Louisville councilman under scrutiny after sponsoring $40M ARP measure, landing job
Update: The Ethics Commission notified Metro Council President Markus Winkler of the need to initiate a formal complaint process in order to receive an opinion on Piagentini's actions. Following the technical clarification, Metro Council members were set to consider a resolution at the March 1 meeting that approves the initiation of the required formal complaint process, but Winkler indicated he will not yet call the resolution for a vote.
Louisville Metro Council voted Thursday to ask the city's Ethics Commission to examine whether member Anthony Piagentini violated its code by initially sponsoring a measure to allot $40 million in COVID-19 relief funds to a health care coalition and then landing a consulting job with the group behind the project.
Piagentini, R-19th District, said he also requested an opinion on his conduct from the commission this week.
"This resolution was aligned with what I have asked for from the Ethics Commission," he told The Courier Journal. "I am happy to and will comply with the process in every possible way."
Thursday's emergency resolution came after the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting published a story Wednesday saying Piagentini started consulting for the Louisville Healthcare CEO Council — which pushed for the health care innovation project — a day after Metro Council approved the $40 million allocation.
He noted he had withdrawn his sponsorship and then abstained from the December vote to approve directing $40 million in American Rescue Plan funds to supporting a "Healthcare Workforce Innovation Coalition."
The resolution, sponsored by Councilwoman Cindi Fowler, D-14th, and council President Markus Winkler, D-17th, asks the "commission to review this situation as expeditiously as possible."
Piagentini, who has worked in health care and real estate, including the last seven years as senior director of provider relations for WellCare of Kentucky, abstained from Thursday's vote.
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Tammy York Day, president of the Louisville Healthcare CEO Council, or CEOc, which several health care executives formed in 2017 to lobby for their industry, told the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting she did not view Piagentini having any conflict of interest because he did not consult on the ARP-funded project and his consulting work is focused on state government affairs.
Can Metro Council members remove their peers from office?
Council rules state members can remove their colleagues from office over "misconduct, incapacity, or willful neglect in the performance of the official duties."
At least five Metro Council members must swear under oath a colleague has engaged in that behavior to initiate removal proceedings, and a two-thirds majority of the 26-member council must vote to oust a member.
Any members removed from council can appeal the decision in Jefferson Circuit Court.
The last time a member was removed was in 2017 when Democrat Dan Johnson was accused of sexual harassment.
What is the Louisville Healthcare Workforce Innovation Coalition?
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The three priorities of the Louisville Healthcare Workforce Innovation Coalition are to:
Create a strategy that "increases and diversifies the healthcare talent pipeline for jobs at all levels by mitigating barriers to training and employment";
Increase "the region's capacity of workforce innovation for a stronger and more equitable health economy"; and
Support the initiative "via the development of a state-of-the art tech and learning center in Russell Station that prioritizes hiring current Russell residents at all levels."
Reach Billy Kobin at bkobin@courierjournal.com
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville Metro Council seeks ethics opinion on Anthony Piagentini
