Lawmaker blocks a Beebe appointee

Void left on building contractor panel

A gubernatorial appointment has been derailed by an Arkansas state senator.

State Sen. Linda Collins-Smith, R-Pocahontas, said Monday that she declined to confirm former Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe's appointment of Pocahontas Democrat Frankie Penn to the state's Residential Building Contractors Committee because the appointment wasn't in the best interest of her Senate district.

She declined to provide more details about her objection to Penn's appointment to the committee.

"I don't think it's necessary," Collins-Smith said when pressed to explain her problems with Penn's appointment. "It's my prerogative."

It's rare for state senators to refuse to confirm a governor's appointment to a state board, commission or committee.

Beebe appointed Penn to the Residential Building Contractors Committee in a letter dated Oct. 3 for a term expiring Oct. 1, 2017, according to state records.

The committee regulates the issuance of licenses for residential contractors in Arkansas, according to its website.

The committee is a state agency associated with the Arkansas Contractors Licensing Board and has seven members who are appointed by the governor to three-year terms, according to its website. Five members are residential contractors; the other two come from other professions and represent consumers.

The Arkansas Senate disapproved Penn's appointment on the basis of a motion of Collins-Smith, Senate Director Ann Cornwell said in a letter dated Jan. 27 to Gov. Asa Hutchinson. Some senators said they weren't aware that they had rejected the appointment.

In an unwritten rule in the Senate, senators can essentially veto a gubernatorial appointment if the nominee is from their district. In the past, when a governor has ignored a senator's veto, the Senate has intervened by voting not to confirm the appointee.

Penn said Monday that he learned that the Senate had rejected his appointment April 21 from Greg Crow, administrator of the state's Contractors Licensing Board. Penn said he had attended the Residential Building Contractors Committee's meetings in October, December and January.

"I don't have any indication why [Collins-Smith] didn't [approve] it," he said. "I don't have a felony record of any kind."

Penn said he's a retired 74-year-old who receives Social Security benefits and raises cattle. He served as a Democrat on the Randolph County Quorum Court from 1995-1998, according to the Randolph County clerk's office.

He said the late state Sen. David Wyatt, D-Batesville -- whose Senate District 19 seat Collins-Smith was elected to last November -- and Rep. James Ratliff, D-Imboden, recommended his appointment.

Senate District 19 comprises Independence, Izard and Sharp counties and parts of Fulton and Randolph counties.

Penn said he supported state Rep. James McLean, D-Batesville, in his unsuccessful bid against Collins-Smith for the state Senate last November, but he doesn't know whether that's why Collins-Smith blocked his appointment.

"She has never approached me at all when she was running for office," Penn said.

Collins-Smith said that "I had no knowledge of who he supported" in her Senate race, so that wasn't a factor in blocking Penn's appointment.

State Rep. Scott Baltz, D-Pocahontas, and Ratliff said Monday that they don't know why Collins-Smith blocked Penn's appointment either.

"I don't have a clue," said Baltz. "That's the first I heard of it."

Ratliff said he wrote a letter to Beebe recommending Penn's appointment to Residential Contractors Licensing Committee.

"He is a good fella and would do a good job, and he was interested in that appointment," Ratliff said of Penn.

He said he learned Monday from Baltz about Collins-Smith blocking Penn's appointment, and he wants to find out why Collins-Smith did so.

Beebe said through a spokesman that he wasn't aware that Collins-Smith had opposed his appointment of Penn nor does he know why she has done so. He said his prospective appointees were vetted and their references were checked to make sure that they are qualified before the appointments are made.

Collins-Smith was elected as a Democrat to the state House of Representatives in 2010 but switched parties in August 2011.

At that time, Collins-Smith said she switched because the state Democratic Party has become more liberal.

At that point, Beebe said it wasn't a loss for the Democratic Party, adding that "during the [2011] session everybody said that she spent more time with the Republicans than she did with the Democrats."

In the 2012 election, she lost her bid to oust Wyatt from the state Senate. But she won the seat in the 2014 general election, after Wyatt opted against running for re-election.

A spokesman for Hutchinson said the governor hasn't appointed Penn's replacement on the Residential Building Contractors Committee yet.

The committee's members include Chairman Billy Bunn of Arkadelphia, Todd Wilcox of Jonesboro, David Hargrave of Lowell, Bill Green of Cabot, Richard Harp of Little Rock and Emily Rucker of Alma, according to its website.

Metro on 04/28/2015

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