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King Commission infighting is 'embarrassment,' Beebe says Wednesday, Feb 27, 2008 By Rob Moritz Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - A squabble between members of the Arkansas Martin Luther King Jr. Commission is embarrassing to the state and hurts the organization's ability to do its job, Gov. Mike Beebe said Tuesday. Kay Barnhill Terry, the state's personnel director, also said Tuesday that her office will not process the paperwork for the newly appointed executive director of the commission until the attorney general rules on whether his appointment was legal. In a conference call Monday, the commission voted to no longer recognize Odies Wilson as a co-chairman. The commission also voted to make the new executive director's first day Tuesday. Wilson said Tuesday he didn't even know there was a meeting Monday and learned of the vote later. He also questioned whether the vote was legal. "This stuff has been going on for 15 months," Wilson said. The governor said in a statement released by his office that the "continued discord among members of the Martin Luther King Jr. Commission is an embarrassment to Arkansas and hinders this commission's ability to carry out the noble tenets of Dr. King, which serve as its foundation. "Any group with the primary duty of resolving conflict must first be able to resolve internal disagreements in a civil and productive manner," Beebe said. "This division among commissioners continues to deny the MLK Commission the proud reputation and standing that it deserves." Since state Sen. Tracy Steele, D-North Little Rock, resigned as executive director in November 2006 there has been infighting on the commission over who should replace Steele and who are members of the panel. Steele served 12 years as the commission's first chairman since its inception in 1994. Last year, a lawsuit was filed challenging the legitimacy of some commission appointees, including Wilson. That case is pending in circuit court. Earlier this month, the commission voted 12-5 to name Dushun Scarbrough to replace Steele. Wilson supported another candidate for the director's job, and after the vote he asked the attorney general's opinion on whether Scarbrough's selection was proper. During Monday's conference call, a motion was made by Commissioner Diane Charles to no longer recognize Wilson as co-chairman. Co-chairman John Walker declined to recognize her motion, but the commission overruled him. Walker, who voted against the motion, did say that he believed Wilson and interim director Jerelyn Duncan were obstructing the commission's work. The commission, after more discussion, voted to no longer recognize Wilson as co-chairman. Wilson said Tuesday he was surprised by the decision and said several commissioners don't think he was properly appointed to the panel. "I'm just going to proceed ... let's let this whole scenario work out," Wilson said about the lawsuit. When asked why Monday's meeting was called, Walker referred questions to Duncan and her staff. Duncan didn't return a telephone call Tuesday. The public notice calling the meeting didn't give details about what was on the agenda. Reached Tuesday evening and asked about Beebe's comments, Walker said, "I agree with him totally." He declined further comment. The state's personnel director said Tuesday afternoon she and Department of Finance and Administration Director Richard Weiss decided not to process any payroll paperwork for Scarbrough until the attorney general gives an opinion on whether his selection by the commission was legal. "The bylaws suggest they may need 14 votes," she said. "We just felt we would wait until everything was clean." The Associated Press contributed to this report. |
