EDITORIAL: 'No comment': City officials decline to respond to media inquiries

Apr. 19—Journalism takes a curious mind, which means good journalists ask questions.

Well, we've certainly got questions.

The March 12 Richmond City Commission meeting took an interesting turn when Commissioner Jim Newby said that he wanted to table actions regarding the Finance Department.

"I'm just not comfortable at this moment," he remarked, calling the timing "awkward."

He continued, "That's why I'd like to make a motion that we table any action resulting in a pay increase... table it for the moment until we get the conclusion of a current investigation."

... INVESTIGATION?

What investigation?

That's what the Richmond Register has been trying to figure out since.

This is what we have learned from our requests for information.

The city voted to conduct an internal investigation with help from outside assistance. A March 14 agreement procured by the Register identified Vaughn Petitt Legal Group, PLLC, as the city's outside counsel.

The agreement between Attorney Carol Petitt dated March 14 states, "Our firm will investigate and advise — re: the allegations made against the City."

Mayor Robert Blythe confirmed the city had obtained outside counsel through the Kentucky League of Cities.

Now, interestingly enough, the law firm says it handles public sector issues such as employment discrimination, whistleblower allegations, car/truck wrecks, and inadequate training.

Carol Petitt has successfully handled various types of cases, from personal injury to wrongful death actions, according to the firm's website.

What is more interesting to us, however, is that she has also represented local governments involving allegations of sexual harassment, age, gender, and/or race discrimination.

Don't worry ... the website assures that she can also handle allegations of civil rights violations, whistleblower complaints, or wrongful termination.

Are those things the public should know about?

Mayor Blythe declined to comment on any further matters pertaining to an internal investigation.

Ongoing attempts at communication with the commission have made it clear that the city is not ready to speak on the matter.

The question is when will they be?

The only commissioner to go on record was Mike Brewer, who asserted that the information should not have been disclosed by Newby in the first place and that revealing the information goes against procedure and puts the commission and those involved in the investigation at risk.

It's great that Brewer has come forward with an opinion in a sea of silence.

However, the problem is ... the information did come out.

It came out in a regularly scheduled public meeting that is broadcast online for everyone to see.

So now taxpayers, understandably, want to know what they are paying for, and we, as journalists, have questions.

This is an ongoing issue.

Reporters from the Register examined public meeting agendas and found that this commission has been scheduled into executive session 18 times in 16 months, with four occasions being about pending litigation, eight about personnel, and four other times where they spoke about both.

We get it — sometimes you can't tell us everything, but why aren't officials sharing non-identifying information, such as seeking outside counsel?

Or the cost of doing so?

If we, the media, who are the watchdogs of the local government, only let government officials speak when they are ready to speak, we get a manicured, PR-version of the situation.

Your local government is not a brand. They don't get to pick and choose what people know.

That's why we submit information requests and communicate with them — to give them the opportunity to give it to the public straight ...

To answer our questions.

The people deserve to know what is going on in their city, even when the topic goes beyond festivals and improvement projects.

We have to have difficult conversations with city officials.

Isolating the news media from what is happening only isolates the taxpayer from their elected officials and the process.

So the question then becomes, "What can be done about this?"

The answer in our minds is pretty clear.

City officials have to come forward and speak on the matter.

The 'cat is already out of the bag', procedure or not.