Mayor silent in face of questions about accessing council emails

Bardstown Police Chief Steve Uram, right, recognizes Josh Geron and Bourbon City Firearms for their willingness to assist the Bardstown Police Department with a leasing program for rifles the department could not afford to purchase outright.

By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio

Wednesday, March 1, 2017, 3 a.m. — Has Bardstown Mayor John Royalty improperly accessed Bardstown City Council members’ emails, or is he aware of anyone who may have done so? That was the question Councilman John Kelley tried to get answered at Tuesday night’s council meeting — a question posed several times but was never answered.

Councilman John Kelley poses questions to Mayor John Royalty about improper access to councilmembers’ emails at Tuesday night’s Bardstown City Council meeting.

During the council comments portion of Tuesday’s meeting, Kelley asked the mayor if he was aware of anyone accessing the councils’ emails without the council’s permission or via a valid Open Records Request.

“I don’t have any idea what you are talking about,” Royalty responded.

After questions arose late last year regarding the council’s use of city-issued iPads, the city changed its policy and moved toward a policy to limit non-official use of the devices. After the November election, the new and returning city council members were issued Bardstown Cable email addresses for official council use.

Kelley repeated the question about unauthorized access to the council email accounts; Royalty again stated “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Royalty invited Kelley to come to his office to talk rather than discuss it at a council meeting.

“So you don’t know whether a council member’s email was accessed?” Kelley asked.

“I don’t have any idea what you’re talking about,” Royalty repeated.

Kelley asked City Clerk Barbie Bryant to make sure the official minutes reflected his questions and the mayor’s responses.

When Royalty tried to move on with the meeting, Kelley still held the floor and asked the question again — specifically asking the mayor if he or anyone else accessed the council’s emails without permission.

When the mayor did not respond, Kelley asked the mayor if he understood the question. After the mayor sat silent without responding, Kelley told him “I will take by your silence that your answer to my question is ‘no,’ so we move on.”

Councilman Bill Sheckles listens to discussion during Tuesday’s council meeting.

After the meeting, Kelley wouldn’t comment on his questions regarding possible unauthorized access to the council’s emails, though he did say the questions were related to the council’s ongoing investigation of the administration.

WASHINGTON D.C. TRIP. Following up on a discussion from last week’s finance committee meeting, Councilman John Kelley told the council it needed to decide how it will allocate funds for Councilwoman Kecia Copeland’s trip to Preservation Advocacy Week in Washington D.C. later this month.

The council had previously agreed to provide funds for Copeland’s trip, but the source of those funds was still undecided.

Rather than revise the council’s training budget which limits each council member to $1000 in training and travel expenses per calendar year, Kelley suggested the funds come out of the council’s contingency budget.

Copeland’s trip is more of an ambassadorship to represent Bardstown at a national preservation event, he explained. The finance committee last week recommended the funds come from the council contingency fund. Doing so was the quickest way to deal allow Copeland to make reservations because time is of the essence.

Mayor John Royalty said he believed the existing municipal order the council approved last year applied to Copeland’s trip, and that the funds were limited to $1,000 per council member. He didn’t see how the council could pay for Copeland’s travel to the event without being in violation of the municipal order.

Kelley said Copeland’s trip did not fall under the travel and training guidelines, and therefore was not subject to the limitations.

The council voted 5-1 to pay for Copeland’s trip out of the council’s contingency fund. Councilman Joe Buckman cast the sole vote against funding the trip.

ETHICS BOARD APPOINTMENT. In a unusual move, the council delayed giving its usual approval to a mayoral appointment.

Royalty sought the council’s approval of appointing North Third Street resident Jim Taylor to the Joint City-County Ethics Board.

Councilman Roland Williams

Councilman Bill Sheckles asked if members of the council knew anything about Taylor. Royalty said he knew him well and began to explain how the ethic board members were appointed. Sheckles said he just wanted “to learn more about Jim Taylor, that’s all.”

The mayor said he would put together a biography about Taylor and send it to the council ahead of its meeting next Tuesday evening.

ZONING REGS UPDATE. The council held first reading on changes to the city/county zoning regulations that will add flexibility to the guidelines for craft bourbon distilleries and micro-breweries.

According to Planning Commission Director Jan Johnston-Crowe, the new regulations create two classes of craft distillery based on annual production of either 50,000 gallons, or less or 500,000 gallons or less.

Other changes include:

— changes for event facilities located in unincorporated parts of the county.

— making distilled spirits storage a conditional use permitted on A-1 Agriculture zoning property of 50 to 100 acres in size located in unincorporated parts of the county.

In other business, the council:

— approved Historic Review Board recommendations for changes to a home at 203 W. Flaget Ave. and a business at 116 W. Stephen Foster Ave.

— approved a proclamation for retired Lt. General Hal Moore who died recently.

— a resolution related to the city’s application to seek a loan from the Kentucky Infrastructure Authority for the chloramine conversation project at the city water treatement plant.

— reappointed Walter Norton and Jere Roche to four-year terms on the air board.

NEXT UP. The council will meet next on Tuesday, March 7, 2017.

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