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From a Republican reader:

I don't know if you've been following the the fellow who was charged  with murder in Lexington, got a medical furlough, then fled the state and was caught in Wisconsin. Wisconsin was ready to send him back, but couldn't because it hadn't received the formal request to return him to Kentucky. Guess who's job it was to send the Governor's Warrant for this murderer to be returned to custody? Guess who couldn't be bothered to actually send a piece of paper to Wisconsin?

Come on, guess.

He must have been too busy trying to find soft landings spots for his cronies on boards and commissions, some of which no longer exist, and just couldn't make time for such trifles...

Fletcher's Taxpayer-Funded Campaign Continues: After Two Years On The Back Burner, Fletcher To Rollout His Faith-Based Office This Week (UPDATED)

How transparent is this, coming just 49 days from Election Day:

Two years after it was created by the General Assembly, Gov. Ernie Fletcher's Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives is having its public debut this week.

The office -- set up to work with religious and nonreligious private social-service providers -- will be host to a conference at General Butler State Resort Park in Carrollton.

So, after sitting on the back burner for two years, Governor Fletcher (R) trots out his faith-based office less than two months from the election where he trails by 20 points. Maybe he'll have a chance to present an oversized check for maximum effect.

By the way, will this office teach our ordained-minister-turned-politician about that commandment concerning "bearing false witness" given how much lying he's done during the past four years?

Fletcher is incredibly shameless.

UPDATE (10:29 AM): Given the following additional story in today's Courier-Journal, I wonder how much longer before Fletcher goes ahead and just promises cash bonuses to voters if he gets re-elected? After four years of record-setting state spending and debt, why is Fletcher only now making such a promise?

Gov. Ernie Fletcher said yesterday that if re-elected, he would invest $100 million in the state's Bucks for Brains program as part of the next two-year budget.

Ernie Fletcher = miserable failure.

This Looks Really Really Bad

Following-up my previous post about contracts going to financial backers of Governor Fletcher (R), I wanted to point out another matter that really doesn't look good in my opinion, regardless of whether or not all of the contracts were legally and properly bid on.

This is from the website of Kenar Architectural which is owned by Harold Fletcher, Jr., the brother of Governor Fletcher. Given this administration's pathetic history of doling out contracts to cronies, it's so hard to read this and not question whether our corrupt governor's brother got all this business in an above-board manner.

Some of our notable projects are:
Kentucky History Center
Marshall County Detention Center
Martin County Community Center
Sedalia Mo. Detention Center
Linear Accelerator at Pikeville Memorial Hospital
Fulton County School additions and renovations
Graves County School additions and renovations
Energy conservation projects at 10 different school systems and hospitals
Multifamily housing projects
Swimming pools and community centers
Church projects: new, renovations and additions
Industrial additions and modifications

Current Projects
Leslie County Detention Center 156 beds
Knott County Atheletic Center
King's Daughters Medical Center - Renovate Executive Offices - Ashland
Jackson County Jail Study
Hodgenville/LaRue County Parks Study
Kentucky River Jail Addition
Knox County Regional Detention Facility
Paintsville Radio Station Facility

Keep in mind that Kenar isn't some big firm where there are dozens of partners where Fletcher could remove himself from contracts involving the state. This is a very small operation with Harold listed as President and his wife, Rachel, as CFO. The most recent corporate filing lists just three people: Harold Fletcher, Rachel Fletcher, and James True. That's it. See for yourself.

In fact, it might be worthwhile to see who else bid on these state and county projects and how much Fletcher's firm was paid for his work.

This from the governor who vowed in 2003:

Dear Fellow Kentuckian:

I am running for governor to end the bygone era of good old boy politics that has held our great Commonwealth back for too long. Kentuckians are hungry for change in Frankfort. We need new leaders of rock-solid values and integrity in Frankfort to end wasteful spending and fiscal irresponsibility. It’s time to change the culture of state government so that our leaders are focused on solutions that benefit all Kentuckians, and not just a few political insiders....

Sincerely, Ernie

Yeah, right.

Fletcher Administration Still Taking Care Of Their Cronies With Personal Service Contracts?

Remember the story back in June 2007 when Transportation Cabinet official Sam Beverage reached a deal with prosecutors on his perjury case related to the Merit System investigation? In exchange for pleading guilty to a lesser charge Beverage agreed to help shine light on road contracts steered to political supporters of Governor Fletcher (R). According to stories, Beverage apparently pointed the finger at two top Fletcher cronies: Transportation Secretary Bill Nighbert and Highway Commissioner Marc Williams.

Specifically, according to a story written at the time by the Courier-Journal's Stephenie Steitzer, Williams was under investigation by the feckless Executive Branch Ethics Commission for "allegedly trying to steer a state engineering contract" to a company later revealed to be DLZ Kentucky, Inc., (its president William May is a top Fletcher contributor).

