At the June 11 meeting of the Park City Tourist and Convention Commission Eric Helton, former chair of the commission, spoke about the charges brought up by the city commission and his subsequent removal. Helton said the removal vote was illegal and he will be appealing the decision. Michael Crimmins/Glasgow News 1.
By MICHAEL CRIMMINS
Glasgow News 1
The Park City Tourist and Convention Commision gathered on June 11 at the Grand Victorian Inn to discuss its financials and discuss the events of the June 10 Park City Commission meeting.
At the city commission meeting the four commissioners unanimously voted to remove tourism chairperson Eric Helton effective immediately. The letter sent to Helton by Park City Mayor Larry Poteet cites several charges as reasoning for his removal from malfeasance, conflicts of interest and neglect of duty; all of which Helton said are “patently false,” though he did admit to yelling an obscenity at City Commissioner Mike Burgess as a private citizen and not — as the mayor’s letter claims — as a public official.
Though, Helton did not preside over the tourism meeting he did speak about his removal towards the beginning of the meeting. The first point of contention Helton mentioned was the wording of Poteet’s initial letter informing him of his removal. The Kentucky Revised Statute cited in the mayor’s letter states a notice must be sent to the member subject to removal at least ten days before the public hearing — which was conducted at 5:30 p.m. June 10 — and it was this Helton raised issue with. The mayor’s letter was sent to Helton on May 28 and Helton sent a response letter on June 3.
“What I really want to focus on is the opening,” Helton said. “‘The City of Park City will be removing you from the tourism commission at the next meeting…you are entitled to a hearing, if you choose to request one.’ This letter does not provide any notice…nowhere in [this letter] did it tell me I needed to be at city hall at 5:30 p.m. [for the public hearing.] Any sort of meeting you have you need three pieces of information; you need to know where you’re going to meet, the day you’re going to meet there and the time…the mayor sent me a letter; yes, but in no way was that a notice because a notice is 5:30 p.m. at city hall that sound have been the letter the mayor sent me.”
“I showed up [on June 3] at the next meeting per the letter from the mayor and nobody was there and in no way does the mayor’s letter indicate that I should’ve been at city hall at 5:30 p.m.,” Helton added.
June 3 was set to be Park City Commission’s next meeting but it was canceled for city training, Poteet said at the June 10 meeting.
Helton also mentioned the proceedings of the public hearing as well in which he was removed with no discussion.
“If nothing was said either for me or against me then how did they know to remove me?” Helton said. “That to me sounds an awful lot like collusion. It sounds like the commissioners got together ahead of time to decide their decision and the evidence I would use is twofold; one, in the letter the KRS the mayor quotes says proposed removal…but he says in the letter we will remove you, not we have a proposed removal or we’re having a hearing of your proposed removal and then as further evidence the agenda for the special-called meeting at 6 o’clock already had [listed the] vote to remove me and the vote to replace me.”
Helton maintains that the vote to remove him was illegal and said at the tourism meeting that he plans to appeal the decision, as is allowed by KRS “within ten days of the decision…to the circuit court of the county or the appointing authority.”
Glasgow News 1 attempted to reach Poteet to allow for an opportunity to respond, but that request was declined.
Tourism Director Linda Watts also passed out a copy of a letter she received from Burgess informing her that the city “will terminate its [insurance] policy” however Angela Briggs, code enforcement officer with Park City, said via text the city was asked “by a tourism commissioner to keep [the insurance policy] going.”
“They are currently covered and the city reserves the right to revisit the issue next May before the next fiscal year,” Briggs wrote via text.
With the dissolution resolution tabled “until further notice” Tourism Commissioner Joe Bailey recommended going about with “business as usual” until notified otherwise.
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