Video: Back and Forth with Araiza and Shannon

Check Talk Politics report on the basics of Arkansas Forestry Director John Shannon’s resignation.  I thought I would add a bit of video for you here (see below).

Although Shannon resigned in the opening minutes of the Arkansas Joint Legislative Audit, the meeting went on for about two hours and became contentious at times.  Part of the tension was between Shannon and former finance director Robert Azaira, who received perhaps the toughest treatment in the audit report.  During the meeting, Shannon seemed to attempt to blame Azaira for not informing him about the problems.

“Since the day I came to this day I did not lie,” said Araiza. “(Shannon) has lied  – a dichotomy of lies – documented lies – and you’re going take his word over mine? I am just gonna leave it at that. I haven’t lied and I have documents to prove I haven’t lied. He has lied yet he hasn’t admitted it. Yet he resigned yesterday. So I wonder why he has resigned?”

“No, I am telling the truth,” said Shannon who insisted Araiza had lied to him. “If you read the report, his testimony directly contradicts on the same page as the audit report. On one side of the page, Mr. Araiza is saying correctly that he told me borrowing from federal grants was allowed; he recommended it to me. And on the other column on the same page, he is saying it was not authorized and I directed him to do otherwise – you know that just can’t stand. I am responsible for the Forestry Commission but I have a reputation too.”

Shannon said after reviewing a draft of the audit report on Thursday with Gov. Beebe’s Chief of Staff Morril Harriman, he had offered his resignation knowing that if he did not Beebe would have been forced to ask for it.

But Shannon still insists he did not have all the information needed to prevent the Forestry problems until November 2011 despite some emails indicating otherwise.

“I would have had to have been told right from the start that Shannon would have had a hard time making the payroll and our current funding structure isn’t working and things have got to change and would have gone straight to DF&A and the governor’s office and we would have gotten started on this back in 2010,” Shannon said.

Check back later for video of Gov. Beebe and DF&A Director Richard Weiss.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsDjSsvmC2E] [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ICeftZLmpc]