Well, after browsing the state's Personal Service Contract List for September 2007, guess which firm managed to get the $100,000 personal service contract by the Transportation Cabinet (still run by Nighbert) to inspect the state's bridges (still run by Williams) in the aftermath of the Mississippi River bridge collapse?

(click image for larger version)

Fletcher would tell us this is just another coincidence, I'm sure...(the contract shows-up on page 6).

P.S. -- I encourage you to browse all the archived personal service contracts that are available for examination online. A treasure trove. Click here.

Bluegrass Freedom Begins Television Ads On Fletcher's Ethics

There's nothing worse than a lying, cheating, hypocritical governor running for re-election. This is deadly and right on target:

Follow-Up On UK Board Of Trustees Debacle -- ACTION NEEDED

In follow-up to this morning's post concerning the efforts by Governor Fletcher (R) and his cronies to seize control of the University of Kentucky Board of Trustees, I implore each you -- particularly UK grads and current students -- to e-mail each current trustee to voice your strong opposition to the Fletcher slate that has emerged -- particularly the nomination of Fletcher's own business partner and close buddy, Stephen Branscum, to be Chairman of the Board.

Aside from how incredibly unfit Branscum is to be board chairman (frankly, I question whether he's even qualified to serve on the board at all), now is not the time for UK to be led by a chairman whose only known public interests have been to the university's athletic department and the Republican Party, especially at a time when UK is striving to be a Top 20 national school.

Aside from Branscum, the Fletcher slate is backing top political contributors Mira Ball to be vice chair and the re-election of Pam May as board secretary (May was one of two trustees that voted against the benefits package last year). All three are Republican appointees of Fletcher, not to mention prominent campaign contributors.

I'm told by folks on the inside of this fight that Fletcher's fingerprints are all over this election and some are asking whether Fletcher has his sights on being the next president of UK following his widely-anticipated loss to Steve Beshear (D).

Act now. Join the ongoing effort to kill this attempt to pack the UK board with Fletcherites. Send e-mails. Let your friends and family know. Fletcher has gone too far this time.

UK BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Officers of the Board

• James F. Hardymon, Chair (e-mail: botchair@email.uky.edu)
• JoEtta Y. Wickliffe, Vice Chair (e-mail: jwickliffe@statebanktrust.com)
• Pamela Robinette May, Secretary (e-mail: ptmay@bellsouth.net)
• Barbara W. Jones, Assistant Secretary

Members of the Board

• Mira S. Ball (e-mail: mira@ballhomes.com)
• Stephen P. Branscum (e-mail: sbranscum@branscumconstruction.com)
• Penelope A. Brown (e-mail: penny@r1-brown.com)
• Dermontti F. Dawson (e-mail: ddawson@bellerivepark.com)
• Jeffrey B. Dembo (e-mail: dembo@email.uky.edu)
• Ann Brand Haney (e-mail: abhaney@yahoo.com)
• Billy Joe Miles (e-mail: bjm@milesnmore.com)
• Phillip R. Patton (e-mail: Patton@glasgow-ky.com)
• Sandy Bugie Patterson (e-mail: sandybugiepatterson@yahoo.com)
• Nick Phelps (e-mail: nick.phelps@uky.edu)
• Erwin Roberts (e-mail: eroberts@fbtlaw.com)
• Charles R. Sachatello (e-mail: CRSachatelloMD@yahoo.com)
• C. Frank Shoop (e-mail: cfrankshoop@yahoo.com)
• Myra Leigh Tobin
• Billy B. Wilcoxson
• Russ Williams (e-mail: Russ.Williams@uky.edu)
• Ernest J. Yanarella (e-mail: ejyana@email.uky.edu)

The Cancer Of Cronyism Metastasizing Inside UK's Board Of Trustees

With just 61 days left before the political career of our corrupt Governor Fletcher (R) comes to a well-deserved end, he is working at full-speed to pack every nook and cranny of state government with his favorite cronies and political hacks.

While this is nothing new as we've suffered through Fletcher appointments of John Roach to the Kentucky Supreme Court (before voters resoundly threw him off the bench), his former personal assistant, Crystal Ducker, elevated from essentially a secretary to becoming the #2 official at Transportation, and let's not forget those contributors and county contacts that were appointed to the state ethics commission to enforce ethics laws against Fletcher (and then they didn't).

But now it's gotten even more absurd, and if you thought Michael Brown running FEMA was cronyism run amok, you're going to love what Fletcher is trying to do to the state's flagship school -- the University of Kentucky.

