Some Big Questions Get Answers At UA

THEATRICS AT STATE CAPITOL DON’T MATTER MUCH IN THE OVERALL SCHEME OF THINGS

No one lined pockets with University of Arkansas money.

No public documents were destroyed at the UA, either.

Those were the two big takeaways from the recent Washington County prosecutor’s report. That report was an important, valuable public service.

Theatrics at the state Capitol grabbed too much attention from it.

Investigators looked into the fundraising arm of the University of Arkansas. They suspected the possibility of fraud in that off ce’s $4.2 million deficit. They also checked whether the UA chancellor ordered the destruction of public records.

They found no case. The off ce simply overspent, mainly on salaries.

Was the investigation a whitewash? Does it tread lightly? No. A whitewash wouldn’t have described how the UA’s fiscal safeguards were so shockingly bad.

“The initial reaction to this breakdown … was one of alarm because most, if not all, of the red flags for the commission of fraud were present due to the breakdown of internal control,” wrote David Bercaw, deputy prosecutor for Washington County.

So there was no fraud - and we may all be very thankful for it. Say what you want about former employees Brad Choate and Joy Sharp’s management. Their honesty passed a test many would fail.

Either one could have taken the UA for millions. They didn’t take a dime, not even by padding expense accounts.

In fact, straightened-out accounting showed the UA still owed Choate money for unpaid expenses.

Chancellor David Gearhart was accused of ordering destruction of records that were sought by Freedom of Information Act requests or were germane to the deficit mess. “With the possible exception of Foundation Payment Authorization Forms … there is no evidence that any records relevant to our examination, needed for the audit or subject to an FOIA request were disposed of,” Bercaw found.

A blank “Foundation Payment” form is available online at http://vcfa.uark.

edu/Documents/2222Form.

pdf. They’re not detailed and the transactions they authorize can be found in other records. These are not likely candidates for wrongful shredding.

John Diamond, a former UA spokesman, says Gearhart ordered records destroyed.

If that’s true, here’s what happened: Gearhart ordered documents destroyed, then sidelined Diamond for resisting before fi ring him - and still couldn’t get the documents destroyed.

There would be a much better case for accusing the chancellor of saying “Who will rid me of this meddlesome priest?” if the priest were dead.

Whether those same records were provided to those seeking them under the Freedom of Information Act ina timely manner is a separate issue. The investigation didn’t address that.

Any remaining prospect for a criminal case centers on things this investigation didn’t address. Those leftovers seem much less likely prospects for a good scandal than a $4.2 million deficit and a former spokesman’s accusation that records were shredded.

Here’s the big problem with this whole mess and every issue raised by it: We’re looking for certainty in a situation that springs from appallingly bad bookkeeping in the fi rst place.

In September, I wrote: “The University of Arkansas chancellor is accused of stonewalling a legal requestfor public records. This claim in writing comes from a highranking offcial at the school who says he was fi red for objecting. Nodding acceptance of Chancellor David Gearhart’s denial won’t remove the stink this time.”

The UA faced serious allegations. These merited a serious look - and that’s what the most serious allegations got. We’re a lot closer to sorting all this out than we were three months ago.

Now that we’ve dealt with substance, let’s turn to the drama portion of today’s program.

Bercaw’s report came out the day before the Joint Legislative Auditing Committee met. The groupwas going to hear witnesses on the UA mess.

Brenda Blagg and John Brummett did a better job than I can of describing the fi asco that meeting became. Here’s the short version: Choate and Sharp were supposed to appear. They didn’t get the chance. They’ll get their chance later - and they ought to, out of both a sense of justice and out of common courtesy. The statement Choate planned to give was released later that day, at least.

I’m a red-blooded newspaperman. Sure, I want a show, with flashes going oft and TV lights blazing. But don’t confuse the Legislature’s botched staging with a cover-up the day after 3,000pages of an investigation’s fi les became public record.

Blagg nailed it: “Whoever is responsible for the quick shutdown of a legislative hearing last week did the University of Arkansas no favors.” The farce revived a controversy that the prosecutor had just doused with a very big bucket of cold water.

The show must go on. I’ll watch with interest to see what some other committee of lawmakers can squeeze out that state auditors and criminal investigators, taking months, cannot.

DOUG THOMPSON IS A POLITICAL REPORTER AND COLUMNIST FOR NWA MEDIA.

Opinion, Pages 12 on 12/29/2013

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