Malone Leaves ATRS On a Good Note (Opinion)

It seems like only yesterday when David Malone left Fayetteville to rescue the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System in Little Rock. And now he says he’ll leave at the end of the year.

ATRS will have been in Malone’s capable hands four years by then. But since his controversial predecessor, Bill Shirron, had the job a nigh-eternal 14 years, Malone’s tenure doesn’t seem nearly long enough.

Shirron resigned in 2002 after admitting that he falsified official meeting minutes to cover the fact that he had swapped ATRS-owned real estate without authorization from the trustees. (That’s a crime, by the way, but Shirron has never been prosecuted.)

Real estate was Shirron’s downfall. When ATRS began investing in real estate, it became a playground for certain developers.

For what little return those investments made for the state’s retired teachers, they were extraordinarily troublesome.

Among other changes to the system, befitting the largest pile of money in Arkansas, Malone has led a cautious divestiture of ATRS’ real estate portfolio.

Smart, but it’s a shame it needed to be done.

We would all like to see more Arkansas pension dollars invested in Arkansas business ventures, but privileges that are abused are often withdrawn.

Anyway, we hate to see David Malone give up the reins, but it’s classy of him to give plenty of notice so the trustees can find another champion.