Published: September 05, 2008 05:07 pm            

Clean up mess — 09/07/08

Indictments could be impetus for some much needed reforms

Without question, Ernie C. Fletcher is not governor today because he failed miserably to fulfill his campaign promise to “clean up the mess in Frankfort.” Instead, the “mess” actually got worse under Fletcher, assuring that the first Republican governor in 32 years would serve just one term.

How ironic it is then that the biggest “mess” to come out of the Fletcher administration is just now being revealed, almost 10 months after Steve Beshear replaced Fletcher as governor.

And if handled properly, this latest scandal could actually result in badly needed reforms in the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet and an end to a system of political favoritism that has existed for far too long. If so, Fletcher’s greatest impact on “cleaning up the mess in Frankfort” could come after his term as governor.

A federal grand jury in Frankfort has indicted former Transportation Secretary Bill Nighbert, road contractor Leonard Lawson and Brian Russell Billings, an aide to Lawson, on corruption charges resulting from a yearlong FBI investigation into alleged bid-rigging for highway construction projects during the Fletcher administration.

Nighbert was one of those indicted as a result of former Attorney General Greg Stumbo’s investigation of alleged violations of the state’s merit system laws, but the indictment became moot when Fletcher issued a blanket pardon of all those charged or about to be charged as a result of the investigation by Stumbo’s office.

And while Fletcher belittled the charges stemming from investigation of his administration’s hiring practices, the latest charges against Nighbert are far more serious.

Of course, allegations of corruption predate the Fletcher administration by many years. In a wide-ranging interview with this newspaper late in his life, the late E.B. Lowman talked about closed-door meetings in Frankfort hotel rooms where road contractors would decide which projects they would vote on and agree which contractor would submit the low bid. Lowman did not necessarily approve of that system; he simply said that that was how business was done in Frankfort. If you didn’t play the political game, you wouldn’t receive any contracts.

When Fletcher first took office in December of 2003 he seemed intent on “cleaning up the mess in Frankfort” — at least in the Transportation Cabinet. The new governor surprised everyone by appointing Maxwell C. Bailey — a retired military officer with scant political experience — as secretary of the Transportation Cabinet. Bailey introduced a new way of doing things to the state’s largest cabinet, and for many months Fletcher boasted about the millions of dollars Bailey was saving state taxpayers.

But just as quickly as he arrived in Frankfort, Bailey was out the door and replaced by Nighbert. At the time, Senate President David Williams, R-Burkesville, ridiculed Bailey for not having a clue about how things were done in Frankfort.

Well, maybe the federal corruption investigation will finally bring about the type of reforms Bailey was trying to initiate. Governor Beshear is at least saying the right words in response to the indictments.

“Our attention is on the future,” Beshear said. “We’re determined to turn that culture of corruption into a culture of integrity.”

“These indictments seem to be further evidence of a culture of corruption that had developed in the Transportation Cabinet in prior years,” Beshear said. “Since we arrived on the scene, we have been cooperating fully with the federal authorities and will continue to do so.”

The administration has taken its own steps to change things, spokesman Chuck Wolfe said. Transportation Secretary Joe Prather has encouraged competition among bidders for road projects and has tried to change the agency’s culture, he added.

However, as Bailey discovered, a system that has cost state taxpayers millions of additional dollars in road contracts over the years is deeply entrenched in Frankfort. Without passing judgment on the guilt or innocence of those charged, the indictments present another opportunity to begin fundamentally reforming the system.

We’re tired of being embarrassed by the revelations of ethical lapses and downright corruption that have come out of the Transportation Cabinet over the years. We’re tired of seeing our tax dollars going to enrich the politically connected instead of repairing our highways. We’re tired of listening to politicians promising to “clean up the mess” — and then doing just the opposite.

The words of Beshear are encouraging, but we’ve heard such promises before. It is time for action.

        

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