Is Steve Beshear threatening state employees with firing if they don’t give him campaign contributions?
That’s what this AP story alleges:
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) – A whistle-blower is alleging his colleagues in the Department of Juvenile Justice have been threatened with termination if they don’t contribute to Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear’s re-election campaign.
State psychologist Rodney Young, who works at the Hazelwood Center for the Mentally Handicapped in Louisville, made the claim in letters to the head of the state GOP and to the attorney general’s office.
-SNIP-
Young said a Beshear aide in the Kentucky Justice Cabinet told his colleagues last December that they could lose their jobs if they don’t contribute $500 each to the re-election campaign.
“I will be able to retire in March, so at this point in my career, I simply wish to do what I can to expose and change the pervasive practice of extorting political contributions from state employees who should be under pressure to do one thing … serve the people of Kentucky to the best of their abilities,” Young wrote in the letter dated July 27.
Doesn’t help matters that 20% of papaw’s primary dollars came from state employees and appointees. Or that RJ Corman allegedly raised $750K to keep getting those massive state contracts.
We’re also hearing a University of Louisville Board of Trustees member was ousted for failing to contribute but have been unable to get anyone to go on-the-record.
UPDATE — Since many of you have asked, here are the documents referenced (WARNING: They’re all PDFs):
- Click here for a copy of the RPK’s complaint to the Executive Branch Ethics Commission.
- Click here for a copy of the RPK’s complain to the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance.
- Click here for a copy of Young’s initial letter.
Ouch?
ANOTHER UPDATE — Here’s a look at stories from nine months ago alleging this very same thing:
- Inside Baseball Folks Will LOVE This Scandal [December 15, 2010]
- Non-Merit Shake-Down Isn’t New, Just Unfortunate [December 16, 2010]
It’s clearly not a new issue and the mainstream media is acting shocked and surprised.
11 responses so far ↓
1 Steve Magruder // Aug 1, 2011 at 11:29 am
Interesting that the complaint was made to the GOP and the Democratic Party wasn’t copied, apparently.
In the final analysis, charges like this are made no matter who is the Governor, but they have to be proven before they have any weight.
2 GrimesMan // Aug 1, 2011 at 11:34 am
I’m not surprised. Heck, he has to be setting fundraising records at this point.
3 Monica // Aug 1, 2011 at 12:44 pm
Paws Off Merit Employees!
(or should that read “PawPaws the Merit Employees”?)
No gubernatorial campaign representative at any level should hit up the merit employees–also not hit up the non-merit employees that are NOT political appointees (they do exist). And campaigns know who they are. Or should.
Political appointees to donate to the re-election of the person that put them in their currently held position? Fair Game.
Backlash to my comments begin in 3 . . . 2 . . .
4 Charles W. // Aug 1, 2011 at 1:04 pm
Are you suggesting that a UL trustee was ousted for failing to contribute to Beshear or to UL. If the latter, that’s the way universities do business. If the former . . . not sure.
5 jake // Aug 1, 2011 at 1:08 pm
To Beshear.
6 wondering // Aug 1, 2011 at 2:37 pm
Was this guy merit or non-merit? If he was merit, that’s a huge no-no. If he was non-merit, then I have no sympathy for him. You lie down with that parasite-infested bunch and you will wake up with those fleas.
And I disagree about the non-political non-merits. Anyone who holds a non-merit job should be loyal to the administration that hired them. I know a bunch of people got held over from Patton to Fletcher (which was part of Fletcher’s downfall) and a number that were hired under Fletcher were kept on.
7 jake // Aug 1, 2011 at 2:49 pm
It’s happening with both merits and non-merits.
Regardless of what you think about appointees being told to contribute, an administration official still can’t beg them for cash.
8 wondering // Aug 1, 2011 at 4:10 pm
Is that the same Charles Geveden who was let go from the Transportation Cabinet for misuse of a state vehicle and falsifying his timesheet when he went to Fancy Farm last year?
9 Shakedown Street // Aug 1, 2011 at 4:41 pm
Not the same Gevedens. They are father and son. This one is the elder. The former director of highway safety goes by Chuck.
10 wondering // Aug 1, 2011 at 5:58 pm
Still, it’s obvious they are cut from the same unethical bolt of cloth.
11 hahahaha // Aug 1, 2011 at 10:13 pm
funny enuff that this Geveden was a non-merit employee in Attorney General Stumbo’s office which investigated the Fletcher administration for wrongdoing…
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