Monday, June 8, 2009 4:48 pm
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Kentucky League of Cities’ President Sylvia Lovely and staff have been fiddlin’ while Rome (as in the towns and cities they represent across the Commonwealth) is burning down. Linda Blackford has the story. Take two pain killers and practice deep breathing before reading the whole thing. League prospers as cities struggle . State Auditor Crit Luallen told the LexHerald she would wait to see if the League’s Board takes action.
Here’s just a taste of Blackford’s story:
As cities have laid workers off, Lovely, who came to the League as a lawyer in 1988, has seen her compensation package grow to $315,000 — a 25.5 percent increase since 2006. She drives a BMW SUV provided by the League and, when she travels, her husband, Bernard Lovely, often goes with her at the expense of the organization.
As cities have cut services, the top three executives of the League have charged more than $300,000 for travel, meals and other expenses since 2006, according to records obtained by the Herald-Leader under the state's Open Records Act. In 2008, travel by all League employees cost about $457,000, according to its 2008 financial statement.
Mayor Fred Cox of Clinton contacted the League before the City Council met in June to consider insurance bids. The Mayor told the Council that no one at the League got back to him. Maybe they were out of town.