letter
Lexington, Ky. - In a
Business Lexington
to employees of the city's Division of Environmental Quality and Public Works obtained by , former Commissioner Cheryl Taylor said she resigned her position earlier in the week at the request of the Gray administration.
A former project manager for Procter & Gamble and Lexington's first Environmental Quality Commissioner under former Mayor Jim Newberry, Taylor was among Mayor Jim Gray's early nominees for key positions in his administration.
Gray administration officials have declined a request to comment on the letter and have said little beyond a statement issued on Thursday evening by Susan Straub, spokeswoman for Mayor Gray. "She resigned. We wish the situation were different. We wish her well."
In the letter to her former staffers, Taylor stated that she had learned in early November that the city's commissioners of law and public safety and a member of the mayor's staff were investigating her for allegedly "inappropriately trying to steer funds to (her) husband's business."
Taylor's husband, a semi-retired electrical contractor who is not named in the letter, was hired to perform contract work for LFUCG's Division of Waste Management shortly after Taylor left the Newberry Administration for the position of production manager at Kentucky American Water in April of 2010.
During that period, Taylor's husband was offered a part-time job with the city in lieu of continuing to perform work under contract.
According to the letter, the creation of the part-time position was approved by Urban County Council. This was occurring at the same time Taylor had been asked to return and work for the Gray Administration to oversee the city's massive repair of its sewer systems under a consent decree with the EPA. She states that she informed Gray administration officials and council of her husband's work with LFUCG.
"I was advised that my husband could only finish out the contract and could no longer be considered for the part-time position created," she stated in the letter.
Once her husband's contract with the city expired in May, Taylor stated that he no longer worked for LFUCG but would upon request from Division employees assist them without charge for small, urgent electric issues.
"Although I was never accused of wrong-doing and no reason was given for my dismissal, I can only guess that this process is the end result of the administration's lack of trust in me from the beginning," Taylor states in the letter. "I believe my decisions have always been made based on data, consistency and fairness and have been in support of the expertise that I see in operation in your areas every day. I have found that my basis for decisions was not aligned with those of the administration, and asking me to resign was the easiest way to avoid uncomfortable debate."
Straub said Susan Bush, director of the city's Division of Environmental Policy, has agreed to serve as interim Commissioner of Environmental Quality and Public Works until a permanent replacement for Taylor can be recruited.