TO: Judge Executive Kenny Imes
Magistrate Paul Rister
Magistrate Eddie Clyde Hale
Magistrate Larry Crutcher
Magistrate Don Cherry
Since June 1, 2020 local, state, and national media outlets have identified Calloway County, Kentucky as hostile towards black residents and women. Two events in particular have caused concern for all residents of Calloway County:
The decision not to relocate the Calloway County Confederate Monument featuring Robert E. Lee from its current location on the grounds of the Calloway County Courthouse.
The indictment of Linda Arakelyan, alleging a violation of Ky. Rev. Stat. § 519.040 - filing a false report. This indictment was pursued by County Attorney Bryan Ernstberger despite publicly available video and commentary by City of Murray Police Department officials that calls into question the legal grounds and motivation of the Calloway County Attorney.
In addition to these events, the administrative procedures approved by the Calloway County Fiscal Court for informing constituents, providing an adequate public forum, and providing redress of grievances have fallen short of expectations of concerned residents. The following administrative actions by the Fiscal Court since June 1, 2020 cause concern:
- The restriction of public comment, and length of public comment, less than 24 hours prior to the June 17, 2020 meeting of the Calloway County Fiscal Court.
On June 8, 2020, the Calloway County Administrative Code/Ordinance Committee considered limitation of public comment by 'special interest groups."
On June 16, 2020, Deputy Judge Executive Gina Winchester recommended restricting comments by special interest groups to one speaker, for no longer than five minutes, with a bar on polling magistrates individually. The changes were drafted and adopted at the June 17, 2020 Fiscal Court meeting -- minutes prior to scheduled comment by several constituents representing a special interest group who intended to discuss relocation of the Calloway County Confederate Monument. The new policy language was not distributed to the Calloway County leadership team" until five days after the hearing. The timing of consideration and adoption of the new policy remains conspicuous considering knowledge that adoption of the policy would curtail public comment on the Calloway County Confederate monument and hinder preparation of special interest groups in advance of the June 17, 2020, Calloway County Fiscal Court meeting.
- Judge Imes' apparent confusion about the purpose and origins of the Ku Klux Klan. On June 26, 2020, Judge Executive Kenny Imes made the following comments to a WKMS reporter.
'Everybody in my lifetime, I've never heard anybody speak well of the Ku Klux Klan, but if you'll go back and read, I think it was [Nathan] Bedford Forrest that was one of the starters, that wasn't what it was about."
As an elected public official, expressions of confusion on the purpose and intent of the Ku Klux Klan, and its first Grand Wizard, Nathan Bedford Forrest, have the potential to implicitly embolden supporters of modern-day white supremacist groups. Several documented incidents of citizens using racial epithets have been captured on video and bring disrepute to the reputation of the county for inclusiveness. Regardless of the Calloway County Fiscal Court stance on the Calloway County Confederate Monument, public clarification of intent behind the quote above is necessary to dispel implicit endorsement of the Ku Klux Klan and its first Grand Wizard.
- Deference to the Daughters of the Confederacy and Reliance on Informal, Likely Flawed Polling. On July 15, 2020, the Calloway County Fiscal Court considered the petition to remove the Calloway County Confederate Monument. Magistrate Paul Rister presented results of a survey he clearly conducted prior to commencement of proceedings. The survey contained no demographic information concerning the age, race, ethnicity, or sex of participants. Because the survey was not conducted in accordance with standards of political or social polling many constituents have no method of verifying results for bias. Immediately following public comment, the Calloway County Attorney produced a resolution declaring:
“… [the monument] shall remain on the Northeast corner of the grounds of the Calloway County Courthouse for so long as the owners of that Monument and citizens of Calloway County are so inclined."
Given the lack of information regarding polling methods, we have understandable concerns regarding the polling "results". Much more concerning, however is County Attorney Bryan Ernstberger's declaration of "ownership" for the United Daughters of the Confederacy without production of documentation or legal grounds, and apparent absence of bonafide consideration of public comment given production of the resolution.
The Calloway County Fiscal Court represents the interest of residents of this county. The Calloway County Attorney is charged with vetting administrative procedures and representing the Commonwealth of Kentucky in criminal actions among other duties as assigned. We represent a body of citizens concerned with the fact that actions of the Calloway County Fiscal Court and Calloway County Attorney appear dismissive towards underrepresented minorities under their jurisdiction.
- Failure to Consider or be Confronted with Racial Diversity or Diversity of Perspective. The Calloway County Fiscal Court is composed of five white men. The Calloway County Attorney is a white male. We are concerned that the lack of diversity and inclusion training for elected officials with decision-making authority combined with very clear suppression of public comment leads to poor outcomes for underrepresented minorities.
Based on the issues of concern stated above and the composition of the Calloway County Fiscal Court our organization formally requests addition to the December 2020 Fiscal Court agenda to discuss the following:
Respectfully,
Sherman Neal II, Esq.
The foregoing is part of a collection of correspondence to various Calloway County government officials as well as remarks made before the Calloway County Fiscal Court in 2020, which the Sentinel obtained from County Judge-Executive Kenny Imes' office.
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here