FLEMINGSBURG — A lease contract involving the site of a former car dealership in Flemingsburg and the Licking Valley Community Action Program raises questions about a possible conflict of interest by former Executive Director Judy Planck.
The property in question is located at 285 West Water Street, and was formerly known as Bobby’s Auto Sales. The property was originally owned by the Bobby Porter from April 1976 until his death in July 2017.
Detailed in the lease, was LVCAP’s intent to use the former dealership for its own purposes, with the lease extending the course of five years, which began on Jan. 5, 2018, with an annual consideration of $26,400 split into monthly payments of $2,200.
The lease also allows for an additional five year extension, with an increased consideration of $30,000 with $2,500 monthly payments. Currently the property is being used as a parking lot for LVCAP vehicles.
According to the lease’s contract, the property is owned by JDLPP, LLC, a limited liability company from Lexington. After looking into the property’s deed and transfers, it is revealed that the car lot was previously purchased from Bobby Porter’s estate by former LVCAP Executive Director Judy Planck on Dec. 5, 2017 for $220,000.
In an obituary for Bobby Porter published on July 27, 2017, by the Lexington Herald-Leader, Planck was mentioned as a survivor and ‘special friend.”
After Planck purchased the property, she then sold it to JDLPP for the same price, on Jan. 2, 2018 and it was then leased to LVCAP just three days later.
In an 2018 annual report for JDLPP, the only members of the company listed by the Secretary of State’s office are a Jolene Dawkins and Lynna Porter, and the daughters of the late Bobby Porter. The company was also established on the same month Planck purchased the property, on Dec. 22, 2017.
Several attempts to contact Planck, Lynna Porter and Dawkins Tuesday were unsuccessful.
Todd Ruckel, Lewis County judge-executive and member of the LVCAP board said Planck submitted her resignation from the agency on Nov. 8, 2018. The board approved and finalized her resignation on Nov. 14.
“There were documents that were signed and agreed upon by council, from both parties, and those documents were to terminate her employment,” Ruckel said
Planck had been on paid administrative leave for some time following an ongoing internal investigation into the program.
Fleming County Judge-Executive Larry Foxworthy said a vote of no confidence in Planck had been approved in a prior meeting, which indicates a person or persons in a position of responsibility is no longer deemed fit to hold that position, according to Wikipedia.
Mason County Judge-Executive Joe Pfeffer, who is a member of the LVCAP Board of Directors, said he and the board were made aware of the deal made with the property sometime in spring of last year, and the issue was discussed among board members during the March-April meeting.
“That’s one of the things that we questioned — that I specifically questioned,” he said.
Pfeffer also said the deal made to lease the property to be a car lot for LVCAP vehicles was not brought up before the board for approval, and the board chairman at the time, Rowena Gilber, had not signed off on the lease contract. Planck was the one who ultimately signed the contract on behalf of LVCAP.
“It was probably why the vote of no confidence happened because of dealings like that,” Pfeffer said.
Pfeffer had also mentioned there were similar leases between Bobby Porter and LVCAP, specifically that of the agency’s central office, which has been in place since before Pfeffer took office as judge-executive.
With this information in mind, the board has moved to ensure oversight like this do not occur again, including changing board meetings from quarterly to monthly, and to become more informed on the multitude of programs within the agency.
“The agency has so many programs, it’s confusing to know what is happening,” Pfeffer said.
The board has also hired a different auditing firm, RFH, PLLC., out of Lexington to look into any other suspicious activities along with examining the agency. Pfeffer said the firm is approved by the Kentucky auditor of public accounts, with plenty of experience in agencies like LVCAP as well as county governments.
According to Pfeffer and Foxworthy, this week marks the beginning of RFH examination of LVCAP records.
