Former Bluegrass Airport Board Chairman Up for Next Appointment
Bernard Lovely, Jr., former chairman of the board of directors at the Bluegrass Airport, is up for his next board appointment.
The House State Government Committee has recommended HR 154 for passage in the House, which confirms Mr. Lovely's appointment to the Kentucky Long-Term Policy Research Center's board of directors.
Recently, Mr. Lovely's chairmanship of the airport board was found by the State Auditor to "lack adequate controls," to have provided "lax monitoring of expenses" and that they "should have expressed concern about spending practices and requested detailed information as to how this money was being spent."
Among the more relevant findings:
- Former board Chairman Bernard Lovely's approval of Gobb's spending "was sporadic throughout the process," Luallen said.
The board members knew of generous employee Christmas gifts and giveaway prizes because they were often at events where the gifts and prizes were given, but they did nothing to curtail such spending, the audit said.
For example, marketing director Brian Ellestad and former operations director John Coon spent more than $1,000 in 2006 and 2007 combined for Lionel trains as staff Christmas party prizes. Gobb also charged $1,222 to Hobbytown USA in the same period.
And over three years, the airport paid $14,741 for holiday hams for employees.
"The board was aware of the majority of these gifts or at least had been invited to the events during which most of these gifts were distributed," the audit said.
In March 2008, marketing manager Amy Caudill charged $296 on her airport credit card to buy 14 copies of The Little Red Book of Everyday Heroes, written by Sylvia Lovely, the wife of the former board chairman.
Caudill told auditors that Gobb told her to buy the books and place them at each board member's seat at the following meeting.
Bernard Lovely also was reimbursed by the airport for a $388 charge stemming from a 2007 trip to Hawaii for the American Association of Airport Executives issues conference. That expense, according to the receipt, was for a "helicopter tour," the audit said.
"The helicopter tour was covered in full through this reimbursement," the audit said.
The Long-Term Policy Center does not require the sort of financial oversight that is necessary at the Bluegrass Airport. But we do wonder if anyone would use this opportunity to ask some questions about his last board job.
