Slim Nash facing ethics complaints
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – On the same day that Bowling Green City Commissioner Brian “Slim” Nash pleaded guilty to public drunkenness, the city Board of Ethics met and voted unanimously to initiate a complaint process against Nash.
Nash has 20 days from Tuesday, the date the board met, to respond to the board which will make a preliminary evaluation of the complaint, his response to determine if the complaint has merit and if so, the board will decide its next action.
The city received three written complaints against Nash.
“Nash needs to go!”
Those are the words of the first complaint filed with the city May 25.
“I am concerned with how the DUI/Public drunkenness that was given to Slim Nash,” reads another complaints filed Tuesday. “Any one (sic) else in the city would have received the proper punishment for their indiscretions. The point for this email is to requested (sic) that the ethics board review the recent and past conducts of Slim Nash and to consider removing him from the seat he now holds with the City Commission. I think it is embarrassing to see how Slim Nash continues to stain the reputation of this city. …”
The third complaint filed on May 29 urges the ethics committee to “investigate further.”
“This is an embarrassment to the city and I would think against the code of ethics public officials are sworn to keep. … We need to expect the highest behavior possible from our elected officials,” the complaint reads in part.
A Warren County Sheriff’s Deputy arrested Nash late May 23 on a charge of alcohol intoxication in a public place after he exited The Southern Kentucky Performing Arts Center. He pleaded guilty to the charge Tuesday and paid $219 in combined court costs and a fine.
Bowling Green City Attorney, Gene Harmon, told WNKY Friday that since Nash is a public official, the Board of Ethics can either reach a settlement with him, issue a letter of reprimand or issue a civil penalty up to $1,000.
“Sometimes the City Clerk’s Office will get complaints that someone will send to the Ethics Board that’s really not an ethics complaint,” Harmon said. “I think anytime that the Ethics Board gets a complaint that they do believe potentially may violate one of the provisions in the ethics code, they take them very seriously.”
Regardless of what the Board of Ethics decides, the Bowling Green City Commission has the power to remove Nash from office, if commissioners vote unanimously to oust him from office.
WNKY has made multiple attempts to reach Nash for comment. He has not responded.
The Board of Ethics will meet next on June 25.
