LR to channel Elliott $80,000

Law against senator working for state cited in salary switch

— State Sen. Joyce Elliott will be paid $80,000 a year as executive director of the Central Little Rock Promise Neighborhood through the city of Little Rock rather than through the University of Arkansas at Little Rock to ensure that there is no conflict with state law, a spokesman for UALR said.

Elliott’s position is being transferred to the city, which is one of the partners in the project’s consortium, and funds will be transferred to the city to cover her salary and benefits, said Judy Williams, communications director at UALR.

UALR is the lead partner for the Promise Neighborhood program, which has its office in the Bailey Alumni & Friends Center on the UALR campus, the group’s website says.

“Many children’s welfare and future are dependent on our being successful with this initiative,” she said Friday in an e-mail to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

after it questioned Tuesday whether Elliott’s employment violates Arkansas Code Annotated 21-1-402. That law states that, except for certain limited circumstances, “un- less the person resigns prior to entering into the employment, no person elected to a constitutional office, after being elected to the constitutional office and during the term for which elected, may enter into employment with” any state agency.

Elliott, who has worked as the executive director for this project since September, reported UALR as a source of income on her Statement of Financial Interest for 2011.

“It was an oversight,” Elliott said Friday when asked if her employment conflicts with state ethics law. “But there was nothing willful about the oversight that happened, so when it was called to our attention, we just have done what we could do to make sure we remove any cloud over what we are trying to do here.”

The U.S. Department of Education announced that it had awarded the Promise Neighborhood Grant to UALR in September 2010 at a Washington news conference attended by three Cabinet members.

Nationwide, schools or nonprofit groups in 21 communities received the money.

Elliott, a Little Rock Democrat who lost a bid for Congress in 2010, was hired for the job in August 2011, after the opening was posted for two weeks. She is a former teacher and former head of the House Education Committee.

The job opening was advertised July 24 in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and was posted on the UALR website, she said. It was also listed on higheredjobs.com from July 22 to Aug. 5.

The printed UALR classified ad didn’t mention the salary or list the duties or qualifications.

“Managing Director — Central Little Rock Promised Neighborhood (P98222)” was the job title printed in the newspaper, one of 15 UALR jobs listed under “professional opportunities.”

Seven people applied for the job, and Elliott was the only applicant who met the basic and desired qualifications for it, according to Williams.

On Aug. 19, 2011, Elliott signed a letter from UALR Vice Chancellor for University Advancement Bill Walker on UALR stationery offering her the full-time, $80,000-ayear job, starting Sept. 1, according to a copy of the letter provided by Williams.

“While the recommended duration of jobs being open at UALR is 30 days, some jobs are posted for 10 working days because of extenuating circumstances,” Williams said.

“In this case, the consortium had received planning grant funding for CLRPN [Central Little Rock Promise Neighborhood], so it was important that we get strong leadership in place to get the program started,” she said.

The project is a federally funded initiative, and UALR is one of eight partners in the consortium and was asked to be the project’s fiscal agent and lead agency, Williams explained.

Walker acknowledged Friday that someone could interpret state law to raise questions about Elliott’s employment.

“We don’t want there to be any question about it,” he said.

“This sounds biased, but we are focusing on the lives of thousands of at-risk kids, and it is amazing what is going to be done for those kids, so if some issue comes up that may raise a question about it, we just don’t want that to detract us from what we are trying to do with the lives of thousands of kids,” Walker said.

The Central Little Rock Promise Neighborhood’s budget totals $688,003 for the period from Oct. 1, 2010-March 31, according to Williams. That consists of $430,098 in federal funds and $257,905 in local matching funds, including a match of $115,668 from UALR, $50,000 from Little Rock, $37,062 from the Little Rock School District and $25,000 from the Riggs Benevolent Fund, she said.

Shane Broadway, interim director of the state Department of Higher Education, said department officials recommended the creation of the position, for which Elliott was hired, to a legislative committee because it was funded by a federal grant.

“We were not aware of who would be filling the position,” he said.

“Had I known it would be Sen. Elliott, I would have advised them to use another partner to be the fiscal agent for the grant.”

Tony Robinson of the Bureau of Legislative Research said the Legislative Council’s personnel subcommittee reviewed the position on Sept. 13.

A member of the state House of Representatives from 2001-07, Elliott has been a state senator since 2009 and is up for re-election this year. She faces a challenge from state Rep. Fred Allen of Little Rock in the Democratic primary for District 31 on May 22.

No Republican has filed for the seat.

Front Section, Pages 1 on 04/22/2012

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