Causey back after cussing out Commission, Blythe pounds the table, and Newby is at peace with his arrest

RICHMOND CITY HALL—Knives came out this week in Richmond’s City Hall, where commissioners and the city manager spent the last two days carving into employees, appointees, and in some cases, each other, for their allegedly poor or biased performance. Meanwhile, an elected official said of his recent arrest only that his "heart and mind are clear".

During Tuesday night's regularly scheduled City Commission meeting, Commissioner Jim Newby made his first public appearance on behalf of the City since being arrested for operating a vehicle under the influence during the Fourth of July holiday weekend.

In a social media post following his arrest, Newby wrote he did not "make excuses" for anything he does. During the meeting, Newby did not give a statement regarding his DUI, nor was it mentioned by anyone on the bench. At the close of the meeting, Mayor Robert Blythe asked if everyone’s “hearts and minds [were] clear,” Newby responded, “Believe me, if anybody’s hearts and minds [are] clear it’s mine.”

Newby told The Edge after the meeting that per the advice of his attorney, he would not comment on his arrest. Then he said, “You will probably see something about that soon,” but would not elaborate.

Meanwhile, the behavior of two City Hall employees were in the spotlight during the meeting. After approval of the minutes, the Commission went into executive session for about 15 minutes. Afterwards, in a unanimous roll call vote, they fired Parks Department worker Steven Snowden, “because of his inability to perform the duties of his position,” according to an order read by City Clerk Lisa Cassity. Further details were not shared during the open session.

The Commission's vote to hire or fire personnel has to be made during an open session, by statute, but the Commissioners are not required to publicly detail their decisions, City attorney Chris Johnson told The Edge in an interview after the meeting. That is why the cause of Snowden’s dismissal was discussed in the executive session, according to Johnson. 

The Commission also unanimously voted to reinstate Kevin Causey as the director of Planning & Zoning. Causey had been demoted after he cussed out Commissioners in a personnel meeting, credible sources told The Edge. Causey also had been written up for a series of other more serious infractions, according to the sources. The Edge is withholding the details of these matters to protect the innocent. The majority sentiment in City Hall, according to one of the sources, was to fire Causey, but Commissioner Tammy Cole intervened on his behalf.

“Richmond is a growing city, growing by leaps and bounds actually. And our population growth has increased,” Cole said during the Commission meeting. “A city of our size needs to have an established permanent director for Planning & Zoning.”

Newby said he supported reinstating Causey, but that Causey should apologize. “Not an apology like where you have to stand before the Commission and say ‘Hey, I apologize.’ Just see one of us in the parking lot [and say,] ‘Hey, sorry about what went down. Let’s move forward with the city of Richmond.’ Just something like that,” Newby said. “I think right now is telling a lot but we can’t see. [Causey’s] either looking at the television screen which he's watching, and he’s nodding, saying you guys are right, or he’s throwing stuff at the screen.” 

Also during the public portion of the meeting, the Commissioners debated putting Causey on probation but Johnson said, “The probationary period really doesn’t give any additional powers to the city.” City Manager Rob Minerich said the City's Human Resources department could recommend further professional training for Causey if the commission felt it was necessary.

Meanwhile, during a City Commission work session today, words got hot. James Miller, vice chair of the Planning & Zoning Commission, and Coy Perkins, another P&Z Commissioner, attend the meeting, asking the City implement an education program for P&Z Commissioners before they are allowed to vote. 

It is required by the Commonwealth of Kentucky that P&Z Commissioners undergo training. However, it is not required for the training to be completed before they are allowed to vote. 

Johnson, who also attended the work session, said that a mandated training program through the Kentucky League of Cities could be put on the agenda for a vote, but the request would have to come from the entire P&Z Commission and not just from individual members. 

Miller and Perkins also wanted to mandate P&Z Commissioners to explain themselves for all votes. They claimed two Commissioners on the board were pro-development, which they believed compromises those Commissioners' votes.

Johnson shot down their argument. 

“There is absolutely no authority under a Kentucky law to require somebody to explain your vote,” Johnson said.