If you haven't heard, Fletcher is working hard to get his business partner, bosom buddy, and top contributor -- Stephen Branscum -- to serve as Chairman of the Board of Trustees at UK.

It's one thing to put a crony in a top job. It's entirely another thing when that crony is so wholly unqualified for the crucial job of chairman of the board of the state's top university. A quick look at Branscum's UK bio shows that not only did he not graduate from UK but it seems he hasn't graduated from any school. His educational background is identified as "Attended Western Kentucky University."

Then there's this part of his bio:

Career Summary: President and Chief Executive Officer, Branscum Construction Company, Inc. (present); Vice President/Treasurer, Branscum Construction Company; Developer, owner, and president of Key Village Shopping Center in Russell Springs.

Talk about unimaginably unqualified.

And then there was this disturbing item in today's Herald-Leader:

Nothing in Stephen Branscum's record distinguishes him as someone who would be an effective leader for a sprawling educational institution. Nor has he shown a particularly keen commitment to elevating teaching and research.

His past interest in UK lies principally in sports.

When he became a trustee three years ago, he had given $180,000 to UK athletics. Contrast that with outgoing chairman James Hardymon, whose financial contributions to the university have paid for such things as an endowed chair in medical research and an information-systems building and helped restore the administration building.

As a trustee, Branscum is best known for undermining the UK administration's funding priorities during the 2005 General Assembly.

He did this by directly lobbying his friend and former business partner, Gov. Ernie Fletcher, to include $15 million in bonds for a basketball practice facility in the state budget. State funding for the facility was cut in half after university objections.

"When people think of Kentucky," Branscum explained at the time, "they think of two things: UK basketball and our horse industry."

Finally, check out the story in yesterday's Kentucky Kernel to see how the entire slate for leadership of UK's board is being engineered from the inside.

What a disgusting exercise in cronyism at the highest levels of Kentucky's higher education. While we know Fletcher will be out of office in a matter of weeks, allowing his cronies to run the show at UK -- at the same time the school is trying to attain Top 20 status -- will ensure the stink of his sordid and incompetent legacy will linger for years to come -- in the worst place possible: UK.

Every UK alum and current student should be outraged by what is on the verge of happening at their school. Now is time to scream about this effort and stop this farce from happening. It's time to WAKE UP and do something about this travesty before it's too late. If you don't, then shut the f*ck up the next time you get pissed off about future decisions by UK's board. It's that simple. Put up or shut up.

If you're a big donor, consider letting the school know that the gravy train comes to an abrupt halt if the board is turned over to Fletcher's unqualified cronies. If you're a student, organize a protest demonstration on campus or start a letter writing campaign ASAP. If you're not affiliated with UK, be sure to e-mail this post to everyone you know who is. Now isn't the time to simply stew. It's time to take action. Immediate action. Let's stop this freaking insanity.

Why Has Governor Fletcher (R) Allowed Transportation Cabinet To Design And Launch New Logo, While Discarding "Unbridled Spirit", Which State Spent Millions To Create?

I want to revisit an item that I wrote about two weeks ago because after some further research I was stunned by how outrageous it was.

As we all know too well, in 2004 Governor Fletcher (R) launched an exhaustive effort to re-brand the state. After spending millions of dollars, the "Unbridled Spirit" brand and logo was announced with great fanfare. A website (www.KentuckyUnbridledSpirit.com) was developed and guidelines on how to utilize the logo was prepared. In fact, Fletcher can't talk about his "accomplishments" without mentioning the new brand.

At the time the brand was released, Fletcher stated:

I’m pleased to introduce the Commonwealth’s new brand, “Kentucky Unbridled Spirit.”

For the first time in history, all branches of Kentucky government will speak with the same unified voice. I also encourage every local and regional governmental agency, state-supported institution and private corporation and business to join in this effort.

This is not simply state government’s brand. This is Kentucky’s brand. It was created as the result of an unprecedented research effort and was selected by Kentuckians themselves via a statewide vote.

The brand is more than just a logo and slogan. It is a new way of thinking about Kentucky.

Fletcher also made clear that all parts of state government would be using this logo:

Example #1:

Governor Fletcher said the brand is about Kentucky's future.  "It stands for who we are and who we want to be," he said.  "The more the brand is shown and talked about, the more people outside this state will realize that Kentucky is something special.  That is why we will have it on our advertising, our signs, our stationery, our brochures, our Web site and virtually everything that comes from the Commonwealth of Kentucky."

The branding process is also saving the state money.  Kentucky had been spending $12 million to $14 million per year for all advertising and marketing.  As much as $2.5 million of that had been agency fees and commissions to more than a dozen different advertising agencies used by various cabinets within state government.

Example #2:

Q:  How is “Kentucky Unbridled Spirit” being used?

