Wednesday, January 20, 1999
Butler to pay Kenton Co. $425,000 to settle lawsuit
BY JANE PRENDERGAST and RAY SCHAEFER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
INDEPENDENCE — Developer Bill Butler has agreed to pay Kenton County $425,000 to settle the county's lawsuit over how he landed a controversial construction contract.
The money, to be paid within 30 days, will go into the county's general fund. It is half the amount the county had to pay last year to two developers who sued after they were beaten out by Mr. Butler and his Corporex Cos. for the $36 million parking garage and courthouse project.
The settlement amount was the same that had been talked about off and on for months, said County Attorney Garry Edmondson. Mr. Butler's agreement to pay it came just as the county was about to send him a letter saying the new fiscal court that took office this month planned to stand firm and continue to fight for the money, Mr. Edmondson said.
The deal requires that the money be used in the future for a public project, such as a park or other urban improvements. The fiscal court has sole discretion over how to spend it,
Mr. Edmondson said.
The deal, announced at Tuesday night's fiscal court meeting, settles the last remnant of the months-long controversy. The criminal part was concluded two weeks ago when former Judge-executive Clyde Middleton was sentenced for official misconduct. He admitted he showed his friend Mr. Butler his competitors' bids.
But the agreement says the parties agreed to disagree about the central issue in the controversy — when the project bids became public. Corporex has maintained that the bids were open and public records when Mr. Butler viewed them at Mr. Middleton's house.
The county agreed that a letter written in March 1996 by former Deputy Judge-executive George Neack indicated that the proposals were public record once they were opened. It also acknowledged in the settlement agreement that no further written communications were sent out after that letter.
The deal does not mean Corporex or Mr. Butler admits any wrongdoing, it said; both sides agreed no determination of “illegality or criminality” was warranted, appropriate or constructive.
Mr. Middleton was the only person prosecuted. An attorney general's investigation into Mr. Butler ended last month without grand jury action. That — after grand jurors listened for weeks to testimony — led many to think Mr. Butler would never settle because he thought he was vindicated.
The only explanation offered by the officials involved was simply that both sides were eager to put the matter behind them. Corporex lawyers declined to elaborate after the meeting.
“I'm glad it's dead,” said Commissioner Barb Black. “The settlement has been reached. We've got some other issues to deal with here.”
The settlement surprised Mr. Middleton's lawyer, Phil Taliaferro, who long has said Mr. Butler should have settled the suit to save his friend.
“As predicted to Mr. Butler, the (former judge-executive) suffered the consequences,” Mr. Taliaferro said. “I have never understood how Mr. Butler could have allowed this to happen. If Mr. Butler is truly innocent, why is he paying $425,000 to settle a so-called frivolous lawsuit?”
Attorney General Ben Chandler said he plans to use his office's investigation into Mr. Butler as testimony before a legislative oversight committee to recommend changes in Kentucky's bidding laws. Those changes would deal with the use of confidential information in bidding.
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