Louisville Councilman Anthony Piagentini files lawsuit over Ethics Commission's findings

Embattled Louisville Metro Council member Anthony Piagentini has appealed the Ethics Commission's findings against him to Jefferson Circuit Court.

The lawsuit was filed Nov. 16, about a month after the seven-member commission found Piagentini in violation of six ethics rules, including using his position for unwarranted privileges and improperly accepting a promise of employment.

An ethics investigation was sparked after Kevin Fields, the president and CEO of Louisville Central Community Centers Inc., accused Piagentini of using his city position to land a $40 million grant for the Louisville Healthcare CEO Council, which then hired him as a consultant at $240,000 a year. The $40 million came from American Rescue Plan funding from the federal government, which Fields was also seeking for his organization.

Following the investigation, the commission ruled that Piagentini was in violation of the Ethics Code, recommended he be removed from office and gave him the maximum penalty of $500 per violation, which amounts to $3,000.

Soon after the commission released its decision, Piagentini vowed to use "every legal means at my disposal to fight this." His appeal is "one of those steps," Piagentini said in a newsletter Monday.

He added there were "procedural abnormalities that went against the law and the Commission’s own rules" and that the ruling lacked "clear and convincing evidence."

These statements align with Piagentini's stance since the commission announced its findings. A day after the ruling was decided, the councilman held a press conference and said the "fix was in" from the beginning.

Members of the Ethics Commission have denied this. Dee Pregliasco, the chair of the commission, previously told The Courier Journal the process was "very open."

"I think everybody should know this was a difficult process, a long process," she said in October. "We spent many, many hours both on the hearing and deliberating. This is not something we should be happy for the city, because I think this reflects a lot about government and about our community. So it was really a hard, hard process. And again, it's not something we're cheering about."

The commission does not have the power to remove Piagentini, but the Metro Council does. Metro Council President Markus Winkler formed a Charging Committee at the request of five Democratic council members to investigate Piagentini.

In the same newsletter, Piagentini requested the committee to "take whatever action it is going to take against me now rather than allowing this to move into the next year."

He was also critical of the committee's process, saying it should have hired an "independent, unbiased attorney" instead of Fields' attorney.

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Councilwoman Cindi Fowler, the chair of the Charging Committee and the Government Oversight/Audit and Appointments Committee, declined to comment.

Todd Lewis, legal counsel for the Ethics Commission, said the commission has not been served with this matter and will withhold comment until it has had a chance to review it. Then, a formal response will be issued.

"That said, the Councilman, like any person adjudicated by the Commission, has a statutory right to appeal to a court of law any findings and conclusions of the Commission, so the fact that he may be availing himself of that right is neither surprising nor concerning," Lewis added.

Reach reporter Eleanor McCrary at EMcCrary@courier-journal.com or at @ellie_mccrary on X, formerly known as Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Anthony Piagentini appeals ethics commission findings in court