A:  The brand is being incorporated into everything the state creates – from license plates, state Web sites and advertising to state signage, brochures, stationery, and other materials.  As advertising messages are developed, “Unbridled Spirit” is the underlying theme.  If we’re using photography, the images used graphically portray “Kentucky Unbridled Spirit.” In short, everything we do acts to reinforce the look and meaning of our brand.  It provides a consistency and an expectation of quality to have all state information having a common appearance.

In addition, hundreds of Kentucky cities, counties, tourism and economic development organizations also have adopted the brand on their materials.  That includes road signs, stationery, web sites – even posters on their walls.

Seems perfectly clear that Unbridled Spirit was to be the ubiquitous brand for the state, particularly state government.

So why in the hell did the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet move forward this summer with a new logo design???

(click image below for larger version)

This runs completely counter to everything Fletcher has been saying about Unbridled Spirit -- not to mention the millions spent in creating that brand.  As I wrote two weeks ago, it seems that the brainchild of the new logo idea was Crystal Ducker, the unimaginably unqualified Deputy Secretary who's only relevant experience was to have served as the personal assistant to Chief of Staff Stan Cave and then Fletcher.

The reason I raise this now is that I couldn't help but notice that this new Transportation logo is on the over-sized checks that Fletcher has been handing out lately -- click here, here, and here.

This is just amazing and there are so many questions that need to be asked:

• Who approved dumping the Unbridled Spirit logo from the Transportation Cabinet and replacing it with a new one?
• How much state money was spent designing a new logo?
• How much money was spent to promote Unbridled Spirit that has now been undermined by a logo for the state's largest cabinet?
• How does Fletcher explain this decision?
• How come the media isn't all over this unbelievable episode of waste, fraud and abuse?
• How was Crystal Ducker allowed to serve as the #2 person in the state's largest cabinet with no relevant experience?

I encourage you to get on the phone and your e-mail and contact members of the media and implore them to examine this latest Fletcher boondoggle. What a waste of public money, once again...

GOP Districts Got Disproportionate Share Of Road Bond (Loftus, Courier-Journal)

Pay-to-play rears its ugly head once again with Fletcher & Crooks.

Though, this certainly isn't the first time there have been suggestions that Fletcher and his Transportation Cabinet have been rewarding counties where their leadership is supporting their corrupt ways. Recall this Madisonville Messenger story from last November, not to mention similar allegations made by former U.S. Rep. Anne Northup (R) during this year's gubernatorial primary. And don't forget Ryan Alessi's story earlier this year about the $13.9 million in local development funds were doled out to just those counties with strong supporters.

Shameless crooks.

GOP Districts Got Disproportionate Share Of Road Bond
Defenders: It offset decades of neglect
By Tom Loftus, The Courier-Journal

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- The districts of Republican state legislators got a disproportionate share of the $311 million generated by a 2005 road bond issue.

If the spending were charted using Senate districts, about 75 percent went to those represented by Republicans, though they control only 55 percent of the 38 seats in the Senate.
   
Charted by House districts, 55 percent went to those held by GOP lawmakers, though they hold only 44 percent of the chamber's 100 seats.

The Courier-Journal examined records detailing the projects after former state Highway Engineer Sam Beverage made allegations that politics influenced how the 2005 bond money was spent.

In a statement given last year to investigators, Beverage charged that Gov. Ernie Fletcher, a Republican, had used the bond-funded road projects to reward senators who voted for his legislative agenda.

More Public Funding Of The Fletcher-Rudolph Campaign

Governor Fletcher (R) just can't get enough of that taxpayer-funded campaign travel, can he?

As mentioned in Tuesday's post, after doing just three check presentations during 2006, Fletcher has crammed in 26 of them since the first poll in the gubernatorial primary (March 2007) showed him leading Anne Northup (R) by just two points. (Note: And those are just the presentations that are on his official website's photo gallery. Who knows how many more never made it to the website).

And he's not letting-up, particularly with polls showing him 20 points down.

Here are the updates for August, so far.

August 25, Taylor Mill:

August 21, Olive Hill:

August 3, Graves County:

August 2(?), Pikeville:

And these were just check presentations. There are dozens more ribbon-cutting and other fluff events that Fletcher has been criss-crossing the state of late to get the public to pay for as much as his re-election campaign as possible.

We should start matching-up official events and campaign fundraisers. I encourage you to visit his official website and leave a comment if you can show that fundraisers coincided with these events.

Also, I've updated our publicly-funded-campaign-travel-scrapbook with the new photos. I'll keep updating this post as new photos come in.

Thank you governor for living-up to your promise of ending waste, fraud and abuse. We're doing a heck of a job, Ernie. We all appreciate it...

