Louisville Courier Journal's "Smell Test".

The smell test

In a Lexington newspaper story about gubernatorial chief of staff Adam Edelen meeting with a few clients of his friend and business associate, lobbyist Bob Babbage, there's another nugget.

Weeks after exchanging e-mails from financially hard-pressed Ralph Coldiron, with whom he and Mr. Babbage built and sold a house on a Bourbon County golf course, Mr. Edelen personally looked after a Coldiron appointment to a political job in the state Office of Homeland Security -- at $20,000 more than his predecessor.

Mr. Coldiron, an Eastern Kentucky University fraternity brother of Mr. Babbage, had e-mailed Mr. Edelen, "I need to keep cash coming in the door," and after getting the new job he wrote, "Thank you very much!!!!" According to Mr. Coldiron, he sent e-mails to Mr. Edelen only to hurry the paperwork along. According to the Lexington Herald-Leader, the big new Coldiron salary was set in a way that violated state law, although the process matched recent policy.

How convenient to have a friend and business buddy at the right hand of the Governor, positioned to cut through vexatious red tape.

But does all of this comport with Gov. Steve Beshear's efforts to promote ethics and transparency in Frankfort? No. Mr. Edelen should have excused himself from any personal role in the Coldiron hire, and never should have let his office be used by a lobbyist buddy and business associate to flaunt his connections. The good news is that Mr. Coldiron resigned yesterday, which is better than having the Governor's staff waste time trying to figure out how to defend the way he got there.

There's nothing quite as farcical as a room full of people trying to ignore the obvious evidence of a misdirected burp.