Fletcher asks for resignations

Herald Leader:

Fletcher ask 9 state officials and state GOP chairman to resign
By Jack Brammer
HERALD-LEADER STAFF WRITER

FRANKFORT - Gov. Ernie Fletcher today called for the resignations of nine members of his administration and state Republican Party Chairman Darrell Brock Jr.

Of the nine members of his administration he asked to resign, four have been indicted by a special grand jury investigating hiring in the Fletcher administration.

They are: Dick Murgatroyd, deputy chief of staff and former deputy secretary of the Transportation Cabinet; Basil Turbyfill, head of the Governor’s Office of Personnel and Efficiency; Bob Wilson, deputy secretary of the Personnel Cabinet; and Cory Meadows, director of Transportation’s Enhancement Program and former deputy director of the governor’s local outreach office.

The others Fletcher wants to resign are: Sam Beverage, state highway engineer in the Transportation Cabinet; Tim Hinderlight, deputy commissioner of intergovernmental programs in the Transportation Cabinet; Amos Hubbard, a chief district engineer in the Transportation Cabinet; Allen Sturgeon, staff assistant for intergovernmental programs in the Transportation Cabinet; and Vincent Fields, chief of staff in the Personnel Cabinet and former director of the governor’s local outreach office.

Fletcher said he would not get into the specifics of the individual requested departures because he wanted to protect the review process under way by the Personnel Board and Ethics Commission.

But he said, "I believe these individuals were well-intentioned and doing what they thought was best to move the commonwealth forward." He said their actions can be "lumped into four categories, including being too eager to please local political constituencies, repeated inappropriate government e-mails, lack of respect and/or understanding of the Merit System and a lack of insight for how their actions might reflect upon the ethics of this administration."

Since June, a special grand jury led by Attorney General Greg Stumbo’s office has been investigating possible violation of the state Merit Law, which requires that the hiring and promotion of rank-and-file state employees be based on qualifications and not politics.

The jury has indicted current or former Fletcher officials, but Fletcher issued broad pardons for all of them last month.