Louisville Courier Journal Editorial Bemons "The Road Culture" In Kentucky. I AGREE.
The road culture
The acquittals of highway construction magnate Leonard Lawson and former Transportation Secretary Bill Nighbert doubtless disappointed good-government advocates who hoped that convictions would send a strong message about the awarding of state road contracts, a process that involves huge sums of money and has a long and troubling history in Kentucky.
Nonetheless, the outcome of the trial must be respected. Courts and juries in the United States decide whether the prosecution has proven the guilt of defendants in a criminal case, and that is how it should be.
In this instance, Federal Judge Karl Forester threw out most of the bribery charges and the jury found Messrs. Lawson and Nighbert not guilty of theft, conspiracy and obstruction of justice. Only those in the courtroom can know how credible key witnesses and evidence seem, and the jury did not find them sufficient to meet the appropriately rigorous standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt.
The investigation and trial, however, certainly painted a disturbing picture of how road contracts were handled during the Fletcher administration. Indeed, the defense itself acknowledged that the two defendants had become such close friends that they sometimes talked daily and shared family get-togethers at pool parties at the Lawson home in Lexington and at contractors' conventions in the Caribbean.
The trial thus was useful in making clear just how chummy the good ol' boy network could be.
The case also underscores the significance of changes that the Beshear administration has made in the Transportation Cabinet, and the importance of sustaining a new political culture regarding road contracts.
Gov. Steve Beshear's first Transportation secretary, Joe Prather, emphasized that political contributions would play no role in contract awards and ended the old “7 percent rule” — the implication that the state always would pay its internal engineering estimate plus 7 percent — and said instead that the state engineer's estimate is the new standard, though higher bids are allowed if found to be justified.
Other changes encourage competition by allowing alternate asphalt or concrete pavement designs where feasible, bundling projects across county lines to break up contractors' perceived “territories” and dividing large projects into separate, smaller ones. The governor's office says the state is receiving more bids per project, and at lower overall costs for winning bids.
The important verdict about road contracts concerns the need for these and similar reforms, and the Lawson-Nighbert trial helped make that case. Gov. Beshear was right to insist on change; he and future governors now must guard vigilantly against backsliding.
The acquittals of highway construction magnate Leonard Lawson and former Transportation Secretary Bill Nighbert doubtless disappointed good-government advocates who hoped that convictions would send a strong message about the awarding of state road contracts, a process that involves huge sums of money and has a long and troubling history in Kentucky.
Nonetheless, the outcome of the trial must be respected. Courts and juries in the United States decide whether the prosecution has proven the guilt of defendants in a criminal case, and that is how it should be.
In this instance, Federal Judge Karl Forester threw out most of the bribery charges and the jury found Messrs. Lawson and Nighbert not guilty of theft, conspiracy and obstruction of justice. Only those in the courtroom can know how credible key witnesses and evidence seem, and the jury did not find them sufficient to meet the appropriately rigorous standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt.
The investigation and trial, however, certainly painted a disturbing picture of how road contracts were handled during the Fletcher administration. Indeed, the defense itself acknowledged that the two defendants had become such close friends that they sometimes talked daily and shared family get-togethers at pool parties at the Lawson home in Lexington and at contractors' conventions in the Caribbean.
The trial thus was useful in making clear just how chummy the good ol' boy network could be.
The case also underscores the significance of changes that the Beshear administration has made in the Transportation Cabinet, and the importance of sustaining a new political culture regarding road contracts.
Gov. Steve Beshear's first Transportation secretary, Joe Prather, emphasized that political contributions would play no role in contract awards and ended the old “7 percent rule” — the implication that the state always would pay its internal engineering estimate plus 7 percent — and said instead that the state engineer's estimate is the new standard, though higher bids are allowed if found to be justified.
Other changes encourage competition by allowing alternate asphalt or concrete pavement designs where feasible, bundling projects across county lines to break up contractors' perceived “territories” and dividing large projects into separate, smaller ones. The governor's office says the state is receiving more bids per project, and at lower overall costs for winning bids.
The important verdict about road contracts concerns the need for these and similar reforms, and the Lawson-Nighbert trial helped make that case. Gov. Beshear was right to insist on change; he and future governors now must guard vigilantly against backsliding.
Labels: News reporting
posted by KYJurisDoctor at 7:23 AM
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