Kenton County Judge Executive Steve Arlinghaus who appoints the members of the Northern Kentucky/Greater Cincinnati airport board traveled at airport expense. His board chairman and others did too. The expensive foreign travel and the headlines which followed have prompted a special investigation by Commonwealth Auditor Adam Edelen.
As reported by River City News, the initial investigation by the Cincinnati Enquirer revealed Arlinghaus' involvement.
The airport paid for four trips since 2011 for Arlinghaus, who does not sit on the board but appoints the executive members to the board. The trips were made before the board altered its policy to allow Arlinghaus to travel at airport expense. Those seven members have final voting authority for all airport issues; 11 more advisory board members are appointed by Arlinghaus as well as Boone County, Campbell County, the Kentucky governor, Hamilton County and the city of Cincinnati. Those advisory members can’t vote for final measures but do have voting power in committees.
Chris Knochelmann, who is running against Arlinghaus in next year's GOP primary for the Judge Executive seat said in a recent press release that this conduct calls into question Arlinghaus' leadership.
"At a minimum, Arlinghaus has shown a lack of leadership when it comes to appointing board members and owning up to his actions. This is apparent when he was quoted in the investigation article on October 30, 2013 as defending his travel and blaming it on the Board and CEO. He should have set the example but the temptation was too great. In an attempt to cover up the judge's travel, it was proposed just this past August to change the bylaws to include the Judge-executive under the Airport Board for travel policies and procedures. The measure passed unanimously."
Knochelmann vowed to contact the state auditor's office to initiate an investigation. It is now underway.
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