RICHMOND: Airport board suit continues 'long, tortuous journey'

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Oct. 17--RICHMOND -- Richmond City Commission, Madison Fiscal Court and the Berea City Council, at the request of the Madison Airport Board, have adopted resolutions that would lead to the board's reconstitution under the state statute governing airports operated and owned by a city and county.

The airport board requested the three entities take the action, on the advice of the airport board's attorney, J.T. Gilbert.

In July, Madison Circuit Judge Jean Chenault Logue ruled that KRS 183.132 applied to the board. However, other issues raised by a lawsuit filed by Eddie Pullins after the fiscal court suspended him in January remain to be settled.

Since its creation as a non-profit corporation about 30 years ago by the three local governments, the airport board had operated under its corporate bylaws. They provide for the suspension of a board member by his or her appointing authority, but the statue does not.

That understanding led the airport board secretary, George Wyatt, to regard Pullins as a member in good standing, until he was overruled by a majority of the board.

Logue's preliminary ruling also has prompted Pullins' attorney, Jimmy Dale Williams, to petition the court for his re-instatement as well as awarding of attorney's fees.

When the board instructed its secretary Sept. 6 not to regard Pullins as a member in good standing, it denied both his statutory and constitutional rights, based on the Logue's ruling in July, Williams claimed in a brief filed Sept. 26.

In a separate brief filed that day, Williams also claimed he was entitled to an award of attorney fees because his client had "prevailed" on a significant issue in the case.

In responses, attorneys for both Madison Judge/Executive Kent Clark and the airport board argued against both petitions.

In a Sept. 28 brief, Gilbert argued, "This court has not determined that (Pullins) is entitled to participate as a board member ... or that he has been improperly suspended or removed. In fact, this court has made it clear that those issues are not ripe for determination."

Michael Eaves and Alicia Still, attorneys for Clark, argued in an Oct. 4 brief that Pullins suffered no violation of rights or due process because he had no vested right to membership on a public board.

"His (airport board appointment) is a far cry from governmental employment, which may implicate a constitutional protected liberty or property interest ...," Clark's attorneys argued, claiming that is all the law cited by Williams in his brief was intended to provide.

"Pullins must point to some statutory or contractual right conferred by the state which supports a legitimate claim to continued appointment," Clark's attorneys wrote.

The state statute which Logue ruled applies to the board makes no provision for a hearing prior to an airport board member's removal, according to the brief, so Pullins was not denied due process.

The case's "long and tortuous journey," as Williams described it in one of his briefs, is headed for a pretrial conference before Logue on Nov. 16 at 11:30 a.m.

On Sept. 21, Logue filed a five-point agenda for the conference:

--Simplification of the issues

--Necessity or desirability of amending the pleadings

--Possible admissions of facts, documents, photographs and other exhibits to avoid unnecessary proof

--Limiting the number of expert witnesses

--Other matters as may aid in disposition of the action.

Bill Robinson can be reached at brobinson@ richmondregister.com or at 624-6622.