Put This In The "Waste, Fraud & Abuse" Pile

Just learned this additional bit of Fletcher insanity from a reader:

Transportation has announced in its latest newsletter that the agency is changing ALL of its logo products: highway and building signs, publications and business products, letterhead and other paper products, electronic media, etc. 

The current logo is only 6 years old and is now consistently and easily recognized across the state.  The cost of all these changes in the last three months of any administration makes no sense whatsoever.  We're talking tens of thousands of dollars, maybe more when the signage is done. 

This is a Fletcher trademark: establishing separate logos for the cabinets and departments, thereby making it more difficulty to identify the state vehicles, and increasing the costs by having each logo designed and produced on multiple products instead of just using the state seal. 

Talk about waste and abuse of taxpayer dollars...

Sure enough, click here for the cabinet's most recent newsletter. What a total waste of money.

And who is heading-up this further drain on taxpayer money? None other than wholly unqualified 20-something Fletcher-personal-assistant-turned-Deputy-Secretary Crystal Ducker. (click here for a refresher on her ridiculous appointment).

Though given that Ducker has no transportation experience, isn't an engineer, has no related background, and whose only job since college was apparently as assistants to Fletcher and Chief of Staff Stan Cave (before they moved her to Transportation), I guess having her oversee logo design is one of the few things she might be qualified to do...

Waste, fraud and abuse...Fletcher-style. Amazing stuff.

If Governor Fletcher (R) Wants To Rehash The Merit System Scandal...Let's Happily Oblige Him

While our desperate Governor Fletcher (R) tries to spin the actions of his appointed ethics commission as some sort of Pyrrhic victory, here's what John Steffen -- general counsel to the Executive Branch Ethics Commission -- had to say about what the commission did -- and didn't -- do:

The Ethics Commission's general counsel, John Steffan, told Local 12 Wednesday he was surprised the campaign would release the document, and said it only told half the story.

Steffan disagreed that the document "cleared" the governor, noting that the document only states the investigation was terminated. There was no language included in the document as to the reasons behind the end of the investigation.

In the letter to Gov. Fletcher, the commission included an advisory opinion which it said would "ensure your future compliance with the law." The commission asked the governor to "review this document closely to make yourself aware of actions related to personnel hiring procedures which may violate the Executive Branch Code of Ethics."

If Fletcher wants to rehash his criminal conduct and the disaster of the Merit Scandal, I think we should all happily oblige him. After all, this is his record.

You ready, governor? You have opened the door and invited us in...

Let's spend some time over the next week or two rehashing the highlights of the investigation starting with all the things that his Republican brethren publicly accused Fletcher of, beginning with Lt. Governor Steve Pence (R) and Jefferson County Republican Party Chairman Jack Richardson (R).

This should be very cathartic for us.

Slim Pickings For Fletcher

Things are so bad for Governor Fletcher (R) that he's trying to claim victory over the fact that less than a majority of state ethics commission (of which he appointed 80% of its members) has opted not to proceed with ethics charges against him stemming from the Merit System scandal. Seriously, this is what Fletcher must hang his hat on now? Good news is so scarce for these guys that this rises to the top of the heap?

Two things come to mind when I read this.

First, why in the world would Fletcher want the public to be reminded of the defining disaster of his administration by touting this? Every single poll taken on the subject for the past two years have shown that the public overwhelmingly supported the investigation and believed that the charges were true. All of them. The public just doesn't support Fletcher's notion of his victim-hood. Hence the fact that he hasn't seen better than a 39% job approval rating since the scandal broke in May 2005 and he trails by 20+ points in the general election polls.

Secondly, there's a reason why the ethics charges can't proceed, or why Fletcher wasn't tried on the charges he faced: he blocked, stalled, and obstructed the investigation from the very moment he promised the public that we'd get the "unvarnished truth" of what happened. Instead, all we got were blanket pardons, 5th Amendment, constant refusal to turn-over evidence, appointment of campaign contributors to the state supreme court to hear his own case, and millions of dollars in state-funded attorneys fees to defend this corrupt administration.

Now Fletcher touts the fact the state ethics commission -- of which 80% of its members were appointed by him -- aren't proceeding with ethics charges. What a joke. Did any reasonable person really expect they would?

But when you can't tout the 100,000 new jobs you promised, or the cleaning-up of the mess in Frankfort, or the lowering of college tuition, or the improvement of general conditions in the state, well, this is what becomes an "accomplishment."

Pretty sad...but that's nothing new with these guys.

Truth Is The Primary Casualty When It Comes To Building The New Louisville Arena Palace

While I recognize this isn't the sexiest issue out there, it's one that I'm going to continue to hammer on, as I have for nearly two years.

