Wednesday, September 5, 2012

KATV whacks Bill Walker again

Posted by on Wed, Sep 5, 2012 at 12:42 PM

UNDER FIRE: Bill Walker.
  • UNDER FIRE: Bill Walker.
Former state Sen. Bill Walker, head of the state Career Education Department, fell on his sword last week and conceded he'd hired an unqualified person (who happened to have a business relationship with his funeral home) as an interpreter for the deaf. A string of reports by KATV''s Jason Pederson and a state agency review finally nudged Gov. Mike Beebe into the affair. Walker finally admitted the obvious.

Today, KATV posts the full Office of Personnel Management report on the hiring, a report that contradicts some of the assertions made by Walker in the course of initially defending the hire.

Walker's time in the spotlight isn't over. Pederson reports that a legislative committee will discuss the report and the issue again next week. It will be an opportunity ripe for election-season pronouncements about executive agency management, particularly by Republican lawmakers. But make no mistake, this isn't a partisan issue.

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