Arkansas

Does it matter if the Arkansas governor’s office meddled in podiumgate FOIA responses?

Published

1 year ago

October 5, 2023

Does it matter if the Arkansas governor’s office meddled in podiumgate FOIA responses?

There are sexier topics out there than the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), so followers of podiumgate can be forgiven for not knowing all the ins and outs of the government transparency law.

But understanding how the FOIA is supposed to work helps make some sense of the fallout over Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders‘ purchase of a lectern with $19,029.25 of public money.

Despite Sanders and company’s insistence that the growing storm around the expenditure arose from a mere accounting error and that the Republican Party of Arkansas eventually picked up the tab so there’s nothing to see here, there appears to be more to it.

Attorney Matt Campbell, an intrepid blogger with mad FOIA skills, was able to collect emails, invoices and receipts that piece together a narrative suggesting this wildly expensive lectern, purchased through a longtime associate of the governor and presumably at a considerable markup, was never meant to be paid for by the Republican Party of Arkansas. It was Campbell’s rapid-fire requests for government documents that made an issue out of the $19K purchase to begin with.

While the governor dismissed podiumgate as mere complaints from habitual grumblers during a press event Tuesday, furor over the story spilled beyond Arkansas’s borders and into national and international press. The lectern was sold by Virginia Beckett, an event planner and media consultant who doesn’t include lectern sales among the services listed on the website for her company, Beckett Events. The involvement of Beckett — a longtime Sanders associate and high-dollar political consultant who also works with Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin — is fueling theories that Beckett was hired not so much to provide a lectern as to facilitate secret meetings between Youngkin and Sanders as the duo potentially contemplate a late-start campaign for the White House in 2024.

On Wednesday, attention increasingly focused on the state Republican Party. Its late appearance in the podiumgate timeline, along with a recent leadership change, are fueling critics’ calls for RPA Chairman Joseph Wood to explain exactly what happened here.

Wood is likely in the best position to clear up any questions about podiumgate, since he’s been involved in the mess from start to finish in different roles. Wood was head of the Department of Transformation and Shared Services (TSS) — the state agency in charge of purchasing — back in June, when the state paid Beckett Events the $19K.

In August, Wood was elected head of the Republican Party of Arkansas with Sanders’ strong support. That put him in charge of the Arkansas GOP in time to sign off on the payment to reimburse the state for the lectern’s cost, months after the fact.

Wood did not immediately return a phone message seeking comment.

Meanwhile, an anonymous state employee has stepped forward with screenshots of text conversations that allegedly show TSS and staff from the governor’s office discussing how to handle FOIA requests. The texts appear to show Alexa Henning, the governor’s communication’s director, was involved in reviewing records before TSS released them.

One question you might be asking: If the governor’s office wants to have a say in what records TSS releases to the public, so what? TSS is the keeper of records on state government procurement, but the lectern purchase was made for the governor’s office, after all.

Campbell, the FOIA-wielding keyboard warrior behind the Blue Hog Report blog, said the hefty price point of the lectern in question is only part of the issue. The state is mishandling public records requests by routing them through the governor’s office, he said in an interview.

“All the attorney general opinions and all the case law say the custodian of records makes the decision on what is and isn’t released,” Campbell said. It’s simply not the governor’s office’s decision to make, he said.

“If I send a request to TSS for records they’re custodians of, it falls on them entirely. Just because the governor is in charge doesn’t mean she gets to look over FOIA responses and pull out anything she doesn’t want in there,” Campbell said.

He explained his thinking in a lengthy thread on X, formerly Twitter.

Those text receipts line up with emails I received, showing a clear pattern of the Governor’s Office dictating what will & will not be released under FOIA, even for records over which the Gov’s Office is not custodian (& therefore has no legal authority to make those decisions).
— Matt Campbell (@BlueHogReport) October 3, 2023

Concerns about alleged mishandling of FOIA requests drove an anonymous whistleblower to come forward last week offering to share evidence to prove something is amiss. The former state government employee is represented by attorney Tom Mars, who served as Arkansas State Police director during Sanders’ dad’s tenure in the governor’s office. Mars said having the Republican Party of Arkansas swoop in to cover the tab months after the purchase was made is merely a cover for what’s at best a poor use of taxpayer funds.

“The only document produced by the Governor that alludes to reimbursement by a third party is the handwritten note that was written on the June 8 ‘Beckett Events’ invoice by someone in the governor’s office months later — the same day the Governor’s Office had to turn over the $19K invoice to Matt Campbell in response to his FOIA request,” Mars said.

His client’s allegations that the governor’s office altered at least one document about the transaction and inappropriately withheld others from public disclosure raises the question of what role, if any, the governor’s office should be playing here.

The answer to that question is none, Mars said. And especially not communication strategists whose area of expertise is optics, not legalities.

“Having been the head of an Arkansas state agency, I can tell you it’s unheard of for anyone with the responsibility for external communications to be involved in decisions about what documents are exempt from disclosure under the FOIA. That’s exclusively the responsibility of the agency lawyers. Once those decisions are made, the PR person’s job is to play the hand they are dealt – whether they like it or not,” he said.

