08/21/2020
KENTUCKY DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE COMMISSION VOTES TO SUE THE BESHEAR ADMINISTRATION AND THE GOVERNOR GOES...GOOFY!
Yesterday the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Commission had a special meeting to clarify the issues surrounding Commissioner Rich Storm’s contract renewal. They also wanted the sportsmen and outdoor women of the Commonwealth to know their position on the reinstatement of Storm and their legal remedies moving forward.
In an historic and unanimous vote (7-0), the Commission voted to reassert their sole and legal authority to hire and fire the head of the Department. Their authority is vested in the 150 Kentucky Revised Statutes.
The Commission also voted to hire Attorney General Daniel Cameron’s office to provide legal counsel to the Commission in regard to the reappointment of Storm and the Beshear Administrations efforts to negate that contract.
They also voted to authorize the Attorney General’s office to initiate any legal proceedings and appeals necessary to implement the Commissions appointment and, if necessary, take the appeal all the way to the Kentucky Supreme Court.
Just a couple of hours after the special Commission meeting, Governor Andy Beshear interrupted his statewide televised Covid update to do what too many politicians resort to when they “get their hand caught in the cookie jar”. It was a blatant “face saving” move to cover up his money grab and power moves that fly in the face of the wishes of more than 750,000 Sportsmen and Outdoor Women. The overwhelming majority of outdoor folks revere the laws designed to protect the Commission’s authority and the monies in the Fish and Game Fund.
In his press conference, Beshear resorted to deceit and deception to cover his tracks. He called the impending lawsuit “goofy”, when in fact it is his clumsy attempts to mislead the public that are “goofy”. He also said it was “silly”, but it is revealing he felt compelled to address it in the middle of a Covid update. Thou doth protesteth too loudly, Sir.
While on his soapbox to the general public about past problems at Fish and Wildlife he resorted to deflection. He glaringly failed to mention that the Legislature rebuked his attempt to grab 11 million of your Fish and Game money, and that the Attorney General ruled his attempts at firing the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Commission were contrary to law. The Governor also failed to reveal that Storm’s contract renewal was unanimously approved by the Commission and passed muster by the Contract Review Committee in the Legislature. That is deception AND deflection. He’s disregarding the law and usurping the Legislature and Attorney General’s findings, acting as a man who would be king. That’s Goofy!
Then he proceeded to attack Commissioner Storm’s initial hiring under Governor Matt Bevin’s administration. He even quoted me as saying the Commission was “stacking the deck” during the hiring process. I absolutely objected to the process at the time, along with many of the leaders in the conservation community. What happened with Storm’s initial hiring was heavily influenced by Governor Bevin’s Tourism Cabinet Secretary, Don Parkinson. In conversations with the Commissioners, they have told me they have regrets about the way the process was handled due to the undue influence of the Cabinet Secretary and Cabinet Lawyers. Andy Beshear was the Attorney General at the time ... if he thought there was a problem, why didn’t he address it then ?? We all learn from our mistakes, and this time the Commission did it right according to the process and the law. That’s what this is all about, following legal precedent, not Rich Storm.
Beshear tried to use the excuse that he has objected to Storm’s contract renewal based upon the fact that it is a two year contract and he attempted to defend the one year contract his Tourism Cabinet offered to Storm. The Tourism Cabinet can not issue a contract to the Commissioner, it is without legal standing. Then Beshear protested that Storm’s $140,000 contract for two years is a lot of money in the face of Kentucky’s current economic conditions. There’s more deceit and deception here.
In the first place, he’s misleading the public about the issuance of two year contracts. The Contract Review Committee Chairman, Senator Stephen Meredith and Committee Member Senator Paul Hornback have revealed that more than 900 two year contracts have been approved by Beshear’s Finance and Administration Cabinet. Appallingly, several of those two year contracts were given to Beshear’s Tourism Cabinet.
To make matters worse, Beshear’s newly appointed Commissioner of Education, Jason Glass, was approved for a four year contract for $260,000 PER YEAR. Incidentally, that is a $60,000 raise from the previous Commissioner of Education’s salary. So much for Beshear’s deceitful claims about Storm’s contract, he is speaking with a forked tongue!
No other Governor besides Wallace Wilkinson has ever attempted to take your money like Governor Beshear. I reported on Wilkinson’s money grab several decades ago on my Sunday night radio show. The Legislature put it back the very next day! Don’t be fooled by Governor Beshear’s rhetoric. Beshear’s “goofy” antics are all about your money!
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