Ludlow Police Chief Scott Smith has stepped down as city administrator after concerns were raised about him holding two non-elected city positions.
Chris Wright, Ludlow’s mayor, said during last week’s city council meeting that the Kentucky attorney general’s office contacted him, informing him that they were opening an investigation.
“Our attorney had discussions with their office,” said Wright, and after this discussion, Wright said he was contacted via email, letting him know that the office wasn’t taking any action; they weren’t making any ruling and the case was considered closed.
In light of those events, Smith resigned from his position as city administrator.
“He was reassigned some [city administrator] duties without the title; he is not currently being paid anything extra,” Wright said.
Wright said that this is “not necessarily a conflict of interest, you just can’t hold two different non-elected titles.” Smith has a master’s degree in public administration and was already a city employee, so appointing him as the city administrator was cost-saving, Wright said.
“I don’t believe it should have been handled the way that it was originally [the hiring process of Smith],” Wright said.
Wright said Smith’s being a volunteer rather than a paid employee could have potentially made a difference, “but I think if he was given the title, there was always going to be an issue no matter what the compensation was.”