We Could Use More of This Kind of Corruption

The kind that directly helps the poor, and that local juries dismiss because it, you know, helped the poor.

Mark Hansel at the Kentucky Enquirer:

The criminal investigation of the Boone County Public Works Department has revealed that more than $12,000 of the money in a secret slush fund was spent on holiday turkeys.

The turkeys were distributed to the families of underprivileged children in Boone County Public Schools.

Sheriff’s department spokesman Tom Scheben said investigators did not uncover the level of corruption typically associated with this type of case.

“Investigations like this usually reveal bad people doing bad things,” Scheben said. “That didn’t happen here.”

Last week, a Boone County grand jury declined to indict retired Public Works Director Greg Sketch or any other department employees for abuse of public trust after being presented with the findings from the investigation. The charges against Sketch were related to the alleged improper use of funds from the sale of scrap metal.

Sketch didn't divert tax dollars. He used some of the revenue from scrap metal sales to help feed impoverished families. Everybody who thinks that if that money had been turned over to the county it would have been used for the same or a better cause, stand on your head.