Somerset —

Somerset’s acting police chief is finally speaking out about the issues between the City of Somerset and the Lake Cumberland Area Drug Task Force — and his story is considerably different than the one that’s been told in recent days by the drug task force director. Acting Chief Doug Nelson says the drug task force director, David Gilbert, started the controversy by refusing to follow the proper hiring procedure when selecting a new task force agent. Gilbert, on the other hand, says that accusation isn’t true — and that Nelson has refused to communicate with him about hiring issues he approached him with last month. Meanwhile, in the absence of Mayor Eddie Girdler at a Somerset city council meeting held Monday evening, council members unanim-ously passed a resolution in support of the LCADTF, and an attorney representing the task force seemed to systematically strip down a letter from the mayor which was supposed to have explained the city’s reasons for its lessened involvement in the drug task force — a move which could put the task force in jeopardy of losing federal funding. He said - He said Gilbert has said problems began last month, when the LCADTF board began considering hiring retired U.S. Marshal Mike Walters as a task force agent. Gilbert said Nelson, who served on the drug task force’s board until last week, was initially fine with Walters’ employment, but that he later changed his tune, telling board members that “nobody was going to tell him who to hire.” Shortly thereafter, Nelson resigned from his position on the board and removed a Somerset Police officer from his position on the task force. City of Somerset administrators then notified task force employees that their insurance and retirement benefits would be expiring within 30 days, and that the city would no longer be handling the task force’s accounting or payroll paperwork. Neither Girdler nor Nelson had spoken to the media concerning this issue until yesterday, when Nelson unloaded his version of the story to a Commonwealth Journal reporter. Nelson claims that Gilbert sent him an e-mail last month inquiring about the proper hiring process for a new drug task force agent. Nelson said he sent a memo back to Gilbert which outlined the hiring process according to the Kentucky Peace Officer Professional Standards, but that memo was ignored, and Gilbert hired Walters — “his buddy” — for the position. The proper hiring process, Nelson said, should have included posting the job, accepting applications, and several other steps. “(Gilbert) didn’t want to advertise the job,” Nelson said. “He just wanted to hire his buddy.” Next, Nelson said, Gilbert sent a memo to the City of Somerset’s human resources manager, informing her that drug task force employees are not city employees. At that point, Nelson said, the City of Somerset began the process of removing the task force employees as city employees — which entailed stripping those individuals of their insurance and retirement benefits. “If you’re not a city employee, why are you trying to get the city’s insurance? And why would I swear you in as a Somerset police officer if I have no authority over you?” Nelson said. Nelson said Gilbert met with City Attorney Carrie Wiese to attempt to iron out their problems — but that, when some city council members caught wind of the brewing controversy, the situation compounded. Nelson said he believes city councilors are turning the issue into a political one in an attempt to make Mayor Girdler look bad. “It boils down to (Gilbert) didn’t want them to be city employees because he didn’t want to have to follow the proper (hiring) procedure,” Nelson said. “He’s the one that started this. ... The mayor had nothing to do with this.” Nelson claims that neither he nor any of his officers want to see any harm come to the LCADTF. “Everyone wants to support the task force,” he said, “But I want (Gilbert) to do what’s right and give everybody an opportunity to be hired.” Gilbert claims he never had Walters hand-picked for the position on the task force. “(Nelson) told me he had no problem with me hiring Mike Walters,” Gilbert said. He said he asked Nelson if his department would handle the posting of the drug task force’s open position. Nelson originally told him he would take care of that, Gilbert said, but it was never done. Gilbert also claims he never received a memo from Nelson outlining the city’s hiring procedures. “This whole thing could have been stopped if (Nelson) had returned my e-mails,” Gilbert said. Council gets involved During Monday’s city council meeting, councilors unanimously passed a resolution in support of the LCADTF, and at least one council member, Tim Rutherford, offered a personal apology to drug task force employees and board members for the troubles they’ve encountered over the past several weeks. Several councilors said they believed the presence of the drug task force in Somerset was important. Local attorney Joe Travis, who has been hired to represent the LCADTF, told councilors there were several pieces of misinformation in a letter sent by Mayor Girdler defending the city’s position on the issue. He also indicated that parts of the mayor’s letter — in which Girdler said the controversy with the drug task force had “put the city in a predicament” and that there were issues of “potential liability and fairness” — were unclear. Council members, at Travis’ advice, also passed a resolution requesting that the actions put in motion by Girdler and Nelson — such as terminating the employees’ benefits — be stalled for 60 days while a solution is sought. The missing mayor Mayor Girdler’s absence from a heavily-attended council meeting Monday was glaring, and several in attendance expressed shock that he would miss a meeting of such importance. Girdler, however, said he had other priorities Monday evening — ones which will ultimately have a positive effect on residents and businesses in Somerset. “Nobody had requested to be on the agenda,” he said. “We have to operate in a business-like manner. These groups that come in without asking to be put on the agenda — that has to stop.” Concerning his whereabouts Monday evening, Girdler said, “I was doing my job, saving millions of dollars for the city in the form of lower gas prices and increasing revenue by $3 million.” Girdler said he spent Monday evening discussing a gas pipeline system expansion — a project bigger than any the city has experienced in the last several decades. Girdler said he was “very pleased” with the outcome of the meeting he attended Monday, and he said an announcement would be made shortly concerning the “huge benefits” the city would reap in the coming years as a result of topics discussed there. Girdler said he would have chosen to attend the gas meeting rather than preside over Monday’s council meeting even if he had known the issue of the drug task force was going to be discussed. “I work for the City of Somerset, not any task force,” Girdler said. “My priority is what’s best for the City of Somerset, and saving hundreds of dollars for families and thousands of dollars for businesses.”