When a key state administrator recently went job hunting, it was a reminder of changes that can be expected as the Beebe administration comes to a close this year.
Gov. Mike Beebe is term-limited, finishing up his eighth year in the office. When he leaves office in January 2015, many at-will jobs throughout the administration could change hands, including those of top administrators. Some of them have been guiding state agencies and departments for decades.
Some may stay or leave depending on who succeeds Beebe. Other openings may happen because individuals choose to retire or see some other attractive opportunity.
Recently, Tom Kimbrell, the Arkansas education commissioner, interviewed for the job of superintendent in the Fayetteville School District, which will be vacated in June.
At 52, Kimbrell is not looking to retire anytime soon and saw an opportunity for what looked like a good next step for him. He aggressively pursued the Fayetteville post and met last week with the local school board in executive session to talk about it.
He must not have liked what he heard because he has since called the school board president to say he is no longer interested.
Notably, he had said before his meeting with the school board that he has spoken to three of the four candidates for governor and each had assured him he could continue as commissioner in their administrations.
“I’m not looking for a job because I think I need to find a job. If I’m going to change, this is just one of those superintendent jobs that doesn’t come open very often,” said Kimbrell, who previously worked as a superintendent.
Something changed his mind about the Fayetteville job. His immediate plan is to remain in Little Rock as commissioner.
However, another long-time administrator, Richard Weiss, has announced his planned retirement.
Weiss, who is just turning 70, heads the state Department of Finance and Administration.
Weiss has been in state government since 1970, serving in different capacities for every governor since Winthrop Rockefeller. He has worked in state parks, environmental affairs, budget and finance, and became director of DFA under Gov. Jim Guy Tucker, a Democrat.
Republican Gov. Mike Huckabee retained Weiss, who spent another five years on the job before taking state retirement for a corporate post. Gov. Mike Beebe brought him back to head DFA again and Weiss will ride out Beebe’s administration before retiring again, this time with plans to camp and travel the country.
Democrat Beebe’s successor could be either fellow Democrat Mike Ross or Republican Asa Hutchinson.
Two other Republicans, Curtis Coleman and Debra Hobbs, are also running, but Hutchinson is the party’s presumed nominee.
So far, Ross has no announced Democratic opposition. Beebe has already publicly endorsed Ross and that fact alone probably means no other credible Democrat will challenge for the nomination.
So all these government agency heads are watching to see who will be the next governor and what likelihood there is that the new governor will want them to remain.
The nature of the political beast is that some state jobs will go to those who are helpful in getting the new governor elected. How many have been promised — or will be — won’t be evident for a long time.
The DFA director’s job is definitely a plum waiting for someone.
There is always some turnover in the agencies, even when the governor’s office itself doesn’t change hands.
And some of the changes that will come to Arkansas state government after a new governor is seated won’t come immediately.
Sitting department heads and agency directors, as well as those who work below them, may want to remain on the state payroll. Even those at or near retirement age may not quite be ready to quit.
They and the new governor will see how well they gee and haw together.
There is another factor at play, too. Governors need experienced hands on board.
Despite the confidence all these gubernatorial candidates display in their administrative abilities, there is still a learning curve even for those with long political or public service experience.
Most are smart enough not to strip their administrations of the people who have been doing the work.
As Weiss will attest, state government is bigger and more complicated than most people realize. Once newly elected governors get past the politics, he said, he’s found them all to be “very pragmatic” about running the state.
BRENDA BLAGG IS A FREELANCE COLUMNIST AND LONGTIME JOURNALIST IN NORTHWEST ARKANSAS.