Here’s the press release.
Here’s (Warning: External PDF Link) the audit.
Here’s Klepal’s story about it.
Larry Zielke’s rear end is sore today.
UPDATE: And just like that, heads are starting to roll. Couldn’t have happened to a nicer bunch of people.
26 responses so far ↓
1 Earl // Dec 16, 2011 at 11:26 am
I wonder what Zielke’s history with Abramson reads like. That would be the first logical place to look when investigating why MSD is the way it is.
Things happened the way they happened in the old City of Louisville, and the Louisville Metro and its quasi-government agencies, because that was the way Abramson wanted it to happen. He appointed everyone on those boards, along with management. I believe that he also held a spot on the boards as mayor.
And now he’s in line to be governor. Let’s hope that’s not all he’s in line for.
2 G'town Reader // Dec 16, 2011 at 12:08 pm
Regarding the future: When MSD bids for legal services, Zielke’s firm will already have an unfair competitive advantage. Their past EXCESSIVE earnings from MSD, giving them a huge cash cushion, will better position them to seemingly REDUCE their future bids.
3 G'town Reader // Dec 16, 2011 at 12:10 pm
Resignations!
4 Chip // Dec 16, 2011 at 2:52 pm
Watch the long term, when MSD will become a profit center for Metro, similar to The LWCo under the hidden agenda of necc. rate increases.
5 Bill // Dec 16, 2011 at 2:54 pm
Jerry used to refer to George and Bebe Melton as his little “rubber stamps” because they were solid votes for whatever he wanted and he liked rubber stamps because he could count on those people to go along with whatever BS he was peddling.
These clowns at MSD need to be fired immediately. No resignations, no coverups, just plain fired. If you worked in private industry doing some of this stuff you would have been canned in an instant. Putting someone from the Louisville Water Company in charge of MSD is another huge mistake. Just a way of putting one unaccountable government bureaucrat in the place of another that was forced out. Or as the Kentucky birdcage liner said, retire in the spring. What a laugh.
6 G'town Reader // Dec 16, 2011 at 3:31 pm
I think I met a Greg Heintzman in the mid-’80s… He was working for a bank??
7 Steve // Dec 16, 2011 at 5:36 pm
I am sure they all are glad that the Mayor for Life got the Lt. Gov. gig. Bet he has received a lot of calls from his MSD board buddies looking for board appointments in the state.
8 The Tim // Dec 16, 2011 at 5:48 pm
Sounds like, after a year, Fischer finally decides to become mayor.
9 totalfailure // Dec 16, 2011 at 6:14 pm
How did Gerald Neal come out smelling like a rose? He was mixed in with this bunch? He did a lot of MSD’s work and Zielke usually had to fix whatever Neal screwed up.
10 The Highlander // Dec 16, 2011 at 6:23 pm
Total Failure: Let me add some insult to your injury, here. What the hell did they name the building for Neal’s wife for?
11 G'town Reader // Dec 16, 2011 at 6:26 pm
This shows that Schardein has more “power” than Mayor Greg. Other wise he would have been fired, & his “offer” of consulting services summarily & emphatically & scornfully declined – along with his intent to continue to pad his tax-payer & rate-payer funded retirement.
But…Mayor Jerr allowed that fired Buntin woman in the housing dept. to collect unemployment benefits.
12 jake // Dec 16, 2011 at 6:30 pm
You people and your common sense are so funny.
It’s so cute watching people who think their government shouldn’t be corrupt.
HA.
13 radioman // Dec 16, 2011 at 11:48 pm
We need to demand refunds.
14 The Highlander // Dec 17, 2011 at 9:30 am
NAW radioman: Forget the refunds. It’s been said that “you can indict a ham sandwich.” Well we have a ham-ass sandwich here — he’s the Lt. Governor. He is DIRECTLY responsible for this entire mess. He became Mayor in 1985 and Zielke had ONLY been at MSD for 1 year. Sooo for 26 years Ham Head allowed this travesty to take place.
Indict the Ham Sandwich that caused all this and let him and Zielke explain there way out in front of a criminal jury.
That’s the answer.
15 Chip // Dec 17, 2011 at 1:04 pm
Jake:
Any idea why A Kentucky Newspaper gave the story yesterday to Klepal rather than Bruggers? He’s the one that’s worked relentlessly on these stories, and I was somewhat surprised they didn’t give him a victory lap with the audit results.
