Thursday, March 17, 2011

IS IT TIME FOR THE FEDS TO COME TO LOUISVILLE

Many believe the answer is yes. We are now getting to see firsthand just how business has always been conducted in Louisville under the watch, or nonwatch, of former Mayor Jerry Abramson and his personal gestapo.

While many have been asking questions for years about the Abramson regime we are now finally getting mainstream involved. Of course this only proves once again what many have always believed, and that is that Abramson enjoyed cover by mainstream media until now that he is out of office.

But I digress.

According to the CJ
http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2011303150089 the former Department of Neighborhoods run by Abramson appointee Melissa Mershon was found guilty of forging 37 invoices and costing us $368,660. all done to hide money from the Metro Council.

So what does Commonwealth Attorney Dave Stengel do?

Absolutely nothing as usual. Stengel and his office needs to be investigated period. Since Jack Conway won't do it then the feds need to be involved. There is no other option.

According to the investigation, Mershon wanted to empty the Neighborhoods Department budget before the end of the 2008 and 2009 fiscal years, so the money would not be returned to the city's general fund where it could then be used for other operations.

So Stengel sees nothing criminal in this? It defies logic and is a slap in the face to each of us.

Stacy Greive, economic crimes chief for Commonwealth's Attorney Dave Stengel's office, said she didn't seek indictments in the case because she could not prove intent to commit a crime.

Forgery is a crime. Misuse of taxpayer money is a crime. How in the world we continue to listen to these asinine excuses is beyond many of us. I say that the Commonwealth's attorney, and in this case Stacy Greive should be charged by the feds with aiding and abetting a crime. It is logical.

These actions were done to deceive the taxpayers of this community that fund the department so yeah it was done for someones benefit.

Did Mershon benefit? You bet. So did Carole Butler a name long associated with the Democratic party in Louisville. Butler received $14,900 for a book she never wrote or published. Only AFTER the story came out did Butler return the money and resign. Did it take getting caught with your hand in the cookie jar to force this?


Accepting the money for work not completed is criminal. Butler returning the money after the fact does not negate that criminal action. Period. Let's not forget that Carole Butler was also on the payroll for $85,000 a year. PART TIME.

No we have some serious problems within this gestapo that have been covered up for many years by Abramson and his friends in the local DNC. That is the problem. It appears that gestapo has friends in teh legal system as well. We have had enough of this haven't we?

Allowing the pathetic actions of non Commonwealth Attorney Dave Stengel to continue is yet another example of a problem. Allowing Jack Conway, who often brags about being the "top cop" in the Commonwealth, to do absolutely nothing about these problems is another. He is responsible as well in aiding and abetting.

Meanwhile, there will be more uncovered in future days and none of it good I am sure. The US Department of Justice needs to get ready for documentation and charges to be brought. As a taxpayer I have standing to do so and look forward to the challenge.

Kudos to CJ reporter Dan Klepal for this story. It is nice to see the CJ editorial staff finally allowing him to do what he does best. In the meantime I have a question.

How can Judy Green be found guilty of anything through the ethics commission either?

Seriously. If we can continue allowing this type of behavior from elected officials and tehir appointees then where do we even begin to gain accountability.

Hopefully, we shall see soon from the US DOJ. Stay tuned..............

10 comments:

  1. Ed, Why have you, or any of the local "news" sources, not latched on to Judy Green's crashing of the Accountability and Ethics Committee meeting on Wednesday. Me-thinks it was a reminder to other council folk that if she goes down, information she has knowledge of may push a few of the other birds of a feather out of the nest.

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  2. Actually spoke about that on the radio show tonight. Excellent question and I am inclined to think it was a blatant show of arrogance or a warning. We will see soon.

    thanks for writing.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Also something to note, although Council President Jim King outwardly appears to be pressing for an investigation, he had a very haggard and worried mannerism and look during the meeting.
    Another also, new CFO may actually be qualified for the job???? Something that was not a requirement of the previous administration. Will he last?

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  4. Ed

    If you want another story, dig deeper into the nepotism issue on the Council. Judy Green ain't the only one employing her kids. It won't be that hard for you to determine the others.

