City officials are referring all inquiries to an external communications firm while the investigation is ongoing. “That’s the first we heard about it,” Florence City Council member Lesley Chambers told the NKyTribune. City council member Angie Cable confirmed that the city’s elected officials were kept in the dark until Tuesday. Linda Chapman worked for the accounting company and in 2003 she became Florence’s finance director, taking Epling’s position. Though shielded by assertions that city officials cannot comment because of the ongoing investigation, Cable worries that the lack of transparency can erode trust in local government.