Posted on 06/27/2002 5:47:31 PM PDT by chance33_98
Bradford says he was told to sidestep law BY SETH BLOMELEY AND MICHAEL R. WICKLINE -ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE The state's former computer boss told lawmakers Wednesday that the governor's office wanted him to "skirt" the public's right-to-know law when dealing with critical information about the troubled computer system.
Fired Chief Information Officer Randall Bradford also accused Gov. Mike Huckabee of delaying the fix-up to the Arkansas Administrative Statewide Information System, or AASIS, because the governor faces re-election Nov. 5.
"Right now you have an election-year situation where costs and problems are withheld from the public," Bradford said.
He said "the governor had the opportunity to demonstrate leadership by confronting these problems publicly, risking criticism for the best interest of the state, but he declined." He said he and a colleague did not, "and he fired us both for it."
Huckabee spokesman Rex Nelson, who was not at the meeting, said the administration "has been very willing to tackle this issue and has made tremendous progress since implementation a year ago despite Mr. Bradford's inability to work closely with agency directors."
The specially-called Legislative Council hearing used the rare procedure of putting witnesses under oath.
Revelations included:
m Bradford expects the cost for the system to rise to about $100 million from the current price tag of $52 million.
m A Huckabee administration official, who last week described a federal audit as unrelated to AASIS, acknowledged the state could be forced to pay back $15.4 million as a result of the audit.
m Bradford recalled Huckabee's saying that he wasn't very supportive of a planned agency evaluation tool called "performance-based budgeting" because he wanted reduced legislative monitoring. This budget method has been a favorite project of Senate President Pro Tempore Mike Beebe, D-Searcy.
This was the first specially-called council meeting in 30 years, legislative officials said. At the request of a council co-chairman, Sen. Bill Gwatney, D-Jacksonville, a court reporter recorded the proceedings, something not typically done at legislative meetings.
The meeting started at 9 a.m. and lasted until 7:30 p.m. with an hour and 15 minutes out for lunch hour and three breaks of about 15 minutes or less. Legislative business usually concludes by 5 p.m. Almost 200 people packed the room, about 30 of them standing. The crowd, which included about 60 of the state's 133 legislators, dwindled late in the day.
Gwatney said he expects the council will hold no more special meetings. Council members want an update from the administration on the federal audit at their July 19 meeting.
Besides Bradford, witnesses were Miller, Department of Information Systems Director Doug Elkins and Huckabee technology liaison Kelly Boyd.
Bradford said his purpose in testifying was to illuminate "dark corners" that the administration has kept hidden about AASIS.
He said he didn't feel that he had to defend himself because he helped prevent AASIS problems from getting worse.
"I urge you to keep yourselves properly informed," Bradford told lawmakers. "Question every report. Challenge every statement.
"I've known throughout my career there's a delicate line between discretion and dishonesty. Perhaps I erred on the side of caution in wanting the Legislature to be fully informed. If I had it to do it over again, I would change nothing."
Some legislators have outspokenly criticized Huckabee's handling of AASIS, and several e-mails from the governor's office that Bradford has released in recent days show a distrust of the Legislature by the governor's closest aides.
But lawmakers were reserved in their comments Wednesday. Most asked pointed questions. Gwatney said he wanted to be as nonpartisan as possible.
On June 13, Bradford resigned, saying he couldn't do his job under restrictions imposed by the administration and he intended to talk publicly about the situation. Then Huckabee fired him. Bradford has complained that Huckabee's AASIS management structure and the governor's unwillingness to be open about the system's problems prevented him from resolving problems.
PUBLIC DISCLOSURE
Bradford told the committee that a Huckabee official told him to be careful about publicly disclosing AASIS deficiencies.
"It was beyond what was reasonable and ethical," Bradford said.
He said that Boyd instructed him to send e-mails about AASIS problems to the governor's e-mail address, since the governor maintains that his office is exempt from disclosing documents under the state Freedom of Information Act. Bradford said Boyd also told him to use a private e-mail account to send such e-mails, since state agency e-mails are subject to public disclosure.
Bradford pointed to an e-mail in which Huckabee told him to use his "private" e-mail address, governor@gov.state.ar.us.
House Republican Leader Jim Magnus of Little Rock, an early critic of AASIS, defended the governor on public disclosure. "You've read a serious allegation into this, and I don't see anything there," Magnus said.
Nelson said he didn't know what instruction Boyd may have given Bradford. "I can only speak for the governor and tell you he regularly communicates with Cabinet members by e-mail and has never made such a request or seen the need for it," Nelson said.
Legislators didn't ask Boyd about this accusation and Boyd wouldn't comment after the meeting.
FEDERAL AUDIT
Elkins apologized to legislators for not disclosing that the state could be held liable for paying the federal government money after a federal audit of his department's billings to state agencies that paid with federal funds.
Elkins also acknowledged the state could be forced to repay another $6 million to the federal government for fiscal 2001 and 2002 as a result of the audit. This is in addition to the $9.4 million federal auditors say the state owes for 1997 to 2000.
Elkins conceded that the state won't save $4 million as a result of the March 12 transfer of responsibility for daily operations of AASIS from Bradford's former office to Elkins' department. This contradicts an e-mail Boyd sent Bradford laying out the case for the transfer.
Boyd apologized to Magnus and Rep. Jim Lendall, D-Mabelvale, and state Sens. Brenda Gullett, D-Pine Bluff, and Kevin Smith, D-Helena. In an e-mail to Bradford, Boyd said the four legislators "have other agendas that will cause them to be less than altruistic in their dealings with you." Boyd said each of the legislators has different agendas on technology. "At no point was I trying to denigrate their activities," he said.
He also apologized for using the term "ledge" in his e-mails when referring to the Legislature.
Beebe said there must be a change of attitude in the Huckabee administration to move forward. It's a "red herring" when Huckabee spokesmen "shoot" Bradford for releasing e-mails if there are problems with AASIS and the Legislature, he said.
PERFORMANCE BUDGETING
On this issue, Beebe wanted to know if Bradford had any information that the administration was purposefully delaying implementing the performance-based budgeting capability of AASIS. This system, when implemented, will tie state funding for agencies to their success in meeting certain goals.
"The governor made the comment ... that he thought that performance-based budgeting was being used by the Legislature to get too far down into the management of the agency," Bradford responded. "And he didn't particularly seem to like that direction."
Bradford said Huckabee's comment resulted from Department of Information Systems officials being bothered about having to meet goals and undergo scrutiny by legislative committees.
Nelson said he recalls no such comment by Huckabee, while Republican lawmakers wondered how Huckabee's comment could be interpreted as "dragging heels" on performance-based budgeting.
SECURITY
Miller told lawmakers that he was continually rebuffed by the governor's office when seeking a plan for dealing with an AASIS shutdown. He said if a terrorist attack destroys the building that houses most of the system's operation, it's unknown to what extent state government would be crippled.
Miller estimated protecting AASIS would cost several million dollars but said the administration wanted to pretend the risk wasn't there. "It was kind of like a child who walks around believing he's invisible," Miller said. "It doesn't work that way."
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