LOUISVILLE, Ky. — After an ethics commission found a top Louisville Republican guilty of leveraging his power to secure a new job, he says the ruling was a “partisan hitjob.”
On Thursday, the commission “strongly” recommended Metro Councilman Anthony Piagentini (R-19) be removed from office after finding he violated the city’s Code of Ethics.
During a Friday news conference, Piagentini said he plans to fight the ruling in court, claiming the commission omitted key facts in the investigation, but wouldn’t elaborate on what was missing.
“I am not a perfect man, but I would rather die than accept what they have accused me of,” he said.
Piagentini: 'The fix was in.’
Councilman Piagentini claims there were “irregularities” throughout the investigative process.
“Witnesses with no personal knowledge were interviewed and allowed to provide information ‘off the record,’ so that we didn’t know what they told the investigator until the trial,” he said. “Further, I will continue to reiterate that this case completely lacks evidence required by law.”
The Republican councilman said the trial was fixed from the start, claiming the commission was not politically balanced.
He alleges the two Republicans on the Ethics Commission, Robert Boyd and Michael Oyler, were registered as Democrats shortly before being appointed to the commission by former Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer. Piagentini also claims their political donations often went to Democrats.
WHAS11 searched Kentucky’s Registry of Election Finance (KREF) online records for both Boyd and Oyler's political donations.
Boyd made a donation to a judicial candidate in 2016. Oyler has made few donations to Democrats including Fischer in 2010, former State Treasurer Jonathan Miller in 2002 and 2007, and former gubernatorial candidate Ben Chandler in 2003.
For the most part, however, their donations have gone to various judges' campaigns. KREF indicates no donations to candidates of either major political party in recent years.
Despite this, Piagentini claims Fischer “stacked the commission" with Democrats. “Frankly, the fix was in on day one,” he said.
In a statement, Fischer said the commission’s members were appointed by him and approved by Metro Council because of their “integrity and knowledge of local government.”
“The violations cited by the Commission are very serious,” Fischer said. “If Mr. Piagentini disagrees with the commission findings, he has many avenues to appeal beyond insulting those who’ve volunteered to serve our city.”
He cited an op-ed regarding the GOP’s response to JCPS’ busing fiasco written by the Commission Chair Delores Pregliasco, claiming it showed her bias against Republicans.
Piagentini also said the commission made it difficult to obtain open records requests regarding the investigation.
“I will use every legal means in my power to fight this, to bring truth and continue serving the people of my district,” he said.
During Friday's news conference, Piagentini's lawyer, Brooken Smith, held two binders with evidence in relation to the trial because the councilman wants all the evidence out in the public.
"I'll call on the Ethics Commission to release all of the evidence to the public as quickly as possible," Piagentini added. "The evidence speaks for itself, right? The evidence is very clear."
Greenberg terminates contracts
The commission found Piagentini violated six of seven ethics codes after he allegedly leveraged his power as a local lawmaker to get a lucrative new job.
Last year, he co-sponsored a proposal to allocate $40 million from the American Rescue Plan (ARP) to the Healthcare Workforce Innovation Coalition. While he abstained from the final vote, he took a consulting job with the group leading that coalition around the same time as the vote.
Friday afternoon, Mayor Craig Greenberg announced he is terminating the multi-million-dollar contracts with the Louisville Healthcare CEO Council. He said the group agrees with the decision.
The mayor said the remaining $24 million should be reallocated to benefit the city's parks and libraries. Greenberg said there are strict guidelines and deadlines for when these funds must be used, "we can't wait," he added.
"Let's remember, the money that we are talking about is [ARP] funding, which was designed to make communities across the country stronger following the economic fallout of the pandemic," he said. "We will not let the unethical actions of a couple of people get in the way of that."
Friday morning, Piagentini reiterated that the entire situation was purely a “coincidence of timing.”
“I can’t control when somebody approaches me about a job, I have no control over that,” he said. “When they do, I am then required to do what the law requires me to do, and I did precisely that.”
A decision to start the process of removing Piagentini would need to go before the Metro Council. The earliest that could happen is November 9.
District 7 Councilwoman Paula McCraney (D) said she "stands behind holding people accountable," but she needs to finish reading the commission's ruling, adding that Metro Council needs to investigate themselves.
"I've been in this business for 20 years," Councilman Robin Engel, a Republican representing District 22, said. "I'm all about ethics, okay, so there's a reason why the Ethics Commission is in place and they do their job and we will see where this goes."
When asked on Friday, Greenberg said he believes Metro Government "must" take the commission's findings "very seriously."
Make it easy to keep up-to-date with more stories like this. Download the WHAS11 News app now. For Apple or Android users.
Have a news tip? Email assign@whas11.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter feed.