Bill Nighbert
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Bill Nighbert is a Republican government official in the U.S. state of Kentucky.
Nighbert served as mayor of Williamsburg, Kentucky for three terms. In 2003 he strongly supported the campaign of Ernie Fletcher for Governor of Kentucky, supporting Fletcher politically and with financial contributions.
When Republican Governor of Kentucky Ernie Fletcher was elected and took office in 2003, Nighbert joined the administration as Deputy Commissioner for the Governor's Office for Local Development (GOLD). That office doled out millions of dollars in grant money to local government units. One of the offices in GOLD was Local Initiatives for a New Kentucky (LINK).
Nighbert moved to the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, serving as Commissioner for the Department of Intergovernmental Programs there. Nighbert's duties including allocating over $200 million dollars in road funding for cities and counties.
In March 2005 Governor Fletcher named Nighbert as acting Secretary for the Transportation Cabinet. In November 2005 Fletcher announced that Nighbert was given a full appointment as Secretary of the Transportation Cabinet. In May 2005 the office of the Attorney General of Kentucky announced that it was investigating evidence of illegal hiring practices in the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet.
On June 7, 2005 Nighbert was called before a grand jury investigating illegal hiring practices. He invoked the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution protecting against self-incrimination. Several other administration officials acted similarly.
On June 14, 2005 Nighbert, Assistant Transportation Secretary Jim Adams and Transportation employee Dan Druen were all indicted by a grand jury. The indictment concerned the firing of a transportation employee prior to the completion of his probationary period. The same employee had previously been fired by the Attorney General Greg Stumbo as well.
Also in June 2005 evidence surfaced of a political "hit list" of employees in the Transportation Cabinet who were examined for their political affiliations. A majority of the positions were to be filled at the sole discretion of the Governor, and the employees were appointed during previous administrations.
On July 6, 2005 three more administration figures were indicted for merit system violations: Dick Murgatroyd, former Deputy Secretary of Transportation who by then was Fletcher's deputy chief of staff; Cory Meadows, a Transportation Cabinet official who was also a former deputy director of the Local Initiatives for a New Kentucky (LINK) office which had reported to Nighbert; and Transportation Cabinet official Dan Druen on new counts.
On July 11, 2005 three more people were indicted in the investigation: state Republican Party chairman Darrell Brock Jr., Basil Turbyfill and Bob Adams. Also in July 2005, a LINK office meeting agenda from May 13, 2004 surfaced, indicating that the office's goal was re-election of the governor and that the LINK office was working toward that goal, with activities including "Pursue proactive communication with supporters" and compilation of lists of each Kentucky county's "top 15 supporters of the Governor".
On July 19, 2005 Transportation Cabinet official Dan Druen was charged with felonies related to the scandal, and resigned. The following day a Transportation employee filed a federal lawsuit claiming that the Transportation Cabinet and Kentucky Republican Party conspired to have her fired so that her position could be given to a Republican.
In August Druen was indicted on new felony charges and evidence emerged that Druen, on state time and using state resources, kept records on Transportation Cabinet employees' political affiliations. Also that month a videotape was produced that was said to show Nighbert ordering the firing, for political reasons, of the Transportation Cabinet's top investigator. And also in August another indicted official in the Transportation Cabinet was promoted to fill Druen's former position.
Also in August, a February 3, 2005 e mail sent by former Kentucky Homeland Security director Keith A. Hall surfaced, in which Hall referred to the LINK office, formerly under Nighbert, as a "political field operation" to help re-elect the governor in 2007, and said LINK's eight offices around the state were "an undervalued asset for its two main clients, the Governor and his political field operation."
On August 29, 2005 Governor Fletcher pardoned Nighbert and others for any actions related to the merit system investigation.
On September 20, 2005 Nighbert was again indicted, this time for violating the state whistleblower act by denying a merit bonus to Missy McRay, a whistleblower who worked under him. At a dinner function he alleged that Nighbert told the female employee "that if it were 20 years ago, 'I probably would have come back there and socked you in the mouth.'"
As of December 1, 2005 Nighbert still held the office of Secretary of Transportation for the state of Kentucky.
On July 14, 2006, Judge David E. Melcher of Louisville dismissed the September 20 indictment.
