I also want to thank everyone who stood by me through this process.  I have been humbled and overwhelmed by the outpouring of support from my friends and constituents.  I will never forget it and it will motivate me to work even harder for them to deliver results and represent their views. 

Next I want to apologize to everyone that got caught up in this process.  I want to specifically point out that the Board, CEO, and employees of the Louisville Healthcare CEO Council are some of the most amazing, talented and dedicated people I have had the honor to call friends and colleagues.  They have been unfairly maligned through this process.  They do incredible work and I wish them all the best.

Next, I want to thank these men standing with me today.  Mike Swansburg and Brooken Smith of the firm Swansburg and Smith are two of the most honorable, dedicated, hardworking men I have ever known.  When I was in the Marine Corps, the best compliment I could give another Marine is that I would go into battle with them any day.  It meant that I trusted them with my life and I was asking for that trust in return.  I would go into battle with these men any day.  They have sacrificed so much to get me to this point and anyone would be blessed to be represented by them.

Finally, I want to thank my family.  My wife Nejma and my daughters Gia and Cece.  It would be impossible to quantify the impact this has had on them.  My daughters are regularly asked at school if I would be going to jail, which, as a parent, is an unbearable thing for your children to have to endure.  Through all of this, they have been the rock on which the foundation of our family rests.  I only hope and pray that every person has a family as beautiful and loving as mine is.  If you do, you will be able to weather any storm life throws at you.

Although this part of the process is over, we will continue to press forward with our appeal of the Ethics Commission decision in the Circuit Court.  They have continued, as recently as this week, to delay having that heard in front of a judge by filing absurd procedural motions but I will not stop until I have my day in court.  And although we spent a good deal of time in this process demonstrating the flaws in its decision, we also learned of new information in this hearing that casts additional doubt on the Ethics Commission’s opinion.  We look forward to presenting our arguments in Court.  

The people that elected us to represent them demand that we tackle the serious problems facing our city - crime, job creation and infrastructure to name a few.  To that end, I am going to be calling every single member of Council to rebuild relationships and focus on the future.  Yes…that also means I will be calling every member of the Charging Committee.  We must start healing at some point and now seems a better time than later. 

I will conclude by reflecting on the cases against Judy Green and my friend and colleague Barbara Shanklin.  As I mentioned, this is an extraordinarily difficult process to go through.  I am blessed to know Barbara who has always been kind to me while sharing her wisdom and knowledge.  I look forward to continuing to work with her at Council.  I didn’t know Judy Green before she passed.  It has been my honor to get to know her daughters.  If they are any reflection of who Judy Green was, then she must have been a great mother, businesswoman, and dedicated public servant.  I pray that she is only ever remembered in that light.

I look forward to the future and continuing to serve my community to the best of my ability.

Humbly Yours,

Anthony Piagentini

Below is a link to the press conference that I held this morning. 

Louisville Metro Councilmember Piagentini speaks after having ethics charges against him dismissed - YouTube