Simply, it's so outrageous that the Courier-Journal's management has been in bed with those wanting the build the Louisville Arena boondoggle from the beginning that they ignore the very disturbing developments, and incestuous relationships, concerning those being selected to handle the multi-million contracts crucial to insure that the ultimate half-billion dollars in debt servicing on the arena gets paid through its own revenue, and not leaving the taxpayers holding the bag, like they have in similar situations in other cities.

While C-J reporters like Marcus Green and Chris Poynter have done terrific work in covering the ever-constant internal troubles concerning the arena, the C-J's editorial board keeps whistling past the graveyard, ignoring the red flags popping-up all around us.

Today's C-J story about the arena authority's decision to handsomely retain Team Services, LLC to secure those elusive naming rights on the arena, despite its previous naming-rights partnership with Jim Host that failed to deliver for the University of Texas and its subsequent political scandal in Illinois on its deal, is concerning given how the arena authority is not leveling with the public and offering disingenuous comments instead:

Authority member Larry Bisig said Team Services had the most experience among the finalists.

"That's how they got it. It's as simple as that," Bisig said. "Their credentials are beyond reproach." Nelligan Sports Marketing was the other finalist, according to the authority. The company's CEO, T.J. Nelligan, could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Sadly, Bisig is ignoring this scandal that Team Services in involved with just across our border in Illinois.

Here's an excerpt from a May 2005 Chicago Sun-Times story:

A consultant hired to find businesses willing to pay the state for placing company logos on everything from Illinois parks to tax forms hasn't generated the tens of millions of dollars it once forecast.

The governor's office credits Maryland-based Team Services LLC with playing a partial role in landing $3.7 million in corporate sponsorships or donations over 14 months. But only $210,000 of that was due solely to the firm's efforts and not the work of others.

Team Services -- partly owned by a Blagojevich donor who is a former business associate of the governor's chief of staff, Lon Monk -- has been paid $183,000 by the state, including a $15,000-a-month retainer. The work for which Team Services can alone claim credit barely outstrips what taxpayers have been billed so far for its work.

The figures are a far cry from what the company estimated could be raised in late 2003 when it was completing a no-bid contract to study the feasibility of a naming-rights program in Illinois. Then, the firm said state government could expect to generate as much as $40 million in the program's first year and as much as $300 million over three years, records show.

Maybe the Herald-Leader should do some digging here since we're talking about hundreds of millions of dollars in state money at stake. This isn't simply a Louisville issue.

Name That Arena (LEO)

As has been long-discussed here, I wrote a piece for this week's LEO concerning the troubling decision by the Louisville Arena Authority to hire Team Services, LLC, to find $40 million in naming-rights for the new arena (a figure which experts laugh at).

The piece looks at the undisclosed relationship between the new firm and arena authority Chairman Jim Host in a previous collegiate naming-rights deal which failed to deliver, and a subsequent recent political scandal that Team Services found itself in Illinois.

It's a serious, and disturbing, story that deserves some follow-up by the mainstream media:

Name That Arena
By Mark Nickolas (LEO)

There are incestuous connections and a weird history between the Arena Authority and its newly-minted naming-rights partner, Team Services

If you were already of the belief that our elected officials haven’t leveled with us about the real costs of the coming Louisville Arena and whether it will really pay for itself over the long haul, well, this isn’t going to make you feel any better.

At its regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday morning, the Louisville Arena Authority accepted a deal making Team Services, LLC — a Maryland-based sports marketing firm and subsidiary of Learfield Sports, which acquired it about two years ago — the firm responsible for securing “naming rights” to the new arena. Naming rights is essentially the fee that corporations pay to have their name on the marquee (think RCA Dome in Indianapolis).

That firm has direct ties to the authority that go back further than this project. Moreover, its own history in this kind of work is not without problems.

In 2005, Arena Authority chairman Jim Host — then chairman of the authority’s predecessor, the Louisville Arena Task Force — boasted that naming rights would bring in “at least $40 million” over 20 years, providing a significant chunk of the revenue necessary to pay off the $573 million of bonded debt the arena will cost over 30 years.

At the time, nearly all national experts panned Host’s $2 million-per-year prediction as pie-in-the-sky, as such a figure would be one of the largest deals ever cut for collegiate naming rights in the country. The lone expert publicly agreeing with Host’s predictions at the time was E.J. Narcise, a principal at Team Services, LLC. Narcise was quoted in The Courier-Journal at the time saying naming rights to the Louisville Arena were “worth every bit of $40 million.” He also made the pitch at Tuesday’s meeting, where he reiterated that sentiment.

However, unknown at the time, a deeper connection existed between Host and Narcise that has never been disclosed: Team Services formed a joint venture with Host Communications (Host was CEO at the time) on another collegiate naming-rights deal in 2003, involving the University of Texas’ Erwin Special Events Center, the facility where the university’s basketball teams play (that year both the men’s and women’s teams played in the NCAA Final Four).

