Interim chief calls for investigation of councilwoman’s personal use of city iPad

By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio

Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2016, 10 p.m. (ADDED video, 11/2/2016, 2 a.m.) — Interim Bardstown Police Chief McKenzie Mattingly has asked for an investigation into Councilwoman Kecia Copeland’s personal use of her city-provided iPad.

Councilwoman Kecia Copeland responds to questions about her use of her city-issued iPad.

Mattingly made the request at the start of Tuesday’s Bardstown City Council working session. He based his request on the results of an open records request he filed Oct. 26, 2016, and shared with the news media.

Mattingly — speaking as a citizen and not in his official capacity as a police officer — told the council that his open records request sought copies of emails and files sent, received or deleted on Copeland’s city-issued iPad between Jan. 2015 through Oct. 26, 2016.

• Click here to read the response to Mattingly’s open records request (a new window will open).

According to the city’s response by acting city clerk Kathy Graham, 14 of the 93 emails sent from the iPad between during that time frame concerned city business; of 76 deleted emails, one related to city business.

Of the 10,600 in-box emails, 41 were related to city business. Of the 47 “video pictures” on the iPad, none concerned city business.

Eight-five percent of the emails sent were for personal use, and more than 99 percent of received emails were also personal use, Mattingly said.

“In my humble opinion, there’s a disproportionate amount of personal use of this city-owned iPad,” he told the council. “I would like to have this looked into.”

Mattingly said he would like to have City Attorney Tim Butler review the use and see if any state laws were broken, and determine if a referral to the joint city-county ethics board is appropriate.

Mayor John Royalty holds his iPad while discussing the McKenzie Mattingly’s request for an investigation of Councilwoman Kecia Copeland’s personal use of her city-issued iPad.

Mayor John Royalty said he was aware of Mattingly’s open record request, just as he is advised of all open records request sent to city hall. He told the council he had reviewed Mattingly’s request and found the results “appalling and disturbing.”

Royalty said he would seek advice of the city attorney and possibly the ethics board to determine if laws were broken or the city’s ethics ordinance was violated.

Copeland told the council that she uses a single email address for both official city business and her private email on the iPad. The 10,000 emails are on her personal email account, which syncs with her city-issued iPad.

Holding up his own iPad, Royalty told the council that if they use it for personal business, “you are in violation.”

Councilman Fred Hagan told Royalty that if Copeland’s iPad use is going to be investigated, his use should also be investigated.

“I hope you investigate mine too because I use mine for personal use,” he said, specifically mentioning photography. “I had no idea that I couldn’t use my iPad to take pictures,” he said. “Where’s that written? When did I get that memo? Did I miss it?”

Hagan said when his official iPad was setup, the city’s IT specialist asked him if he wanted to get his personal emails on the iPad. “I said sure,” he told the council. “When I turn my iPad on I get my personal emails.”

After the meeting, Copeland said she used her personal email address when her iPad was setup.

“There was nothing saying I can’t use my personal email for city business, and I did that,” she said. “Of course there’s personal email in there because that’s my personal email account.”

Copeland said she believed Mattingly’s allegations were retaliation for comments she made to Louisville media calling on Royalty to fire Mattingly for his role in “Trailergate” — an incident involving Mattingly’s use of a stolen, recovered but unclaimed trailer that was being held by city police. Mattingly was using the trailer on Sept. 19, 2016, for his personal use when the trailer’s real owner spotted it attached to a vehicle operated by Mattingly in the parking lot at Lowe’s in Bardstown. The owner recovered the trailer the following day.

Copeland said when the members of the council received the iPads she did not remember hearing about restrictions on their use. Council members can check email, surf the web and use the Microsoft SharePoint app in order to get city council meeting documents. Council members cannot add apps to the iPads.

According to the documents the Gazette obtained in an open records request, Mattingly filed two open records requests in his efforts to obtain information on the contents of Copeland’s iPad. The first request, filed Oct. 25, was apparently too broad because it did not include a specific time frame. Mattingly filed an identical open records request the following day that included the Jan 2015 start date.

• Click here to see Mattingly’s Oct. 26, 2016 open records request (a new window will open).

Copeland said in past open records request, she was able to forward the emails to City Clerk Barbie Bryant. With Mattingly’s request, Copeland said she was required to bring her iPad to City Hall and turn it in. The iPad she was using Tuesday night was a loaner, she said.

Copeland noted that other members of the council use theirs for email and photos. “I don’t know where the criminal activity is in this,” she said.

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