The board of trustees for the Arkansas Public Employees Retirement System has begun advertising for applicants to succeed departing Executive Director Gail Stone.
The agency is state government's second-largest retirement system with more than $8 billion in assets and more than 75,000 working and retired members.
The salary range for the executive director's job is between $149,862 and $181,500 per year, according to the ad on Arkansas State Jobs, ARStateJobs.com, the employment website for the state. The ad was posted Friday and expires Dec. 21. Stone, who has served in her post since July 2001, is paid $181,499.97, according to the Arkansas transparency website.
The successful applicant will have a minimum of five years of executive experience reporting directly to corporate or public leadership and must demonstrate leadership qualities, highly effective written and oral communication skills and a passion for customer service, according to the job listing.
"Professional accounting/financial licensure, three (3) or more years working with investments or retirement systems and/or an advanced degree in business administration, accounting, finance, economics, public administration, or related fields are preferred," the ad states.
Last Wednesday, Stone announced her plan to retire, effective Dec. 31, after the trustees met in a closed executive session for 40 minutes on performance matters.
Board Chairman David Morris said afterward that he and board Vice Chairman Larry Walther gave Stone the option to retire but didn't threaten to fire her. Stone, who has worked at the retirement system since 1990, has said she didn't think she had any option beyond retiring.
Asked whether he asked any board members to seek Stone's retirement and whether he has anyone in mind for the job, Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Monday in a written statement, "This is a personnel matter, and my understanding is that other than accepting Gail Stone's letter of resignation, the board has decided not to discuss the matter publicly.
"I was aware that Gail Stone had submitted her letter of resignation," the Republican governor said. "I appreciate Gail's longtime service to the state and congratulate her on her retirement. As for the future executive director, the notice for applications has been opened, and the board will make its hiring decision in the near future."
Sen. Bart Hester, R-Cave Springs, has said that state budget administrator Duncan Baird is the front-runner to replace Stone.
On Wednesday, Baird said he hadn't decided whether to apply. He could not be reached for comment by telephone on Monday afternoon. Baird's salary as budget administrator is $123,918 a year, according to the Arkansas transparency website.
Baird and 25 others applied for the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System's executive director job before that agency's trustees voted Oct. 31 to promote the system's associate director of operations, Clint Rhoden. Rhoden will be paid $165,000 a year to succeed George Hopkins, who had served as executive director since December 2008. On Oct. 1, Hopkins announced his intention to retire by the end of this year. He retired Nov. 16.
In another development, Teacher Retirement System Deputy Director Rett Hatcher, who was an unsuccessful applicant to succeed Hopkins, decided to leave to pursue other opportunities, Rhoden confirmed Monday. Hatcher began working for the system in June 2017, after serving as Hutchinson's legislative affairs director.
Hatcher "was offered a position with the Gilmore Strategy Group. I accepted his verbal resignation and his last day at ATRS was Friday, December 7, 2018," Rhoden wrote in an email to this newspaper.
Gilmore Strategy Group is a full-service consulting firm specializing in political strategy; government relations and lobbying; opinion research; and communication. It was founded by Jon Gilmore after he served as Hutchinson's deputy chief of staff, according to its website.
Metro on 12/11/2018