The promise to the University of Texas at the time: $2 million per year in naming rights.

In the May 2003 press release announcing the deal, Host said, “Our partnership with Team Services brings this project an unmatched level of experience and expertise in the collegiate and naming rights marketplace.”

Meanwhile, by the end of 2003, Team Services leveraged the Texas deal (among others) to beat out six other companies in landing a lucrative naming-rights contract with the state of Illinois, which they assessed was worth as much as $300 million over three years. (Host was not part of this.) In a deal announced by Gov. Rod Blagojevich, Team Services was tasked to find corporate sponsors for a wide variety of state property, from state parks, historic buildings and even selling rights to an official state beverage.

By 2005, both deals had fizzled badly for Team Services.

To date, no naming-rights deal has been obtained for the University of Texas, and its efforts in Illinois morphed into a major political scandal after media reports revealed that Team Services — after receiving several hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees — was partly owned by a Blagojevich donor and former business associate of the governor’s own chief of staff.

(click here to keep reading story)

The Never-Ending Political Incompetence Of Governor Fletcher (R)

Considering that Governor Fletcher (R) had no problems with the audacity of pardoning his entire administration (and beyond) to cover-up his criminal conduct, it's hard to believe that the one guy he refused to pardon may very well land Fletcher back in the middle of another criminal mess.

The political incompetence of Fletcher and his goons is astounding.

From Tom Loftus' story in today's Courier-Journal:

Former state highway engineer Sam Beverage offered what seemed to be a credible insider's account of how political contributions affect road-contracting decisions in the administration of Gov. Ernie Fletcher, a prosecutor said yesterday.

In closed-door testimony Monday, Beverage "was saying basically that people that contributed to the campaigns got road work, got construction work and contracts," Franklin County Commonwealth's Attorney Larry Cleveland said. "I think Sam Beverage has some credibility. I think he knows everything."

[...]

Cleveland said he will give the case -- including a videotape of Beverage's testimony -- to Attorney General Greg Stumbo today.

He said Beverage talked about how politics affected both road construction and engineering contracts.

"You get the impression that they (administration officials) can pick and choose and put these projects wherever they want to put them and use whoever they wanted to use," he said.

He added, "What was kind of surprising to me was how unsophisticated it was."

La Cosa Nostra, Bluegrass Style

Recall during the grand jury investigation of Governor Fletcher (R) and his administration of state hiring abuses that a chunk of the attention, and allegations, surrounded how Fletcher intended to use the Governor's Office for Local Development (GOLD) -- and its various offices like Local Initiatives for a New Kentucky (LINK) -- as the taxpayer-funded seedling for his re-election campaign?

Despite Fletcher's disingenuous assertions that those offices would not be used for political purposes, there were stories earlier this year that clearly showed millions in community development funds flowed specifically to counties where the local officials had endorsed Fletcher in the primary.

Well, the loud chatter coming from Republican circles right now is that Fletcher is ready to name GOLD Commissioner Steve Robertson as the new chairman of the Republican Party of Kentucky, just in time for him to squeeze all those county officials that had previously received taxpayer money for their projects.

As I'm sure you're well aware, the commissioner for GOLD during Fletcher's disastrous reign has had a history of direct ties to the chairmanship of the Republican Party. Recall that Darrell Brock served as GOLD commissioner until Fletcher tapped him to be Republican Party chairman. Brock was thereafter replaced as commissioner by Ellen Williams, a previous Republican Party chair. Robertson succeeded Williams, and now Fletcher is ready to name him capo party chairman.

Funny how all that happens. It's like magic.

Recall the pointed comments that Anne Northup (R) made about Fletcher's shakedown tactics as he passed out those over-sized checks to friendly Republican local officials during the gubernatorial primary and how Fletcher replaced one good ol' boy system for his own. They will be useful reminders as we get ready for Round 2 of the Fletcher-Rudolph shakedown for money.

Just a reminder of how Fletcher is trying to position himself for the fall campaign:

Astounding

Pol Watchers:

With 11 days left until voters cast their ballots, Gov. Ernie Fletcher announced his campaign's first public event today.

Apparently, Fletcher is foregoing having the taxpayers pick-up the tab of his campaigning for the final 11 days.

How generous.

No Comment...

Pol Watchers just posted the answers from all the gubernatorial candidates on the following question:

What legislative changes, if any, would you propose to regulate an incumbent governor's use of state resources, such as flying on state aircraft or appearing in public service advertisements, during a re-election campaign?

Every candidate -- except one -- provided a response.

So sad.

