Lacking specific iPad rules, councilman asks Mayor ‘what’s all the fuss about?’

By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio

Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2016. 6 p.m. — Councilman Fred Hagan has asked Bardstown Mayor John Royalty to explain what exactly he wants to have investigated in regard to Councilwoman Kecia Copeland’s private use of her city-issued iPad.

Mayor John Royalty talks with City Clerk Barbie Bryant during Tuesday’s council work session.

Hagan received confirmation early Wednesday from City Clerk Barbie Bryant that the city has no specific ordinance or statute governing the council’s use of city-issued iPad tablets. With no definite policy in place, Hagan questioned why the Mayor would go after a single member of the council when at least two others said Tuesday they also receive personal emails on their iPads.

The discussion regarding the “proper” use of the council’s iPads was prompted by a call to investigate Copeland’s use of her council iPad at Tuesday night’s council work session. At that meeting, Bardstown interim police chief McKenzie Mattingly made the request, though he made it clear he was speaking as a citizen and not in his official capacity as a police officer.

In comments after Mattingly’s presentation Tuesday, Royalty said he had looked at Mattingly’s open records request in detail and found the results “appalling and disturbing.” He told the council he would seek advice from the city attorney and possibly the joint city-county ethics commission and the Kentucky Attorney General’s office.

In a telephone interview Wednesday, Royalty alleged that Mattingly’s open records request revealed that Copeland had used the city’s iPad for getting quotes for political campaign signs, conducting her small business, as well as personal correspondence.

Copeland told members of the media Tuesday night that since she has been on the council. she has used her personal email account for both personal use and for city-related business. The fact that Mattingly’s open records request showed showed a high number of personal emails on the iPad was simply a reflection of her use of a single account — something that  had not been questioned until now.

NO OFFICIAL GUIDELINES AGAINST PERSONAL USE. In the wake of Tuesday’s discussion of Copeland’s iPad, what defines the phrase “proper use of a council iPad” still remains open to interpretation.

Tuesday night, both Hagan and Councilman Roland Williams said they also access their private emails on their city-issued iPads.

In an email Wednesday, Hagan questioned the basis for an investigation regarding Copeland’s iPad use.

“Mayor, if there is no ordinance or statute regarding private use of the City Council I-pads, what exactly is going to be investigated?,” Hagan wrote. “In other words, what’s all the fuss about?”

Royalty confirmed Wednesday the city has no written policy regarding the personal use of the council member’s iPads. However he said it was his recollection that when the council members received training on the iPads they were told at the time the devices were only for use at council meetings.

Royalty said that in his mind, that training set the policy for the council’s proper use of the iPads.

In a response, Hagan asked Royalty if an investigation would be “based on your belief that we received verbal training?

“And if we did receive such ‘training’ on whose authority was the instruction given that the iPad was to be used for City Council meetings only? Statute? Ordinance? Municipal Order? One person’s opinion? I for one remember no such explanation, nor do I remember the topic being brought up at other council meetings. So on what grounds would an investigation take place? Who is going to conduct the investigation? Under what authority? And why just on one Councilwoman? Why not all of us?”

Hagan said the city’s own IT specialist gave him that option while helping set up his iPad.

Manila envelopes — like this one marked “News” — were left anonymously Tuesday at the entrance to the city council chambers.

Royalty said Wednesday he will direct the creation of a policy that will govern the council member’s personal use of city iPads. He said he would like the policy to require members of the council to use a dedicated, city-provided email address for their official city-related correspondence. He would also like to prohibit personal use of the iPads, “and no more mixed email use.”

ANONYMOUS PACKAGE QUESTIONED. By email, Hagan also questioned Royalty’s reference Tuesday night to the anonymous manila envelopes that were left outside the council chambers Tuesday and discovered by City Clerk Barbie Bryant prior to the working session.

The envelopes contained copies of public records dating back as far as 1996 targeting primarily Councilwoman Kecia Copeland. One document in the envelope involved a 1996 unemployment insurance claim connected to Councilman Francis Lydian’s business, Lydian Body Shop.

Each envelope was addressed to a specific member of the council, and included one for the mayor and two for the news media.

“If the envelope had just been dropped off at the door, how did you know what was in the envelope, such that you could reference it during the meeting? And in any case, what do the contents of the infamous envelope have to do with the open records request?”

Royalty denied advance knowledge of the envelopes or their contents.

This reporter was in the council chambers preparing for the 5 p.m. meeting when Councilman Bill Buckman and Royalty arrived at about 4:45 p.m. Both opened their respective envelopes and reviewed the documents prior to the start of the meeting.

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