Cook: Let Mark Darr’s Staff Stay

On February 1st, Lieutenant Governor Mark Darr officially resigned from office under a cloud of controversy brought on by numerous ethical failings on his part.

Now there is a valid discussion on what do to with his remaining staff.

In my opinion, the staff at the Lt. Governor’s office should be allowed to stay on.

We’ve actually been in the situation before. Then-Lt. Governor Win Rockefeller tragically passed away in July of 2006 after battling a blood disorder. There was no Lt. Governor for six months so the staff didn’t have much to do, but there was no outcry for those state government employees to get canned.

Moreover, since Win Rockefeller was battling for his life passing, I’ll make an assumption his staff didn’t have too much to do in the months leading up to his untimely death.

The lack of work was not the fault of these employees, the state constitution doesn’t formally give the Lt. Governor much to do. The main duties of the office are to preside over the State Senate when it is in session and serve as Governor when the Governor is out of state.

It’s not fair to fire state government employees because we as a state can’t get our act together and give the Office of Lt. Governor more authority. I believe Arkansas should have the right to elect the person who could succeed the Governor if the incumbent vacates the office. But we should follow the lead of other states and formally give our Lt. Governor more to do.

Most modern Lt. Governor’s find causes they believe in to champion. For example, Lt. Governor Bill Halter spent three years bringing the lottery scholarship program to life and to Darr’s credit, he did help usher in the state government checkbook.

In the end, all of this may work itself out on its own. I’d reckon a guess that most of the current four-person staff resign before the end of the year anyway. If they’re smart, they’re looking for employment now because no matter what, in January of 2015 they’ll be out of job when the new Lt. Governor takes over. They know John Burkhalter is going to hire his own staff.

In the meantime, let’s find something for these employees to do. With the fiscal session starting next week, I’m sure the State Senate could use their help somehow. After the session is over, since State Senator Michael Lamoureux is next in line of succession, can any of this staff be detailed to him?

When working for an elected official you take the job knowing unemployment could be around the corner if your boss gets beat in the next election. Since we’re not likely to have a special election, these employees are in limbo, but once again, that’s not their fault.

In short, find meaningful work for these four state employees to do while the office is vacant. But don’t fire employees because Arkansas never took the time to give the Office of Lt. Governor more formal authority.