Episode Demonstrates Shortcomings

To say that Martha Shoffner did the right thing Tuesday by resigning an oft ce she appears to have disgraced is damning with faint praise.

If the allegations against her are true, it was about the only right thing she’s done.

of Arkansas stepped down Tuesday, three days after FBI agents arrested her amid allegations she took kickbacks in exchange for steering the state’s bond business to a particular broker.

Authorities theyhave recordings of Shoffner discussing the illegal arrangement and proof she accepted money.

If convicted, Shoffner, 68, faces 20 years in prison and fines up to $250,000. Her attorney says she’ll fight the charges, so it will be months if not years before the case is resolved. Thankfully, she won’t be going to work at the Capitol each day until then.

But this whole episode leads us to consider - again - the vagaries of Arkansas’ 139-yearold Constitution and how its structure creates opportunities for people with bad intentions to take advantage of us.

The job Shoffner had - state treasurer - is one of seven elected oftces in the executive branch of Arkansas government. Of those, three - governor, attorney general and lieutenant governor - include duties that reasonably can be expected of an elected position. The others - treasurer, auditor, land commissioner, secretary of state - are basically administrative jobs that would most logically be filled by professionals rather that politicians.

That structure has led to an abusive parade of “down ballot” oftce holders whose only qualifications are name recognition and political connections. While it’s important to note that not all of the people elected to those oftces over the years behaved badly, some have.

Some took advantage of the jobs’ low profi les to create their own little fiefdoms where they hired relatives, drove state-owned vehicles for free and collected political favors. The conduct ranged from the simply unethical to the outright illegal. All of it was shameful.

Count Shoffner among that group. Even before her most recent trouble, her sense of political entitlement was evident. A former state legislator, she ran for treasurer in 2006 despite having no background in banking or finance. What she did have was plenty of donor phone numbers.

When it was discovered in 2010 that some constitutional oftcers - including Shoffner - were driving state-owned cars as personal vehicles but not reporting it as income, she complained about the money it would cost her. And then she famously compared her state-financed car to Gov. Mike Beebe’s security detail and asked why no one was concerned about the governor’s “manservant.”

Things began to unravel last year when lawmakers began asking questions about her bond-trading strategies. Why were bonds being sold before maturity (costing the state money) and why was a single firm getting so much business? At fi rst, the fear was incompetent leadership. But according to the FBI, it’s more than that.

While Shoffner’s resignation solves one problem for the state, it doesn’t address another: What to do about these elected administrative jobs so easily transformed into political kingdoms. One way is for the electorate to pay more attention to the down ballot races. Another is for the political parties to encourage good candidates and discourage the ones looking out for themselves.

The best way would be to change the Constitution to a more streamlined executive branch, eliminating unnecessary oftces in favor of professionals trained in the appropriate skills.