Louisville commission finds Metro Councilman Anthony Piagentini committed ethics violations, recommends removal

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The city's ethics board Thursday found Louisville Metro Council member Anthony Piagentini committed several ethics violations over his role in a $40 million federal grant he backed for his future employer.

The Louisville Metro Ethics Commission unanimously found Piagentini violated six of seven charges. The commission unanimously recommended Piagentini be removed from Metro Council and imposed a $500 fine for each violation — for a total of $3,000.

"The public deserves to know that their elected public servants are not involving themselves in schemes to individually enrich themselves, and to know that, when such an actor is caught, they will be dealt with appropriately," the commission said in its 55-page ruling, written by chairwoman Dee Pregliasco.

After the ruling Thursday afternoon, Piagentini called it a "complete travesty of justice." He said he'll "use every legal means at my disposal to fight this."

Piagentini said he will hold a news conference Friday morning.

"I will not go down with this biased, ridiculous opinion," he told reporters. "I am looking forward to having my day. I have been quiet with respect to the process, but that will be no more."

The full council will now take up the issue with two-thirds of the 25 members needing to vote to remove Piagentini.

Metro Council President Markus Winkler (D-17) said in a statement after the ruling that the council has received the written findings and verdict and "we want to express our sincere appreciation to the Ethics Commission for conducting a comprehensive review of this matter.

"We take these concerns very seriously," Winkler said. "Together, we will carefully examine the recommendations and determine the subsequent actions to be taken.”

Mayor Craig Greenberg said in a statement that the findings of the Ethics Commission are "clear and unanimous. My administration will swiftly respond to these serious violations to preserve the public’s trust in Metro Government."

The case against Piagentini involved seven alleged violations of Metro government's ethics code, including charges that he didn't disqualify himself from a matter before the Metro Council in which he had a financial or personal interest; failed to disclose that interest and improperly solicited or accepted a job.

The ethics commission, a bipartisan board appointed by the mayor, found Piagentini did not violate the charge that he failed to timely report updating his financial disclosure forms.

Piagentini, according to the ethics commission's findings, "shows little or no remorse for the situation he has caused" and has eroded public trust in the city.

The ethics complaint was brought by Kevin Fields Sr., CEO of Louisville Central Community Centers, which unsuccessfully vied for American Rescue Plan funding appropriated by the Metro Council. Fields signed the complaint after Louisville Public Media reported earlier this year on Piagentini's new job.

The ethics commission praised Fields for his "extraordinary act of good citizenry" in filing the complaint, but noted that his company did not suffer an immediate financial harm because there is no way to know if he would have been awarded the funds.

Piagentini, a Republican who represents Middletown and surrounding areas in eastern Jefferson County, co-sponsored an ordinance directing $40 million in federal COVID-19 pandemic relief money to the Louisville Healthcare CEO Council. The measure passed the Metro Council on Dec. 1, and he took a consulting job with the group the next day, according to evidence shown at his August trial.

He agreed to a payment of $240,000 a year.

The ethics commission ruling accuses Piagentini of taking "advantage of a perilous moment in government finance," during the pandemic, with the goal of enriching himself.

"The amount of funds involved is truly extraordinary and, as a result, required the utmost conscientiousness with regard to its handling," the ruling says. "Instead, the opposite occurred."

On Thursday, Piagentini said he was offered a job and did "precisely what the law and all of the council members over there have done for 20 years."

Piagentini attorney Brooken Smith argued at trial that there was no evidence of ethics violations, including that the council member "concocted and masterminded a plan to leverage the ARP funds to get a job."

Kent Wicker, an attorney for Fields, contended that Piagentini violated ethics rules by having a "private interest" in the job he ultimately took well before he signed a formal agreement to take it.

The ethics commission ruling expressed doubt that Piagentini was the best qualified candidate for the position offered at CEOc and would not have gotten the job were it not for being on the Metro Council.

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