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Senate accepts staff chief's resignation, ponders eliminating post Wednesday, Jan 31, 2007 By Doug Thompson Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - The Senate Efficiency Committee accepted the resignation of Senate Chief of Staff Bill Goodman on Tuesday, and began considering whether to eliminate the $100,00-a-year position. Goodman, resigned abruptly Monday, following a meeting of the efficiency panel. He worked in the Bureau of Legislative Research for more than 30 years before being hired as Senate chief of staff in 2004. Total cost of the position, including salary, benefits and expenses, comes close to $250,000 a year, said Senate President Pro Tem Jack Critcher, D-Batesville. Remaining senior members of the Senate staff "have almost 100 years of experience. Do they really need supervision?" Critcher said. The committee accepted Goodman's resignation with a 7-4 vote. Among those who voted against it was Sen. Dave Bisbee, R-Rogers, the committee chairman. Bisbee described Goodman was an excellent staff member who fell victim to internal Senate disputes involving a majority group of senators who in 2005 wrested control of how millions of dollars in the General Improvement Fund are distributed by legislators to their districts from a small group of veteran senators, including Bisbee. Critcher, a member of the majority sometimes referred to as The Brotherhood, narrowly defeated Bisbee in a 2005 vote for Senate leader. Previously, what had been a largely ceremonial position went to the most senior senator who had not served as president pro tem. On Tuesday, Critcher said Goodman's departure was a personnel matter that he was not at liberty to discuss. In his resignation letter, Goodman said he sat goal for himself when he agreed in 2004 to delay his retirement from the Legislature's support bureau to become Senate chief of staff. "I feel that I have largely accomplished these goals and that it's time to move on," he wrote. Goodman will take leave until his resignation becomes effective March 2. |