16 jake // Dec 17, 2011 at 1:07 pm
Crit’s staffer picked the person by providing an embargoed copy of the audit the day before it was released.
17 totalfailure // Dec 17, 2011 at 2:57 pm
Here are my questions:
1.) Zielke’s “contribution” to KDP soften the blow or buy him time for a defense?
2) Gerald Neal had to know what was going on or least took part in the festivities. How did he not get a slap on the wrist?
3) Crit again comes through with a pretty good report. Can Adam E. continue to hold people accountable?
4) Why in the hell did this report not come out sooner? lets say around election time so McCheese could sweat a little instead of getting a cake walk.
5) The traditional press will let Fischer off the hook. He could have cleaned immediately. He had to wait for somebody to tell him what to do.
6) Crit please tell Fischy what to do about EMS and LMAS
18 jake // Dec 17, 2011 at 3:02 pm
Crit abandoned much of her credibility when she half-assed the KRS audit.
While this MSD mess is a good one, she’s barely scratched the surface.
19 The Highlander // Dec 17, 2011 at 4:09 pm
Jake:
Believe me — your last sentence is absolutely correct. There is no way on God’s green Earth that criminal activity has not taken place.
This situation requires a state of federal grand jury. The local Commonwealth’s Attorney is NOT capable of handling this, from a skill or intellectual standpoint. Things of this magnitude have been handled in Chicago by the federal grand jury. There simply has to be federal money involved in all this — which should accord the U.S. Attorney to have jurisdiction to conduct at least a 90 day Grand Jury Investigation — that MUST include Happy Pants’ involvement or non-involvement, an examination of Happy’s finances to ascertain WHY he let this conduct take place for 26 years.
Know what — It’ll never happen, because this is Kentucky — America’s 3rd world country (nee a banana republic).
20 Bill // Dec 17, 2011 at 5:07 pm
Can the MSD Board, mostly past members, be sued/held legally accountable for failure to perform their duties? What exactly did they think they were supposed to do?
Was anyone paying attention to anything …anyone?
21 Debbie // Dec 17, 2011 at 5:16 pm
I agree with Jake on his observations of the past two audits. Why is no one mentioning Gordon Garner or Joe Corradino?
22 jake // Dec 17, 2011 at 5:44 pm
Bill: Everyone was paying attention.
Tons of people in Louisville have been screaming about MSD for years. Greg Fischer even promised to clean up the mess prior to being elected. And look what happened – it took a year for him to do absolutely nothing until he was forced to take action.
More importantly, tons of people were paying attention during Jerry’s administration and chose to do nothing.
People are only waking up now because everybody’s going broke and almost no one has a financial safety net. They refused to do or say anything when everything was puppies and rainbows – anything other than attack folks who dared ask questions (they continue to do this, obviously, or they wouldn’t still be trying to make me bigger than I am)…
23 Bill // Dec 17, 2011 at 7:50 pm
Jake, I agree with your statements regarding how things got to this point. They are true about a lot of things locally, statewide and nationally.
Elected officials and their appointees must be held accountable.
I am curious, and do not know the MSD Board members statutory liability for their action/inaction. Does anyone know if they have liability for lack of oversight as board members.
It is a good thing that folks are paying attention now..better late than never. Just a shame that it took so long.
24 The Highlander // Dec 18, 2011 at 9:15 am
Bill: There’s no law against ‘stupidity.’ The answer is the ballot box, an educated group of voters and a local media that operates (as it’s supposed to –) as a watchdog.
You can’t obtain an ‘educated group of voters’ when you have one of the worst public school systems in America and you can’t clean out the crap in office when the local newspaper has let the ‘leader’ get off with complete and utter failure — AND THEN LET HIM GET ELECTED AS LT. GOVERNOR.
This place is a 3rd world country — a banana republic. It requires a revolution — but there’s no one who wants to undertake the process.
25 G'town Reader // Dec 18, 2011 at 12:16 pm
Kentuckians should have legal access to Recall Referendums.
26 keatssycamore // Dec 19, 2011 at 2:35 pm
I agree with Debbie and Jake about Crit. The KRS thing was weak. This isn’t that great either. Maybe she wants to be Governor?
Or maybe Willie Stark had it right, “There is always something.”
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