Beshear administration fires state official but board chairman says not so fast
Rich Storm was informed last Friday that he was out as commissioner of the state Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, but the agency’s board chairman said Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear’s administration lacks the authority to do that.
“In the eyes of the Kentucky attorney general and the nine members of the fish and wildlife board, Rich Storm is the commissioner,” board chairman Karl Clinard said Monday night.
On Tuesday, the legislature’s Government Contract Review Committee snubbed the Beshear administration and approved the two-year job extension the fish and wildlife board unanimously approved for Storm on Jan. 31. All the lawmakers voted for the two-year contract except Rep. Charles Booker, D-Louisville, who passed. He voiced concern that all the necessary signatures were not on the contract.
The Beshear administration did not have an immediate comment on the legislative committee’s action.
Clinard and Attorney General Daniel Cameron maintain the board has exclusive authority over the contract, but the Beshear administration disagrees.
Storm, of Nicholas County, has declined to respond to questions from the Lexington Herald-Leader about his job contract.
He started on the job Jan. 14, 2019, at a salary of $140,000 a year. The board’s two-year contract for him did not increase his salary.
In a July 10 letter to Storm obtained by the Lexington Herald-Leader, Cannon Armstrong, executive director of the human resources office in the Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet told Storm “you may no longer serve as KDFWR Commissioner.”
Armstrong told Storm that it had been more than a week since Storm was presented with a personal service contract renewal for him to continue as commissioner beyond June 30, the expiration date of his previous contract.
Armstrong said Storm did not respond. He reminded Storm that the cabinet, which oversees the fish and wildlife department, had offered him a new contract with the same provisions as his previous one except it would be for only one year instead of two.
Armstrong said the contract offer was for one year due to the anticipated $1.1 billion state budget shortfall brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.
He also said the state legislature this year and not the governor decided to enact a one-year budget.
Clinard said no state General Fund dollars are used to pay the fish and wildlife commissioner, that the money for the salary comes from various fees the department collects.
The board chairman said there have been other state contracts that have gone on for more than one year.
Armstrong told Storm to return all state government property in his possession to Fish and Wildlife deputy commissioner Brian Clark.
The Beshear administration had a similar issue recently with the contract of State Fair Board President David Beck.
The State Fair Board in April approved a two-year contract for Beck but the Beshear administration said it could only be for one year. Beck accepted that offer.
Under the agreed contract with Beck, he will receive $300,000 a year, but it does not include a performance incentive.
Beck, who had worked for Kentucky Farm Bureau before joining the State Fair Board, was hired in April 2018 by the board at an annual base salary of $300,000. The board’s contract extension did not make a salary change.
Both Storm and Beck were hired during the administration of former Gov. Matt Bevin.
There are 19 members on the State Fair Board. Sixteen of them are appointed by the governor and three of them serve by virtue of their public office. The Fish and Wildlife Commission is made up of nine members who serve four-year terms after licensed hunters and anglers in each of nine districts send names of five nominees to the governor, who selects one from each district. The selections then have to be confirmed by the Kentucky Senate.
Clinard said three of the nine positions on the fish and wildlife board expire this summer.
The State Fair Board in Louisville operates two of the largest facilities in the state — the Kentucky Exposition Center and the Kentucky International Convention Center — in addition to producing three signature events annually — the Kentucky State Fair, National Farm Machinery Show and North American International Livestock Exposition.
The state Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources is responsible for the conservation of wildlife resources and for boating projects in the state. It is based in Frankfort.
This story was originally published July 14, 2020 at 7:48 AM.
