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ARKANSAS LOTTERY DIRECtor Ernie Passailaigue welcomes the involvement of the lottery commission's personnel committee in future hires of staff members whose salary would exceed $80,000.
In response to general grumbling concerning the salaries of lottery executives, the lottery commission on July 15 passed a motion that would require personnel committee approval for any salaries over $80,000.
Passailaigue was hired away from the South Carolina lottery at an annual salary of $324,000. His two VPs--Ernestine Middleton and David Barden--each will earn $225,000 a year. Each worked for Passailaigue at the South Carolina lottery. Middleton's yearly salary in South Carolina was $143,923; Barden's was $133,038.
Passailaigue, whose salary is the third-highest among lottery directors nationally, said he understood why the high salaries concern people.
"I've been through this before," he said of his experience in starting the South Carolina lottery. "It's a natural reaction. This is not a bad thing. The people of Arkansas are entitled to answers."
Passailaigue's latest round of hires just made it under the wire before Wednesday's meeting. They included the addition of a security chief, an IT infrastructure director, an IT gaming director and a sales director.
The new security chief will be Grant County Sheriff Lance Huey, who will earn $115,644 a year, $7,562 more than the director of the Arkansas State Police, Winford Phillips, who makes $108,082 annually. The IT gaming director is Michael Smith of Schenectady, N.Y., at $150,000; Mary VanLeer of Garfield is the IT infrastructure director, at $105,000; and the new sales director is Robert Stebbins of Little Rock at a salary of $92,518. Stebbins was most recently senior vice president and director of marketing of Metropolitan National Bank of Little Rock.
On Wednesday evening following the meeting, Passailaigue explained from his temporary office in the River Market why he believes once the "switch is flipped" on the lottery and money for college scholarships begins to stream in, people will understand why it was necessary to recruit highpaid executives to Arkansas and get the lottery up and running.
"Costs are going to go on until Oct. 29, with no money coming in," Passailaigue said of the target date he set to begin selling scratch-off tickets. "We put a goal out there to start in four months or less. To achieve that goal, you need resources. The people I brought in have the experience to get a lottery going, and I trust 'era."
He noted Middleton will take on licensing duties that normally would have meant the addition of more staff, and that Barden will serve as one of two staff attorneys in addition to his VP role. Their hiring will enable them to bring a number of processes involved in a lottery startup to Arkansas that otherwise could have cost the state hundreds of thousands of dollars, Passailaigue said.
And by ensuring the target date is met, he added, potentially millions of dollars will be saved for scholarships.
Passailaigue likened the lottery salaries to those of Razorback football coach Bobby Petrino and his assistants.
"At some point you have to judge the performance," he said. "The appropriate time to judge a coach is at the end of the season. This is all still the preseason for us."
Passailaigue said that the lottery executives who come after the current group would probably make a lot less. In response to comments made by Gov. Mike Beebe that the public was losing confidence in the lottery because of the high salaries, Passailaigue welcomed the opportunity to explain why they're necessary.
Passailaigue said he had met Beebe, but the two had not had a chance to sit down and discuss lottery details.
"He's a busy man," Passailaigue said. "But I'm perfectly willing to meet with him."
By Mark Carter
mcarter@abpg.com
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