City officially joins suit against state

Local News

November 17, 2009

By TRICIA NEAL, Staff Writer The Commonwealth Journal Tue Nov 17, 2009, 08:18 PM EST

Somerset — The City of Somerset has officially joined with several other city and county governments in the state in filing a petition for declaratory judgment against the Kentucky Labor Cabinet following an audit regarding calculation of firefighter overtime and state training incentive pay for members of paid fire departments.

Madison County’s Fiscal Court and the cities of Cynthiana, Danville, Florence, Georgetown, Glasgow, Nicholasville, Paris, Richmond, Somerset, and Winchester are named on the petition, which was filed this week in Franklin County’s Circuit Court.

“The Labor Cabinet has been vigorously pursuing claims against local governments for alleged overtime owed on supplemental funds to firefighters funneled from the state through the Kentucky Fire Commission and the local governments,” reads a release from Lexington law firm Sturgill, Turner, Barker & Moloney, PLLC, which represents the City of Somerset.

“Firefighters receive these supplemental funds — $3,100 per year per firefighter — if they obtain a specific number of hours in fire service training each year. These funds are known as state training incentive funds. The Labor Cabinet seeks payment of overtime on these funds for each firefighter for five years, or more in some cases.”

Somerset City Attorney Carrie Wiese says cities had been calculating overtime pay for firefighters in a manner which had originally been deemed appropriate by state auditors, however, the outcome of a lawsuit later determined that some agencies weren’t making correct calculations. In the end, the state asked governmental agencies to recalculate and pay up to five years worth of overtime pay for some firefighters.

Attorneys for the city say the Kentucky Fire Commission, not local governments, have control over the state incentive fund program, and that, “over the years, the local governments have followed the directives of the Fire Commission in how to pay overtime.”

“The Fire Commission contracts with local governments to implement its policies and directives with respect to firefighter training and education requirements and the receipt, use, accounting, and distribution of the state training incentive funds,” the release says.

“The local governments have no control whatsoever on the requirements, the functioning, or the management of the state incentive fund program. The local governments act merely as conduits to funnel the money from the state to the firefighters.”

The declaratory judgment action seeks “a declaration of the rights and obligations of the local governments with respect to overtime on state training incentive funds where the local governments acted only as agents of the Commonwealth in distributing the funds to firefighters.”

“Bringing the declaratory judgment action is the most efficient and expeditious way to get these legal issues resolved and determine what the local governments’ legal obligations are,” the release says.

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Pulaski carries Girdler to win

In the weeks leading up to Tuesday’s primary election, it was impossible to miss the colorful signs dotting nearly every Pulaski roadway. The names in the race for the 15th State Senatorial District seat popped out: A.C. Donahue. Chris Girdler. Mark Polston.

Once citizens hit the ballots, however, the results mirrored the dimensions of the signs themselves: Chris Girdler stood the tallest.

Girdler, deputy district director for Congressman Harold “Hal” Rogers, ran away with the votes inside Pulaski County’s borders, earning 3,926 votes for 62.05 percent of the total number cast.

That number more than doubled the next highest vote-getter, businessman Mark Polston, who raked in 1,624 votes for 25.67 percent.

However, Polston — who owns Classic Carpet, a home-flooring business located just off the southern 914 bypass — can claim a moral victory ... three of them, in fact. In all three counties in the district other than Pulaski — those being Adair, Casey, and Russell Counties — Polston actually edged out Girdler.

In Adair, Polston beat Girdler 629 to 394. In Casey County, it was 538 to 417, and in Russell, it was 1,862 to 1,038.

Polston said he just “couldn’t pull it out with the numbers” and that “the machine worked for” Girdler in Pulaski County.

“I think that was their strategy — I think they had a Pulaski County strategy all along,” said Polston. “They played the political game well.”

Polston said the difference between his and Girdler’s campaigns was that “mine was a very, very grass roots campaign,” he said. “I did not have a political machine behind me. I understand how this process works, and in this instance, he prevailed.”

As for why Girdler didn’t take three of four counties, the winning candidate — since there are no Democrats in the race, winning the Republican primary was effectively a final victory for Girdler — said he didn’t have an answer for that.

However, “I believe things happen for a reason and I hope the long and strenuous campaign will only heighten my desire to move beyond the bitterness and partisanship of the recent past,” said Girdler.

“Regionalism is a goal of mine, and I look forward to helping all four counties,” he added, noting that he campaigned heavily in each of them.

Sen. Vernie McGaha, the long-time state senator whose seat the candidates were vying for, actually supported Polston after Liberty’s Todd Hoskins dropped out of the race earlier this month.

Donahue, a local attorney, got 556 votes in Pulaski County, 8.79 percent of the vote. He only received 145 votes in Russell County, 74 in Adair County, and 75 in Casey County, where hometown candidate Hoskins almost matched him with 71 votes despite no longer being officially in the race.

Polston said he’s “still digesting” what happened, and though “the process has been a very good experience for me,” he wouldn’t commit to running again in the future. “I wouldn’t shut the door to anything, but I’m not opening any doors either.”

Still, “I think I got a lot of people involved in the process that had not been involved before and would not have been otherwise,” he said. “A lot of people got out and worked really hard, got motivated to talk to friends and neighbors. I think a lot of people became involved through this campaign that are going to be involved for a long time.”

Girdler stressed his “positive message” and said that Rogers is a “mentor and good friend” that he would turn to for advice in dealing with a frequently combative legislative body in Frankfort, one for which Girdler hopes to help change the culture.

Girdler said that he was “confident and optimistic” during the day Tuesday because he’d “worked extremely hard.” Nevertheless, the realization that he’d won gave him “chill bumps,” he said.

“I’m absolutely honored,” said Girdler. “The position of state senator is more than an honor, more than an office. It’s a charge to keep, and I will give it my all.

“I pledge to be the people’s state senator,” he added. “I look forward to working with everyone to move this region forward.”

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