FALMOUTH — Falmouth City Council called for an independent investigation of Mayor Gene Flaugher in a special meeting Friday night.

        Council, which approved the investigation in a 6-3 vote, thinks the mayor may have doctored a letter from a state ethics board to delete its last paragraph.

        The charges against him center on whether he misrepresented to council an opinion from the Kentucky Executive Branch Ethics Board on a personnel matter. The ethics board opinion said that hiring Robert Pettit of Falmouth as fire chief while he already served as a deputy state fire marshal presented no obvious conflict of interest.

        In its final paragraph, it did say, though, that the hiring decision should be ultimately decided on the basis of Kentucky Revised Statutes 11A.61.080, which says that a person hired as a state officer in one arena cannot work at the same time as a state officer in another.

        Because Mr. Pettit would have simultaneously been fire chief and deputy state fire marshal, the last paragraph of the letter would suggest Mr. Pettit not be appointed.

        But council never saw that last paragraph.

        The ruling, decided by Chairman Bertie Oldham Salyer on Feb. 9., was mailed to Mr. Flaugher. When Mr. Flaugher passed the opinion on to council members on Feb. 12, the final paragraph was missing.

        Council member Mary Ann Shields said she discovered the discrepancy when she compared Mr. Flaugher's copy with one she had asked for from the ethics commission.

        The missing text, Ms. Shields said, was the portion that said the KRS rules should be the overriding factor in whether to hire Mr. Pettit.

        In a telephone interview Friday afternoon, Mr. Flaugher acknowledged that something had happened to the text of the letter, but he said he didn't know how and denied any part in it.

        During the council meeting, he said little and offered no defense, despite council members' pleas for answers.

        Councilman Clay Clifford called for Mr. Flaugher's resignation, but Councilman Don Cross requested an independent investigation as an intermediary step.

        Mr. Cross said though he thought there was “probable cause” for requesting Mr. Flaugher's resignation, he said he didn't think he was qualified to judge all the facts. Council member Janet Fields said the issue challenges the trust and accountability of the mayor's office.

        “I can't accept that one copy would have that paragraph and another one not,” she said. She said this case will make council members and residents suspicious of other items handed out by Mr. Flaugher.

        The KRS concern had been addressed previously by City Attorney Henry Watson III. In a letter dated Oct. 13, he told Mr. Flaugher that he thought hiring Mr. Pettit while he still served as deputy fire marshal would not be legal.

        Mr. Flaugher sought the ruling of the ethics commission.

        Mr. Pettit did not attend Friday's council meeting and later declined comment.

        After voting for the independent investigation, council went into closed session to discuss disciplinary actions available if wrongdoing is found.

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