Update (1:09 pm): a1mediahack notes that Fletcher has just responded...

Pay To Play, Fletcher-Style

Got this e-mail from a long-time reader:

Fletcher is catching some flak in Laurel County. Kay and Kay construction is building a asphalt plant to next several housing subdivisions. There is spirited, to say the least, public opposition to this. The plant received state approval one week after individuals connected to Kay and Kay donated $7000 to the Fletcher campaign. Fletcher's people are denying there was any connection.

The local paper, Sentinel Echo, has a front page story about this and a web poll that asked if the respondents would vote to reelect Fletcher in the GOP primary -- 54.7 % said no, 11.9 % don't dare and 33.4% said they would vote for Fletcher is the primary election was held today.

As to the contributions to Fletcher. The donations were from William Robinson, Amos Hubbard, James Hubbard, Linda Lawson, Carolyn Wersterfield, James Westerfield and Ron Pfaff. All contributed the maximum of $1000 and all on the same day (April 16th)- Is it just me or does that seem a little like bundling?

The permit for the plant was granted on April 25th.

Nothing But Net

You know those basketball games, where a team that you expect to perform well just languishes for the first three quarters and under-performs, and then in the final quarter finally hits its stride and the team which had been leading looks confused and not sure how to react?

Well, we're seeing it right now.

Anne Northup (R) is starting to bury three-point shots in rapid succession, while Governor Fletcher (R) is playing the incompetent style of play that we've grown so accustomed to for the past few years and keeps turning the ball over or missing easy shots. In politics, like basketball, you can always feel when one side is making "a run" and we're seeing it right now. If Fletcher can't shake this and re-group very quickly, my money is on Northup closing out this primary on a 20-0 run and winning it.

Here's the latest three-pointer from Northup, and this time they've got Lt. Governor Pence (R) involved:

Northup Calls On Fletcher To Release Names To Legal Defense Fund
Lt. Governor Pence: ‘Is there a quid-pro-quo’

LOUISVILLE- Today, Anne Northup’s campaign challenged Ernie Fletcher to release the names of the donors to his legal defense fund.

“With the election two weeks away and so many questions surrounding the ethical lapses of this administration, we can no longer sit back and let Ernie Fletcher hide the names of donors from public view,” said Ted Jackson, Senior Advisor to the Northup Campaign.

In Monday’s KET debate, the Governor responded to the question about his legal defense fund and refused to give the public a view of who is contributing to his fund.  It is unknown if state contractors, people seeking appointments by the Governor or people seeking to influence the administration have donated large sums to his fund, which has no financial limit.

“Republicans across the state need to know if this is the next looming scandal,” said Lt. Governor Steve Pence, Ernie Fletcher’s 2003 running mate.  “The public deserves to know whether anyone that is doing business with the state, that has a contract or is seeking a contract, or received a commission or appointment from the state, has donated to this secret legal fund.”

“Did the Governor take $50,000 on one day then give $20 million in public money to the contributor the next day?” asked Pence, a former federal prosecutor.  “He must answer that question now; otherwise there will be continued suspicion of a quid-pro-quo.”

Just this morning, the Courier-Journal even editorialized asking: “Who gave? Coal operators? Road contractors? Bankers? Doctors? Hospital operators? Insurance moguls?  Why won't the half-hidden candidate show the voters?”

“With two weeks to go before the election and questions abound about this Governor’s conduct while in office,” continued Jackson. “This Governor has more baggage than a loaded UPS 747-- indictments, pardons, misuse of taxpayer money, hiding donors to his secret fund from public view; it is too much for Republicans to endure.”

###

Nothing but net...

Ernie Fletcher, October 31, 2003: "I'll Clean-Up State Government"

In the final days of the 2003 general election, Ernie Fletcher (R) made a couple of comments about the type of governor he promised the voters would get if the elected him.

First, here's what Fletcher said during the October 22, 2003 WHAS-11 debate:

Fletcher said he would do everything possible so his administration did not "embarrass" the people of Kentucky.

"Now, we're not perfect," Fletcher said, referring to elected officials. "And no one has said that. But I think it is important that we do realize that elected officials have a higher standard. And if there are things that come out, elected officials ought to answer them squarely."

And then on October 31, 2003, Fletcher published an op-ed in newspapers across the state:

I'LL CLEAN UP STATE GOVERNMENT
Author: Ernie Fletcher

I am running for governor to clean up the mess in Frankfort and end the bygone era of good-ole-boy politics that has held our state back for too long.

Kentuckians are hungry for change in state government. We need new leaders of rock-solid values and integrity to end the cycle of scandals, waste, fraud and abuse.

But that change cannot happen with my opponent, who has been in the middle of the mess for the past decade....

Amazing that we don't even recognize this man any longer...