You Know It's Election Year, Because We Are Into Silly Season.
Kentucky board asked to probe possible favoritism in 2 Agriculture Department hirings
Written by Tom Loftus
FRANKFORT, Ky. — The vice chairman of the Kentucky Personnel Board wants it to investigate possible favoritism by the Department of Agriculture in putting two politically appointed supervisors in new positions protected by the state merit system early this year.
Larry Gillis said in his request for the investigation that unusual steps were taken in establishing and filling the new positions, suggesting that the department was trying to give the two supervisors job security after Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer leaves office at the end of this year.
“Agriculture chose to place two Division Directors (non-merit) into these Assistant Director positions (merit) — which has the appearance of pre-selection and the attempt to burrow them into the merit system,” Gillis said in his eight-page request.
The board is scheduled to consider Gillis’ request at its meeting Friday.
Gillis, who works in the Personnel Cabinet, was elected to the Personnel Board by state employees. He declined in a brief interview to elaborate on his written request, which was obtained under an Open Records Act request from the board Wednesday.
Bill Clary, spokesman for Farmer, released documents Wednesday that show that the Personnel Cabinet in the Beshear administration investigated the matter in January and approved the hirings at issue.
“We proceeded based upon the assessment by the cabinet that these appointments were handled properly and according to the applicable rules, and we agree with the administration’s assessment,” Clary said.
Farmer, a Republican, is serving his second term as agriculture commissioner and cannot seek a third. He is running for lieutenant governor this year on a slate headed by Senate President David Williams of Burkesville.
Gillis, who was among more than 200 unsuccessful applicants for each of the jobs, said he wants the Personnel Board to investigate whether the Agriculture Department violated the law that requires hiring for such civil service jobs to be based on merit.
And Gillis said that if the Personnel Board investigates and reverses the actions, he would not apply for the resulting vacancies.
At issue in Gillis’ request are circumstances that saw two division directors in the department — Danita Fentress-Laird and Kathryn Willis — move into the new merit jobs as assistant directors early this year.
State government’s “Open Door” Website still lists each under their old division director job titles, with Fentress’ salary as $65,490 and Willis’ as $57,750.
Gillis questioned how, during tight budget times, the Agriculture Department could create and fill two new positions for assistant directors.
“It would seem that the assistant director positions were established in order to move the division directors into them, with no intention of backfilling the division director” jobs, Gillis said. “By doing this, the incumbents would retain their current duties but gain merit status. To this day the division director positions have not been filled.”
Gillis said postings for the new jobs identified the employees to be supervised by the new assistant directors as “the exact same employees” supervised by Fentress-Laird and Willis under their previous job titles.
And Gillis said the two were hired in time so that their one-year probation periods in their new jobs would expire — giving them full merit system protection — before the new agriculture commissioner takes office at the beginning of 2012.
Fentress-Laird and Willis did not return messages left at their office phones Wednesday seeking comment.
The database of the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance lists only one contribution in recent years from Fentress-Laird — a $500 donation in 2007 to Farmer’s re-election campaign for agriculture commissioner.
Willis is listed (under her current name or her name before she was married) as giving $750 to Farmer’s 2007 re-election. She also contributed $1,000 in 2007 to Beshear’s campaign for governor.
The database identifies her husband as Danny Willis, whose political contributions include $2,000 each to Farmer and Beshear in 2007 and $1,000 to Beshear’s current campaign for re-election.
Gillis is not listed as having made any contributions.
Written by Tom Loftus
FRANKFORT, Ky. — The vice chairman of the Kentucky Personnel Board wants it to investigate possible favoritism by the Department of Agriculture in putting two politically appointed supervisors in new positions protected by the state merit system early this year.
Larry Gillis said in his request for the investigation that unusual steps were taken in establishing and filling the new positions, suggesting that the department was trying to give the two supervisors job security after Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer leaves office at the end of this year.
“Agriculture chose to place two Division Directors (non-merit) into these Assistant Director positions (merit) — which has the appearance of pre-selection and the attempt to burrow them into the merit system,” Gillis said in his eight-page request.
The board is scheduled to consider Gillis’ request at its meeting Friday.
Gillis, who works in the Personnel Cabinet, was elected to the Personnel Board by state employees. He declined in a brief interview to elaborate on his written request, which was obtained under an Open Records Act request from the board Wednesday.
Bill Clary, spokesman for Farmer, released documents Wednesday that show that the Personnel Cabinet in the Beshear administration investigated the matter in January and approved the hirings at issue.
“We proceeded based upon the assessment by the cabinet that these appointments were handled properly and according to the applicable rules, and we agree with the administration’s assessment,” Clary said.
Farmer, a Republican, is serving his second term as agriculture commissioner and cannot seek a third. He is running for lieutenant governor this year on a slate headed by Senate President David Williams of Burkesville.
Gillis, who was among more than 200 unsuccessful applicants for each of the jobs, said he wants the Personnel Board to investigate whether the Agriculture Department violated the law that requires hiring for such civil service jobs to be based on merit.
And Gillis said that if the Personnel Board investigates and reverses the actions, he would not apply for the resulting vacancies.
At issue in Gillis’ request are circumstances that saw two division directors in the department — Danita Fentress-Laird and Kathryn Willis — move into the new merit jobs as assistant directors early this year.
State government’s “Open Door” Website still lists each under their old division director job titles, with Fentress’ salary as $65,490 and Willis’ as $57,750.
Gillis questioned how, during tight budget times, the Agriculture Department could create and fill two new positions for assistant directors.
“It would seem that the assistant director positions were established in order to move the division directors into them, with no intention of backfilling the division director” jobs, Gillis said. “By doing this, the incumbents would retain their current duties but gain merit status. To this day the division director positions have not been filled.”
Gillis said postings for the new jobs identified the employees to be supervised by the new assistant directors as “the exact same employees” supervised by Fentress-Laird and Willis under their previous job titles.
And Gillis said the two were hired in time so that their one-year probation periods in their new jobs would expire — giving them full merit system protection — before the new agriculture commissioner takes office at the beginning of 2012.
Fentress-Laird and Willis did not return messages left at their office phones Wednesday seeking comment.
The database of the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance lists only one contribution in recent years from Fentress-Laird — a $500 donation in 2007 to Farmer’s re-election campaign for agriculture commissioner.
Willis is listed (under her current name or her name before she was married) as giving $750 to Farmer’s 2007 re-election. She also contributed $1,000 in 2007 to Beshear’s campaign for governor.
The database identifies her husband as Danny Willis, whose political contributions include $2,000 each to Farmer and Beshear in 2007 and $1,000 to Beshear’s current campaign for re-election.
Gillis is not listed as having made any contributions.
Labels: Kentucky politics
posted by KYJurisDoctor at 8:48 AM
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