Council member accused of licking man’s hand after job interview keeps KY seat
A Kentucky police chief extended his arm for a handshake following a job interview when a city council member grabbed his hand and licked the back of it, a complaint said.
Ludlow City Council member Abigail Miller, accused of licking now-City Administrator Scott Smith’s hand in October, will keep her seat following an April 21 removal hearing, WCPO reported.
Smith was interviewing for the city administrator position in October 2024 when the incident occurred, according to city council minutes.
Four out of five city council members voted to remove Miller on April 21, but council member David Ziegler’s vote kept Miller in office, according to WCPO. The vote needed to be unanimous to remove Miller.
“It wasn’t for the city to handle,” Ziegler told McClatchy News.
Ziegler said he was in the room when the hand-licking incident occurred, but he didn’t think there was an issue between Smith and Miller until the complaint was released.
The complaint was presented in a Feb. 13 city council meeting by city attorney Todd McMurtry, according to meeting minutes. In the complaint, Smith accused Miller of sexual harassment and battery.
“After being formally interviewed for the city administrative officer position of the city of Ludlow, Ms. Miller took my hand, placed it in her mouth and licked the back of my hand,” the complaint, read by McMurtry during the meeting, said. The incident was witnessed by others, according to the complaint.
Council members were given three options: to hold a removal meeting, refer the complaint to the Northern Kentucky Regional Ethics Authority or do nothing.
The local governing body decided to hold a removal hearing to publicly discuss all sides of the accused incident, according to meeting minutes.
“All I wanted to do was make my friend laugh, and I achieved that, and he ended up with the job, and that’s what he wanted, so I guess that’s a win for everyone. I’m not sure,” Miller said during the hearing, according to WLWT.
McClatchy News reached out Miller and Smith and has not received a response.
Ziegler told McClatchy News that the public removal hearing made the city the “laughingstock of the state of Kentucky and the greater Cincinnati area.”
Ludlow is about a 100-mile drive northeast from Louisville.
This story was originally published April 22, 2025 at 1:14 PM.
