11/23/17 — Bevin Wins on Boards, Dan Johnson Removed, & Trump v. Louisville

Robert Kahne

Published in

My Old Kentucky Podcast

5 min readJan 4, 2018

Court rules mostly, but not all the way of favor of Bevin

This case is about several education boards. Andy Beshear sued Bevin, arguing that reorganizations should be left up to the legislature and that Bevin exceeded his authority by reorganizing these boards
For actions in June that were issued by executive order
Bevin’s changes to education boards: appointed four non-voting charter school advisors to the Kentucky Board of Education and total replacement of boards that deal with teacher certification and curriculum standards.
Franklin Circuit Judge Wingate (not Shepherd, but same court!) held that Bevin could temporarily reorganize boards when the legislature is not in session, but one specific board reorganization was unconstitutional
Judge Wingate said organizing boards is a purely executive function and executive powers are delegated to Bevin (appointment powers!)
But he said that the overhaul of the Educational Professional Standards board was unconstitutional
That’s the board that handles certification and disciplinary issues, including appeals for teachers accused of violating standards
Teachers were able to appeal decisions to the court system, and Bevin removed that provision, and said they had to appeal to the Kentucky Board of Education
So this wasn’t just a board reorganization; he totally changed the appellate process and he cannot do that
That is a legislative function
In the decision, Wingate said:“Had the Governor merely reorganized the EPSB, like the other education boards, the Governor would have acted within the confines of his delegated authority.”“However, the imposition of completely new appellate procedures exceeds the Governor’s power and violates the Kentucky Constitution.”

Resources

https://wfpl.org/judge-rules-in-favor-of-bevins-education-board-overhauls-mostly/

Dan Johnson Update

Dan Johnson was removed from Louisville Metro Council after the three member panel met last week. Dan Johnson was Louisville’s longest serving elected officials, having served for 25 years. He was removed after being accused of sexual harassment by fellow councilwoman Jessica Green.
Two allegations: Stayed too long after removal hearing. He said it was raining; they pulled video evidence that it wasn’t. He also argued that the removal hearing was not a regular meeting. The panel sought advice from JCAO, and they said it was
Post-hearing comments: Panel said they undermined the word and spirit of the agreement
Likely appeal?
Some new news about Dan Johnson’s attorney
He has billed that JCAO about $15,000 for his representation during removal proceedings. Philip Bailey published a piece in the C-J on Tuesday stating the Thomas McAdam owed over $13,000 in occupational taxes
The JCAO is trying to get a judgment for his taxes. The delinquent taxes are so serious that the JCAO is advising that payment be withheld until the taxes are paid.
There’s still a question about why the JCAO was willing to pay for a council member’s removal representation when they haven’t done so in the past. City council rules also state that city officials must pay for their own defense out of pocket. Mike O’Connell said he would address that issue after the removal trial but he has not responded to several follow-up requests

Resources

Trump Administration Says Louisville Risks Funding

Last month, we talked about how Louisville passed into law an ordinance keeping LMPD from working with ICE, the immigration control and enforcement federal agency. The idea behind doing this was to ensure that communities would work with the police without fear of their immigration status being called into question.
The debate over this ordinance was highly partisan, and it passed with one, single vote from the council Republicans. The GOP members of the council were fearful that the ordinance would put funding from the Department of Justice at risk (the DOJ is led by Jeff Sessions, who has taken a very hard line against sanctuary cities).
On November 15, the Department of Justice sent 29 letters to different municipalities across the country, telling them that funding was at risk. Louisville received a letter which stated that three sections of the ordinance put Louisville’s Byrne JAG grant at risk. According to Council Republicans, that amounts to $400,000.
Byrne JAG grants are the “leading source of federal justice funding to state and local jurisdictions.” The are the major way the federal government helps smaller jurisdictions fight crime. In Louisville, Byrne JAG grants are used for mobile data terminal systems in police vehicles.
The Republicans on Louisville’s Metro Council made significant hay over this letter. In a press release from the minority caucus, Councilmembers Robin Engel, Angela Leet, and Marilyn Parker released statements.
Leet: “When this piece of legislation was before the Metro Council it was unclear what passing it would mean to LMPD’s federal grant eligibility. Review of this legislation was limited and we were told over and over by the sponsors that its passage would not have a negative impact on our city’s ability to utilize federal resources for combating crime or addressing the opioid crisis in our community. There was never any acknowledgment that their policy carried some level of risk for our community. Yet, regardless of their intentions, we now find ourselves in the position of having to use city resources to defend the politicization of our police department by Mayor Fischer.”
A few days later, the majority caucus chair, Bill Hollander, released his own statement.
“Louisville’s policy — as codified in the ordinance — is designed to make all residents safer by encouraging everyone to work with LMPD. Our legal advisors have assured us that it violates no federal law. We won’t be bullied by President Trump and Jeff Sessions into making Louisville less safe.”
Mayor Fischer’s spokesperson called the letter “politically petty” and Councilman Brandon Coan, who sponsored the legislation, said “I know that on its face and by its intent in no way does our ordinance violate federal law”.
You might remember an executive order from the early days of the Trump administration seeking to block the federal funding of sanctuary cities. You might also have heard that this executive order was overturned by the federal judiciary. That certainly plays in here, but the letter has to do with federal law, not the executive order. It’s hard to say what the interplay between these two events will be.
The letter from DoJ asked for a response by December 8. We will be on the lookout to see if any response from Louisville is released publicly.

Sources

QUICK HITS

In a facebook post where he thanked God for his struggles in the past month, former Speaker Jeff Hoover said that his recent health scare was likely a “light heart attack.” Get well soon!
https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/politics/2017/11/20/jeff-hoover-sexual-harassment-scandal-thanks-god/882803001/
We are seeing a bunch of people start to file for different House seats across the state, and we may be having a few of those people on our show in the coming weeks.
In an interview with Terry Meiners on WHAS (where else?) Gov. Bevin called again for the resignation of anyone who settled a sexual harassment suit. However, when pressed about Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore, he stopped short, saying that he “wasn’t trying to cast aspersions everywhere”
http://www.kentucky.com/news/politics-government/article185929853.html

11/23/17 — Bevin Wins on Boards, Dan Johnson Removed, & Trump v. Louisville

Written by Robert Kahne