State Sen. Ernesto Scorsone has called on Gov. Ernie Fletcher to either give state Republican Party Treasurer Dave Disponett an official state job or evict Disponett from his Capitol office.It gets interesting as it doesn't end there. I'm more surprised by this list here.
"I cannot imagine a more volatile political situation, nor one that compromises the public's view of politics and government," Scorsone, D-Lexington, said in a letter Fletcher's office received yesterday.
Doug Hogan, communications director for Fletcher, had no immediate response to the letter. "Our chief of staff (Stan Cave) got that letter this afternoon and hasn't had a chance to look at it," Hogan said.
Disponett said last night that he has no problem with his volunteer status. "I don't have an agenda," he said. "And whatever happens, I'll do the right thing."
Scorsone's letter complains that Disponett is not covered by state ethics rules if he is only a volunteer.
Hogan has said that Fletcher sees no problem in allowing Disponett to help the administration as a volunteer, that Disponett isn't raising political contributions while volunteering, and that Disponett signed a form saying he wouldn't involve himself in matters relating to his business.[...]
Since early last year, Disponett has been a volunteer for the administration -- working in an office on the first floor of the Capitol. Hogan said Disponett interviews applicants for political jobs and board appointments, and handles other assignments from Fletcher.
The Courier-Journal reported last week that since adoption of the current ethics code for state employees in 1992, two governors have appointed volunteers to official jobs with a salary of $1 per year so they would be covered by the ethics code and other laws and regulations governing state workers.
Scorsone wrote in his letter, "As one who campaigned against 'waste, fraud and abuse' I am sure you would not want the people to think you are trying to skirt the executive ethics rules. I urge you to remedy the situation immediately."
In an interview yesterday, Scorsone said, "Anyone volunteering to the extent they have their own office in the Capitol needs to be officially under the ethics rules and other laws."
A statement Monday from the governor's office identified Disponett and three other investors: Russell Springs contractor Stephen Branscum, a major Republican contributor appointed by Fletcher to the University of Kentucky board of trustees; UK basketball coach Tubby Smith; and former Auburn University basketball coach Cliff Ellis.Why is Coach Tubby Smith an investor with those folks?
Yesterday, Hogan released the names of five other investors: Ron Turner of Lexington, president of the electrical contracting firm Amteck of Kentucky; Larry Kinnett, a former high school coach from Russell Springs; and three Florida residents -- real estate agent Grady Elder of Destin, restaurant owner Larry Fox and Joe Reppert.
No other information was released on Fox and Reppert.
According to the information provided Monday, Fletcher, Disponett and Branscum invested $97,600 each in two condominium projects. The other seven invested $55,000 each in one of those projects.
Senator Trent Lott says that Senators cannot win the White House. I beg to differ. Evan Bayh can and he will.
Johnny "Caveman" Damon is no "idiot." He's a talented ballplayer.
Democrats interested in Rob Portman's seat:
Russell Hurley, a barber from Anderson Township, announced his candidacy on Saturday.
State Rep. Todd Brook, D-McDermott
State Rep. Tyrone Yates, D-Cincinnati
Victoria Wells Wulsin, Indian Hill, medical doctor and head of non-profit AIDS prevention organization
Charles Sanders, former Waynesville mayor who ran unsuccessfully against Portman several times
Paul L. Hackett III, Indian Hill, personal injury lawyer and U.S. Marine Corps Reserve major, just completed tour of duty in Iraq
Thor M. Jacobs, vice president of home-building firm and former teacher
Jeff Sinnard, Anderson Township, civil engineer
Hadassah Lieberman warns of new holocausts.
Mrs. Lieberman spoke Monday night at Steinhardt Hall to Penn students and community members on the necessity of honoring Holocaust victims by taking a stand against the current genocide in Sudan.I commend her on her speech.
Pointing to the obeservation of Yom Hashoah -- also known as Holocaust Remembrance Day -- yesterday, Lieberman stressed the duty of citizens of the world, and especially students, to speak out.
"We need to scream out about Sudan, we need to scream out about hatred, we need to scream out about all the things out there that disgust us and trouble our souls," she said. "We all have a role in representing more than ourselves."
Although acknowledging that the current generation of students may not be as idealistic as students of the 1960s, she believes that they have the potential to affect change. Her speech, however, focused on inspiration instead of concrete suggestions for change.
"These kids today, I don't think they've been tested yet," she said. "I think that they are thirsty, and that more and more their thirst will translate into a different kind of idealism."
Lieberman said that the election of her husband -- who is Jewish -- as a Democrat to the United States Senate shows how far society has come in increasing understanding among all groups. When she entered the capitol for the first time with her newly-elected husband, she recalled exclaiming, "Despite all of Hitler's efforts, the daughter of survivors is on the floor of the United States senate."
Lieberman also discussed her daughter's close relationship with her grandmother, who survived the Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II, as well as her own participation in the United States delegation in 1995 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.
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