet, we must ask everyone to live up to a higher standard of expectations and conduct. Even the mere perception of a potential conflict must, if possible, be avoided.”
UPDATE 6:08 p.m.: Newman, in his resignation letter, said he "may have erred" by signing the engineering consultant services change order earlier this month.
"The change order was presented to me for routine signature under the recommendations and signatures of two others. Contrary to my attempt to completely remove myself from any involvement in the project, I signed the change order without reviewing the details," Newman wrote in his letter, dated Aug. 22. "I regret any embarrassment this may cause to an administration that is attempting to make the Transportation Cabinet transparent and forthright."
Newman wrote that he would "welcome any investigation" into the matter. Cabinet spokesman Chuck Wolfe confirmed to the Herald-Leader that Prather plans to ask the Executive Branch Ethics Commission next week to review the issue.
Both Newman and Gulick's resignations are effective at the end of August, according to their letters.
Prather tapped his chief of staff, Mike Hancock, as interim state highway engineer.
Newman, who previously served as the state highway engineer during Gov. Wallace Wilkinson's term between 1988 and 1991, had been one of the top cabinet officials Beshear tasked with cleaning up the Transportation Cabinet, which has battled chronic corruption problems for decades.
Most recently, the FBI launched an investigation into potential bid-rigging during the previous administration.
Prather said Newman and Gulick's potential conflicts of interest were unrelated to that probe.
"While I respect the work done by Mr. Newman and Mr. Gulick and have no reason to question their intent in this matter, even the perception of a potential conflict must be avoided, if we are to maintain the trust of the people we serve," Prather said in a statement.
Gov. Steve Beshear, who has repeatedly pledged to run a clean Transportation Cabinet, issued a statement saying the forced resignations "demonstrates clearly that we mean what we say."
"If we are to create a culture of integrity in the Transportation Cabinet and throughout state government, if we are to shore up the public’s trust in our ability to look after their interests, we must hold ourselves accountable to a standard of conduct that is more stringent than ever before," Beshear's statement says.
Editor's comment: While I applaud the Governor and Secretary Pratcher on this issue and their PROMPT and SWIFT actions, I have to ask: Why do we need a State Highway Engineer, and if we do, why cannot the Secretary assume those duties himself, so we can dispense with that office ONCE AND FOR ALL!?
HELLO?
IS ANYONE EVEN LISTENING?!
Labels: Crime, Democracy for sale, Keeping them honest, Kentucky politics, Punishment
posted by KYJurisDoctor at 6:12 AM
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