Miller and Perkins would not name the two Commissioners they were concerned about. The other P&Z Commissioners are Ken DeGrant, Theodora Miles, Gary Short, Michael Francis, and P & Z Chair Eugene Estelle. 

Miller and Perkins said they were not accusing their fellow P&Z Commissioners of committing any specific ethical violations, but said what concerned them was the potential for their conflict of interest. 

“I’ll stand behind it. I honestly don’t think that certain vocations should be on Planning & Zoning,” Perkins said. 

Mayor Robert Blythe put it another way. “If I hear correctly, what the two members who are here are saying is that if someone votes opposite the way you vote, you want them off the board,” Blythe said. 

“If it’s something that someone on the board cannot handle, I would suggest that you resign,” Blythe said. “That’s the way that’s dealt with. If you don’t like the board, resign,” he yelled and smacked the table, before addressing City Manager Rob Minerich. “Calm me down, Rob.”

“I’m trying to,” Minerich said as Miller and Perkins began to respond. He suggested that Miller and Perkins communicate with the other P&Z Commissioners individually to understand how they are going to vote on matters, and their reasons for doing so. "That's how votes get done in any form of government,” Minerich said. “If you're talking to a colleague in the hallway about an issue, and you're trying to get their take on it and how they're going to vote, and you have that cordial conversation.” 

After some back and forth between Minerich and Miller over whether discussing a vote outside of a meeting, also known as "whipping", violated transparency laws, Johnson clarified, “There is a firm recognition under Kentucky Attorneys General opinions that whipping of votes is absolutely acceptable. There is no open meetings violation.” He added that it is only a violation if there is a quorum present for the discussion outside of the meeting.

In May, Miller and Perkins broke with their fellow P&Z colleagues, coming before the City Commission to urge its members not accept a P&Z recommendation to change Amberly Way from B-1 (small business) to B-3 (highway business). Miller and Perkins argued that doing so would be in violation of the City’s comprehensive plan. The developer who requested the zone change eventually withdrew the request. 

Miller said, “You heard me for the last time,” and walked out. Perkins hugged Minerich and followed. 

Next up, Minerich informed the City Commission he wants to dismantle the Richmond Industrial Development Corporation, and rely on the City’s Department of Economic Development instead, citing the efficiencies that dispensing with the RIDC board would create. These would include dramatically accelerating the time between when RIDC Chair Brad Sowden takes inquiries from interested businesses to when he has the Commission’s permission to move forward.

“We've got a team of people right now that are moving fast, and we really want to just tuck them into that Department of Economic Development underneath the City,” Minerich said. The Commission agreed to add the matter to its regularly scheduled meeting on  August 11.

Other City business discussed in Tuesday evening's regularly scheduled meeting included the unanimous roll call vote to donate 8.3 acres to the Kentucky State Police for their new post. This donation was discussed in the executive session. 

“With our new purchase of the 189 acres on Duncannon, this is a great location for them,” Minerich said. “And it also helps our industrial development. New industry and existing industry love the fact that a new KSP post is going at that location. So it’s a win for both of us.” 

Minerich also told the Commission that Richmond will receive $2 million from the Kentucky Product Development Initiative (KDPI) which would be used to develop the 189 acres into an industrial park. The City is obligated to match 20% of the state grant. That total is $400,000, which Minerich said would come from the City's capital projects fund.

The price of road salt for winter weather increased by $38 per ton. Even so, Minerich said the City will order more than last year, given how quickly the supply was depleted last winter.

During the public comment section of the meeting, Jason and Bethany Freeman, the owners of Prosigns, a business located on Big Hill Avenue that was flooded last month during the heavy rains, asked the Commission to address infrastructure issues that caused the flooding in that area. 

Commissioner Newby wanted to know if the City could make a charitable donation to Georgia Parks, who runs the back-to-school backpacks program and is short of approximately 200 backpacks. Minerich said she would be eligible to apply for money from the charitable contributions fund.

Whitney McKnight contributed to this report.