    ReplyDelete
  5. The chances of any action by the federal
    "Justice Dept." is nil - one party rulers
    never investigate their own.

    ReplyDelete
  6. How come Metro's Public Works director Ted Pullen is currently listed on MSD's website as a contractor for the Corradino group where, allegedly, he used to work as a VP before coming to work for the city:

    http://www.msdlouky.org/insidemsd/diverse/contractors.html

    Supplier Diversity for Prime Contractors
    Floyds Fork / North County Watershed Area
    The Corradino Group
    200 S. Fifth St., Suite 300N
    Louisville, KY 40202
    voice: 502/587-7221
    fax: 502/587-2636
    M/WBE Contact: Ted Pullen
    email: tpullen@corradino.com

    According to Louisville Checkbook, the Corradino Group has done $2,409,307.75 worth of business with the city from 2008 til the present day.
    http://services.louisvilleky.gov/LouisvilleCheckBook/VendorSearch/Agency.aspx

    And Fischer just named him to be on the task force to study merger?!?!?! There's also a document relating to Corradino's involvement in the Preston Corridor at www.parkwayvillageky.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2008minutes

    It sounds like they're trying to divert funds or hide where money is actually being directed.

    "Mary Rose discussed the Preston Corridor project. She had spoken to Drew Shryock (Louisville Development Department) about the City’s decision to invest $7,500 in the engineering and design phase of the project. Drew said that the Corradino Group would directly invoice the City of Parkway Village in lieu of sending funds to the City of Louisville to be redirected to the Corradino Group."

    ReplyDelete
  7. Excellent comments one and all. In regards to nepotism I am sure it does permeate througout the Council and will be focused on later. right now we take them one case at a time.

    As for Pullen? No love lost here for him either. The way Public Works handled the whoel eric Garrett case (which is ongoing I believe) was a testament to hsi ability to do anything. thanks for the heads up I will investigate in the near future.

    In the meantime thanks to all of you who write whether for publication or with tips. It is because of you that we exist and together we make a difference.

    Thanks again.

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  8. Corradino Group and Ted Pullen. Light bulb moment! Ever since Pullen and his barbaric protege Betty Younis began the big push to get Johnson Control a multi-million dollar contract with the city for a so called energy efficiency contract, something Eric Garrett almost exposed as impossible to maintain with current staffing levels before suddenly being removed from the project and subsequently fired in retaliation for doing so, I and others have been trying to make the connection.
    With this contract Johnson Control does not have to follow Louisville Metro policies and procedure for hiring contractors who will do work for the city (AKA the tax paying citizens). They can give the work to whomever they desire, or perhaps whomever the person or persons who sold the contract to the Metro Council desires. A council so involved in their own personal graft to comprehend the obvious opportunity for corruption...on a larger scale than nepotism.
    I see shades of Johnson Control and city officials in New Orleans under a similar contract.
    I would bet if thoroughly investigated this contractual agreement probably has a lot in common with that one.
    Unfortunately I do not know of anyone other than Pullen and Younis who have seen the actual contract.
    The saving grace to this could be that the new Mayor has ordered an in depth review of Pullen, Younis and Public Works. A review being conducted by Dave Vogel from........wait for it.......MSD!

    ReplyDelete
  9. The Feds definitely need to come to Louisville. They should do a full investigation of all the powers that be including the mayors office, Abramson, Metro Council, Metro government, Judy Green, Jim King, as well as MSD which is in a load of debt. In fact, there should be a full investigation of all Louisville Metro government offices not only by the state and local government but the FEDs should be jumping in to investigate all of the malfeasance and obfuscation of facts by the local government.

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  10. Was Betty Younis the one who used to work at the airport and sued them. Is that the same airport that Abramson sat on appointed people to the board? Was Abramson the mayor who hired Younis after leaving the airport to come to the city? Is Abramson the mayor who's former bodyguard became a deputy director at solid waste after Abramson left office?

    All of this is very strange....wink. wink!

    ReplyDelete

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