Owensboro-Daviess County Regional Airport Director Rob Barnett has been terminated by the airport’s board, effective immediately. The board has hired former director Bob Whitmer to serve as Interim Director until a successor is named.
Whitmer served as director of the OWB airport from 2008 until his retirement on Dec. 1, 2018. Barnett was hired in November of 2018 to take over as the new director after previously serving as the manager of the Bowling Green/Warren County Regional Airport.
The decisions were announced by the board Friday afternoon following a closed session that lasted roughly an hour.
Chairman Madison Silvert issued the following statement on behalf of the board:
Today the Owensboro-Daviess County Regional Airport Board made the incredibly difficult decision to terminate the employment of Airport Director Rob Barnett. Mr. Barnett is an at-will employee who is employed by the airport’s Board of Directors. Mr. Barnett has been on official leave from the airport since the evening of Jan. 28.
We want to make it clear that this decision makes absolutely no judgment regarding Mr. Barnett’s guilt or innocence related to his recent arrest. Every person is innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law, and the board respects this presumption of innocence. While the board’s primary duty is to the successful operation of the airport, we also recognize that we all have a duty to each other as human beings.
We hope that the people of Owensboro and Daviess County can provide Mr. Barnett this same presumption of innocence and privacy he needs as he deals with this difficult time in his life. We wish him well.
We now turn to the task of finding a new director, and we plan to immediately form a search committee so that our airport can continue to grow and further its mission of providing excellent air service and opportunities for air-related and air-reliant industries for years to come.
Further, we are fortunate to welcome back former Airport Director Bob Whitmer to serve as our Interim Director until a successor is named. With his years of experience, we can ensure that our passengers and our commercial partners will continue to enjoy the same high level of service, ease of travel, and convenience they have come to expect from the Owensboro-Daviess County Regional Airport.
The Airport Board also went into closed session Tuesday for nearly two hours regarding a personnel matter but took no action at that time.
Barnett was arrested Jan. 28 by the Daviess County Sheriff’s Office on one charge of impersonating a peace officer, a Class D felony. Barnett was released from jail the following day and has an arraignment scheduled for April 26, according to court documents.
According to reports, DCSO deputies were dispatched to a disturbance at a residence in the 2300 block of Blossom Court at approximately 10:30 p.m. on Jan. 22.
“During the interaction with deputies on the call, Barnett identified himself as a law enforcement officer and produced a badge indicating the same,” according to the report summary. “A subsequent investigation of the events after the conclusion of the call revealed that Barnett is not a sworn law enforcement officer with any local or state agency at this time.”
According to the report, Barnett was arrested on Jan. 28 without incident and was lodged in the Daviess County Detention Center.
Though the airport’s board is appointed by Owensboro City and and Daviess County government, personnel matters are controlled by the board. After Barnett’s arrest, Owensboro Mayor Tom Watson and Daviess County Judge-Executive Al Mattingly each said they preferred not to comment at that time, instead saying they trusted the airport board to make the best decision.
On Jan. 29, Silvert told Owensboro Times they were made aware of Barnett’s arrest, but Silvert said the board could not comment on personnel matters at the time.
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) officials on Jan. 29 told OT the incident would be handled by local officials.
