The list we gave yesterday of mismanaged Metro Government departments wasn’t meant to be complete, and we’re going to add Metro Animal Services after watching a two-part series by WAVE’s Lindsay English.
Director Gilles Meloche has always seemed a bit strange, as anyone who paid attention to the controversial passage of dog-related laws during the last few years can remember. But we shouldn’t tolerate department heads dodging interviews with reporters. Meloche draws a six-figure salary, and, we’re almost certain, drives a city vehicle.
English says she requested an interview with Meloche, who turned her over to Metro’s Chris Poynter, who just said no. No one from Animal Services would be made available for an interview. Turns out the city wants to talk to him first.
What English uncovered, and would have asked Meloche about, is a shady relationship between the government and Animal Adoption Agency in Middletown, where higher prices are charged for adoption services. From what we’re hearing, that’s only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to problems at Animal Services.
So WAVE went undercover and asked questions. It used open records requests to discover the nature of the relationship with AAA, including a three-month trial contract in which the agency kicked back portions of adoption fees (higher than adoptions at Metro shelters) to the Metro Department.
There’s plenty of evidence of mismanagement, and the Metro Council’s Kelly Downard, in an interview for the series, said he’s asked for an internal auditor’s investigation. Poynter says the administration is conducting its own investigation, promising everything will be fixed. And it’s not allowing Meloche to talk publicly until it finds out what’s going on.
11 responses so far ↓
1 Carter Burger // May 21, 2009 at 8:38 am
How responsible is Mayor-for-Life in all of this?
2 AB // May 21, 2009 at 9:12 am
Mayor McCheese is totally responsible for all the waste and incompetence that has been building on his much too long watch. I can attest first hand that my dogs are vastly smarter than the stooges working in Animal Services.
3 David Harpe // May 21, 2009 at 9:50 am
- Firefighter contract screw-up
- Police department take-home car screw-up
- Budget mismanagement
- Cordish giveaways
- Metro council end-runs
- Housing department scandal
- Storm cleanup debacle
- Now animal services?
Kinda don’t think he needs much more on the list to make a good case for a replacement. Yeah not all of this stuff was probably his fault alone, but it happened on his watch. When you’re the head guy, that makes it your responsibility.
If this was the Navy he would have been relieved of command a couple of years ago.
4 Wally // May 21, 2009 at 10:20 am
THE MAYOR……isn’t he sorta like the Project Manager..??…..The Donald would say…..Jerry Jughead,…You’re Fired!
5 Carter Burger // May 21, 2009 at 11:00 am
so when is he up for reelection? Next year?
6 Steve Magruder (I, not D or R) // May 21, 2009 at 11:16 am
David, thanks for giving us the short list. :)
Carter, yeap, 2010 is the year.
7 Brad // May 21, 2009 at 2:12 pm
Perhaps I’ll run on the “I’m not Jerry Abramson ticket”…since we all know a D in KY is not always the same sort of D the majority of the rest of the country knows.
8 Jerry Hater // May 21, 2009 at 2:31 pm
David wrote, refering to Louisville’s mayor, “If this was the Navy he would have been relieved of command a couple of years ago.” Yes, this is true but the idiots of Louisville are dumb to figure this out. He should have never been elected mayor in 2002 of the new Metro. Louisvillians should have known better. He was a screw up in his last term of the old city of Louisville. You got what you voted for and now Louisville is Shitville,KY.
9 Jim // May 22, 2009 at 1:25 am
Unfortunately, all of us are living his dream. One world, one Jerry, one Louisville, haha. That’s what we voted for and ended up getting. At least the old way, his damage mostly was confined to downtown Louisville and not the South End, East End, Dixie, Preston, etc. The guy is an embarrassment to this community and this is what happens when someone with unrestricted power is allowed to remain in office. Even Harvey Sloane wasn’t a big of a failure that Mayor McCheese is. I was not a Harvey fan at all but at least we seen progress in jobs, wages, etc. Jerry has left us severely behind other cities and all of us are left to clean up his mess. We need him gone and that needs to be soon so we can clean up what is left and improve upon what we have which is a good base but not much else.
10 Carter Burger // May 24, 2009 at 2:15 pm
Is TRIMARC a city run agency? If so, I’d like to nominate them for most worthless metro department.
11 EdenSprings // May 31, 2009 at 8:09 pm
The mess with Meloche is even bigger than you think. To begin with, he was never eligible for the job he holds or the $100K-ish in annual funds he grubs from the taxpayers. And….the Jerrmeister knew all about it up front and has constantly protected him for years.
Why is Meloche ineligible? Because to hold that job, Metro’s own job description says he has to be “able to be sworn as a peace officer in Kentucky”. Why? Because he heads up a bunch of Barney Fifes who do things like apply for warrants, execute those warrants, enter your home and seize your property. And, per the US Constitution, etc. all that should be done LEGALLY.
However, Meloche isn’t eligible under KRS statutes for two reasons: 1) he’s not a US Citizen, just a Canuk with a green card; 2) you can’t be sworn if you are a person of questionable moral character.
Well, back when he was living in Canukland (not to be confused with Channukaland) he had a veterinary practice. And, it seems he had 60 some-odd BIG bottles of Winstrol, an anabolic steroid. In Canada, as here, that’s a “controlled substance” which means you need to do some pretty tight recordkeeping on where it is, and where it goes.
Well, he didn’t do that x 26. Or, write any prescriptions for those 2 dozen plus bottles. He should be standin’ in front of Congress with Barry Bonds doin’ some ‘splainin’.
But no! The Jerrmeister helps him sweep his drug plea under the carpet along with the reviews from his two previous jobs in the US (Durham & Tallahassee) which both gave him failing marks and sent him packing.
And…Jerry has known all this for YEARS and constantly defends him, saying “Meloche is my man!” (Cue Tammy Wynette soundtrack)
Me? I think more than the pooch is gettin’ screwed with this duo!
Leave a Comment