FRANKFORT — The Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Commission voted Wednesday to sue the administration of Gov. Andy Beshear in a continuing battle over the commissioner of the state's fish and wildlife resources agency.
Beshear forcefully criticized the commission in a lengthy portion of his daily press conference later that afternoon, calling the move "silly" and "goofy."
The vote by the governing board of the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources comes after months of disagreements between the commission and administration on the contract extension of commissioner Rich Storm, hired to lead the agency in January 2019 on a one-year contract.
The commission voted to extend Storm's contract for two years this January, but the Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet only offered a one-year extension, which he declined.
In response, the administration stopped issuing a paycheck to Storm in late July, drawing public criticism from the commission and Republican elected officials.
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That move drew the response of the commission Wednesday, whose seven members voted unanimously to retain Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron to sue the Beshear administration over its ability to hire Storm.
Spokespersons for Beshear have previously said that it offered a one-year, $140,000 contract for Storm because the Kentucky General Assembly only passing a one-year budget, though the commission and Republican officials pointed to other multi-year contracts recently approved by the administration.
Beshear addressed the commission's vote to sue him Wednesday by bringing up multiple critical state audits of the agency in recent years, including one by state Auditor Mike Harmon in 2018.
Harmon's audit stated the agency needed a "change in culture" after his office found numerous violations of state and federal law regarding the agency's handling of public money.
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"It's silly to suggest that this group, with its past, should have absolutely no oversight and gets to make all of its financial decisions that simply have to be signed off by a cabinet of state government that is responsible for spending every dollar of public funds wisely," Beshear said. "And given that the authority is in statute and even in the contract, going to court is just goofy."
Beshear noted that Storm had been chairman of the Fish and Wildlife Commission during the period of Harmon's critical audit, interviewing outside candidates for commissioner that were rejected by a board that instead hired him, "one of their buddies."
"They rejected every one of those outsiders and they hired him, the head of the board that was supposed to be overseeing this group when they had this scathing audit and multiple different laws being violated, spending money inappropriately, not entering contracts the right way."
Harmon responded to the war of words between Beshear and the commission in a press release late Wednesday, state that while his office stands by the audit's findings on the agency, "the KDFWR commission also has the sole authority, according to statute and as recently reaffirmed by the attorney general, to choose their own commissioner."
The state legislature's Government Contract Review Committee approved the commission's two-year contract for Storm at its July meeting.
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At its meeting this week, committee co-chairman Sen. Stephen Meredith, R-Leitchfield, said the Beshear administration was inconsistent and hypocritical in its insistence on one-year contracts by noting a number of two-year contracts sent for the committee's approval in that meeting.The committee voted to reject a number of multi-year contracts approved by the administration.
Reach reporter Joe Sonka at jsonka@courierjournal.com or 502-582-4472 and follow him on Twitter at @joesonka. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courierjournal.com/subscribe.
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Fish and Wildlife commission to sue Beshear administration in fight over commissioner - Courier Journal
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