Copeland searching for source of pre-election anonymous document dump
By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio
Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2016, 11:30 p.m. — City Attorney Tim Butler took time at Wednesday night’s Bardstown City Council meeting to address the calls for an investigation into the origins of anonymous packets of information that targeted Councilwoman Kecia Copeland one week before the election of a new city council.
Councilwoman Kecia Copeland wasn’t happy with the lack of answers to questions about how the contents of her personal emails on her city-issued iPad were divulged to the public at the last council meeting.
Among the documents in the packet were two Bardstown Fire Department incident reports regarding past house fires involving Copeland. Those reports were printed by Fire Capt. Todd Spalding on Sept. 27.
According to Copeland, Fire Chief Randy Walker told her the fire reports were apparently printed at the request of a city official and not at the request of a member of the general public.
Walker told Copeland that members of the public must request copies of fire runs via open records requests, she explained. But city officials are not required to file open record requests to get copies of fire records — leading Copeland to speculate on who wanted the information and why they wanted it.
“What city official would need that information? According to [Fire] Chief Walker, it was a city official because a civilian has to go through the Open Record [Request],” Copeland said.
What should have happened is that whoever the mystery official is who requested the fire department records should have been required to submit the request as an open records request.
Copeland said the situation puts Spalding in a tough situation; he is on record stating he does not remember who asked him to print the reports related to Copeland’s fires.
COUNCIL CAN CALL FOR INVESTIGATION. Butler told the council it has the authority to conduct an investigation into the packet’s origins, state law gives the council the authority to do so.
City attorney Tim Butler.
The criminal justice system can address illegal actions that might be uncovered, and the courts can address litigation that may arise. The ethics board can also offer a ruling on any possible breach of local ethics ordinance.
Butler said he’s been accused of shielding Copeland, shielding the Mayor “and accused of being part of the ‘rot’ in City Hall” — a reference to a recent Kentucky Standard editorial.
Butler said worries about the negative accusations and their impact on the city’s employees and their morale.
He welcomed an independent investigation, adding that such an investigation would likely find that city employees are doing their jobs to the best of their abilities ” under the worst circumstances in my 35 years of government service.”
Butler called the council to focus on the best course of action for the city to move forward, rather than retaliation for past actions.
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