Friday, February 19, 2010
Accusations Against Wildlife Commissioner
KENTUCKY....
Jon Gassett, Commissioner of the Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Resources agency has been accused by Louisville attorney Ballard Rogers of using his position to benefit a private company he created two years ago. Rogers claims Gassett formed a private company called Southern Wildlife Resources, which gets paid by landowners for many of the same services the state wildlife commission does for free. At Gassett’s request, in 2007, the ethics commission issued an advisory opinion saying no conflict of interest would exist as long as Gassett received no outside compensation for work that falls within his normal responsibilities as head of the agency. Executive Branch Ethics Commission Executive Director John Steffen says the complaint will be presented to commission members at their next meeting slated for March 19th. Gassett says he and the department will gladly cooperate with the ethics commission should it decide to look into the matter.
Jon Gassett, Commissioner of the Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Resources agency has been accused by Louisville attorney Ballard Rogers of using his position to benefit a private company he created two years ago. Rogers claims Gassett formed a private company called Southern Wildlife Resources, which gets paid by landowners for many of the same services the state wildlife commission does for free. At Gassett’s request, in 2007, the ethics commission issued an advisory opinion saying no conflict of interest would exist as long as Gassett received no outside compensation for work that falls within his normal responsibilities as head of the agency. Executive Branch Ethics Commission Executive Director John Steffen says the complaint will be presented to commission members at their next meeting slated for March 19th. Gassett says he and the department will gladly cooperate with the ethics commission should it decide to look into the matter.
# posted by Homer Owens @ 5:10 AM 
