LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The trial of a Louisville Metro Council member facing removal over ethics violations entered its second day on Tuesday.

It's the first removal trial of a member in more than a decade. Proceedings began Monday and wrapped up around 11 p.m. with the first witness.

Councilman Anthony Piagentini, R-19, is accused of committing ethics violations when he co-sponsored an ordinance directing a $40 million federal grant that was awarded to his future employer, the Louisville Healthcare CEO Council, or CEOc. 

The former council minority leader recused himself before the final vote on the funding. After the measure passed, Piagentini took a consulting job with the group. In October 2023, the bipartisan Louisville Metro Ethics Commission found Piagentini guilty on six of seven charges levied against him in the case and recommended he be removed from Metro Council. The grant money was later pulled by Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg and has since been allocated elsewhere. 

Piagentini continues to maintain his innocence. A month after he was found guilty, the councilman appealed the ruling, arguing in a lawsuit that the findings are "tainted by bias and must be reversed."

"I would rather die than accept what they have accused me of," he said following the ruling.

Piagentini's colleagues are now weighing the charges against him and the possibility of his removal. His 24 fellow Council members are serving as the jury. A majority vote of 18 is needed to remove him.

This trial is centered around Councilman Anthony Piagentini's role in pushing a $40 million federal grant for his future employer.

The Ethics Commission found Piagentini committed six ethics violations. Two additional charges were added by the Council's Charging Committee — formed shortly after Piagentini was found guilty by the Ethics Commission — based on the outcome of the ethics trial for a total of eight charges.

Over the next few days, the Council will hear from many of the same witnesses and see the same evidence from Piagentini's ethics trial that happened last summer. Both sides have more than 10 witnesses to call, each person questioned by both attorneys and each Council member.

Tuesday, witness testimony continued. The first, Grace Simrall, was involved with judging the project seeking approval for the millions of dollars in federal COVID-19 relief funds. Simrall served as chief of Civic Innovation and Technology for Metro Louisville for about seven years. 

Simrall testified early on that while CEOc's intentions were noble, they were a startup with a small staff, and scored poorly compared to other eligible organizations when a $9 million grant was being discussed in 2021. She said when they were preparing how to spend the funds, Council President Markus Winkler, D-District 17, said they were looking for a transformative project and supported holding onto the funds.

Simrall explained that the $9 million grant eventually got combined with part of a different federal grant, which in the end added up to about $40 million.

When she learned Piagentini had taken a job consulting with CEOc during a meeting with Mayor Craig Greenberg in early 2023, Simrall said she was stunned, and there was an audible gasp.

When asked if she felt she had an obligation to file an ethics complaint as an officer of the city, Simrall said she did.

"We receive an annual ethics training. It's very clear about what types of things should be reported and we follow the process," she said.

Simrall said she didn't file the ethics complaint because someone else filed one shortly after. That was Kevin Fields, the President and CEO of Louisville Central Community Center.

When pressed by Piagentini's lawyer Tuesday, Simrall said that she did not know how CEOc ended up scoring compared to other organizations when the new grant emerged. She said she was not involved in the later stages of those decisions.

Tuesday's testimony lasted more than two hours. Former Council member Bill Hollander, a Democrat who represented the city's 9th District for eight years before retiring last year, was also called to testify.

Hollander chaired the Budget Committee when the $40 million grant in question came up. Video from the Council meeting where members voted on the grant was shown, including the moment Piagentini abstained and pulled his co-sponsorship of the grant. Hollander said that while he didn't explain why, which was expected, he also said there is an inherent trust with other Council members to be forthcoming about their business.

He also said he later found out Piagentini was consulting for CEOc in a Christmas card, adding that he was surprised and concerned.

"Concerned because of the potential implication of the federal rule, and because I thought we should know more about it," he said. 

Piagentini's lawyer then compared his client's abstentions to ones from other members in prior votes, where they do not explain their abstention other than conflict of interest. The attorney later asked Hollander why he didn't stop the December 2022 meeting before the vote to question why Piagentini had a conflict of interest. Hollander said, looking back, he wished they did ask at this point, but no one did that night.

Councilman Rick Blackwell, D-12, who is the presiding chair of the Court Council, ended the court day before Council members started asking Hollander questions.

The trial will resume Wednesday at 5 p.m.

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