Harding professor appointed to state Ethics Commission

A faculty member at Harding University, Lori Klein of Searcy, has been appointed by Senate President Pro Tempore Jonathan Dismang, R-Searcy, to the five-member Arkansas Ethics Commission, Dismang said Thursday.

Klein, an assistant professor of political science and public administration, replaces former state Sen. Sharon Trusty, R-Russellville. In 2013, then-Senate President Pro Tempore Michael Lamoureux, R-Russellville, appointed Trusty to the commission.

The Ethics Commission serves as the compliance and enforcement agency for state standards of conduct and disclosure laws for political candidates and committees, state and local government officials, and lobbyists, as well as for people involved with ballot measures, according to the commission's website. The commission levies sanctions for violations. It was created in 1991 when voters approved an initiated act in 1990.

Dismang said Thursday that he appointed Klein to a five-year term on the commission in part because she has more than a decade of experience working with legislators and other elected officials in Florida.

In addition, Dismang said Klein's mission in her job at Harding is to teach young people the virtues of public service.

"I believe that her life experience and ability to objectively make decisions will serve the commission and the state of Arkansas well," he said in a written statement.

Klein said she agreed to serve on the commission because it's an important body and provides a needed service.

She said Dismang has provided her no marching orders to serve on the commission.

Klein, 53, has been an assistant professor at Harding since May 2007. She served as an instructor from 2005-07 and as an adjunct instructor from 1997-2005 there, according to her resume.

Her resume shows that she was an analyst in Florida Democratic Gov. Lawton Chiles' Office of Planning and Budgeting from 1992-94; a senior management analyst in the Florida Department of Business Regulation from 1990-92; and an analyst for four Florida House committees between 1984-90. Klein said she worked as a nonpartisan staff member in both the executive and legislative branches.

Klein earned her bachelor's degree in social work in 1984 and a master's degree in public administration in 1989, both from Florida State University, according to her resume.

Arkansas' other ethics commissioners include retired educator Sybil Jordan Hampton of Little Rock, who was appointed by then-Democratic Attorney General Dustin McDaniel in 2014; and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in-house attorney Tony Juneau of Rogers, who was appointed by House Speaker Jeremy Gillam, R-Judsonia, in March 2015.

The other two commissioners are Ashley Driver Younger of Little Rock, who is executive director of the nonprofit group Central Arkansas Rescue Effort for Animals Inc. and was appointed by Republican Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin of Little Rock in December 2015; and Alice Eastwood of Bentonville, who is a senior director of international ethics for Wal-Mart and was appointed by Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson in February 2017.

Metro on 01/19/2018

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