That?s the Ticket (Opinion)

Ernie Passailaigue’s resignation as director of the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery wasn’t unexpected, nor was it unwelcome. What it was, was time.

The bow-tied South Carolinian got the lottery up and running quickly. But once the lottery was operational, the man whose name most had only recently learned to pronounce, and never to spell, failed to diligently administer the $465 million enterprise.

Passailaigue, paid $324,000 a year, turned out to be a much better initiator than manager.

Among the lottery’s blunders under its generously rewarded chief:

• Passailaigue’s hiring of two South Carolina colleagues, David Barden and Ernestine Middleton, at salaries of $225,000 a year, more than $80,000 beyond what they’d made at their previous posts. The high pay irked recession-battered Arkansans, not to mention diverted dollars from college scholarships.
• His approval of 200 hours of compensatory time each for himself, Barden and Middleton, as if they weren’t paid enough to put in some OT.
• A failure by lottery officials, including Passailaigue, to follow state rules regarding reimbursement for travel.
• Neglecting to submit financial statements that abided by generally accepted accounting principles.
• Overestimating how much money the lottery would generate for scholarships.
• The failure of a major lottery vendor to meet contract specifications.
• Failing to pay taxes to the IRS on time, resulting in almost $100,000 in penalties and interest.

CPA Bruce Engstrom of North Little Rock, a relative newcomer to the Arkansas Lottery Commission, said, “I am finding a lot of things where the t’s weren’t crossed and the i’s weren’t dotted, and it seems like a pattern to me.”

Gov. Mike Beebe also thinks details matter, and the governor more than once made clear his displeasure with Passailaigue’s performance.

It seems Ol’ Ernie finally took the hint.

The next lottery director should demonstrate strong administrative skills; he or she should not be a political crony unless it is someone who also has the necessary chops to do the job.

A salary roughly $100,000 less than Passailaigue’s should be enough to attract strong job candidates. The $225,000 neighborhood is a real nice neighborhood.