Mars’ take on the legalities here looks to match that of Fort Smith attorney Joey McCutchen, an expert on Arkansas FOIA, who wondered aloud if state officials are playing politics with government transparency law.

If TSS has the financial transaction records, does another office have a role in deciding what to release?

“I think the custodian of record needs to respond and should respond,” he said. “If they are the correct custodian, they don’t have to go get permission to release records they’re custodians of.”

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Arkansas

Mizzou, Arkansas Official Availability Report Ahead of Week 14 Game

Published

5 hours ago

November 27, 2024

Press Room

Mizzou, Arkansas Official Availability Report Ahead of Week 14 Game

The No. 21 Missouri Tigers enter their final regular season game with the least injury questions than they have had for most other games since the beginning of November.

But, there was a few new additions to the team’s availability report ahead of the Week 14 game against Arkansas. Below is the full availability report for the Tigers and the Arkansas Razorbacks.

This post will be updated throughout the week with new availability reports posted Thursday, Friday and 90 minutes before the 3:15 p.m. kick off.

Missouri Initial Availability Report:

Note: Missouri players with injuries previously reported to be season-ending are not listed on this post.

• DB Shamar McNeil – OUT
• LS Brett Le Blanc – OUT
• OL Logan Reichert – OUT
• RB Kewan Lacy – QUESTIONABLE

True freshman running back Kewan Lacy took one carry against Mississippi State in Week 13 before exiting the game with injury. Head coach Eli Drinkwitz said in the week leading up to that game that he would expect Lacy to see more opportunities going forward.

Le Blanc handles punting long snapping duties for Missouri, while Trey Flint takes care of field goals and extra points. Expect Flint to slide in for Le Blanc Saturday.

Arkansas Initial Availability Report:

• DL Nico Dalliver – OUT
• DB Jaylon Braxton – OUT
• K Kyle Ramsey – OUT
• DL Anton Juncaj – DOUBTFUL
• RB Braylen Russel – QUESTIONABLE
• DB Anthony Switzer – QUESTIONABLE

Passion and Patience Fuel a Fairytale Ending to Drake Heismeyer’s Mizzou Career
Brady Cook Reflects on Legacy Ahead of Senior Day
Mizzou Receiver Undergoes Season-Ending Surgery

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Arkansas

Arkansas Children's enhances care with Press Ganey partnership

Published

13 hours ago

November 27, 2024

Press Room

Arkansas Children's enhances care with Press Ganey partnership

The partnership will improve Arkansas Children’s service and care for patients and their families. Credit: Vita Monart/Shutterstock.

Arkansas Children’s, a private, non-profit paediatric care organisation, has partnered with Press Ganey to improve paediatric patient experience.

Beginning 1 January 2025, this collaboration is aimed at bolstering the paediatric care organisation’s commitment to improving service and care for patients and their families.

Arkansas Children’s executive vice-president and chief operating officer Jamie Wiggins said: “We believe that every interaction with our patients is an opportunity to make a meaningful impact.

“By leveraging Press Ganey’s expertise and industry-leading pediatric benchmarks, we will gain valuable insights that will empower our teams to continuously improve and innovate in delivering compassionate care.”

Press Ganey will offer its patient experience and provider star-rating solutions to help Arkansas Children’s monitor feedback and enhance care quality.

The partnership will enable Arkansas Children’s to leverage Press Ganey’s AI-powered text analytics.

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This will help analyse open-ended feedback from online reviews and post-visit surveys, providing an understanding of patient and family perspectives.

The goal is to gain actionable insights that can further improve the patient experience.

Press Ganey provides experience measurement, data analytics and insights to health systems and caters to more than 65% of all freestanding paediatric hospitals.

This partnership will allow Arkansas Children’s to benefit from shared learning and innovation within Press Ganey’s network of institutions.

Press Ganey CEO and chairman Patrick Ryan said: “Families trust Arkansas Children’s to provide the highest quality care for their children.

“This partnership reflects their dedication to listening to families, responding to their needs, and innovating to create a world-class paediatric healthcare experience.”

Arkansas Children’s network includes two paediatric hospitals, a nursery alliance, statewide clinics, a research institute, a USDA nutrition centre, and numerous education and outreach programmes.

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Arkansas

Homicide suspect causes barricade situation in east Arkansas jail

Published

20 hours ago

November 27, 2024

Press Room

Homicide suspect causes barricade situation in east Arkansas jail

PHILLIPS COUNTY, Ark. — A suspect in a Helena-West Helena homicide caused a barricade situation Tuesday as he was being processed in the Phillips County Detention Center.

Authorities said a prisoner who was being processed at the jail was able to get hold of some type of instrument and cause harm to himself.

He barricaded himself in the processing area and pepper spray was used to subdue him.

The prisoner was taken to the local emergency room for treatment. No one else was injured.

Helena-West Helena Police Chief Vincent Bell said he doesn’t know much more about what happened at the jail, but said the inmate is connected to a fatal shooting Tuesday afternoon.

The suspect was being held in connection to an incident where a man was shot dead in the doorway of O’Reilly Auto Parts in West Helena.

The shooting was the result of a disagreement that started in front of a motel, and the victim ran to the front of O’Reilly’s where he was fatally shot.

Chief Bell offered no details on a motive or the name of the victim.

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