LIKE IT IS : State agencies, like UA, should be accountable
Posted on Wednesday, October 17, 2007
It was not a witch hunt. Not even close.
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain the records on how Danny Nutt was being paid because inquiring minds wanted to know who was paying him, the state or the Razorback Foundation.
Executive Editor Griffin Smith (the boss ) said people have a right to know the details.
Why ? Because Nutt is a state employee.
Yes, believe it or not, the University of Arkansas is still a state agency.
It is not a private school.
It is not a boys club.
It is not above the state laws and regulations.
In fact, it should be pointed out the UA responded to the Freedom of Information Act request with great haste and clarity.
However, it seems some people at the UA have forgotten that it is a state agency, and apparently some in the athletic department believe they are not accountable to anyone but Frank Broyles.
Broyles probably has some autonomy after 50 years on the job, but everyone else, from UA System President B. Alan Sugg down to the last person on the UA payroll, is accountable to the people of Arkansas as long as the school accepts state tax dollars.
So it was a little surprising Houston Nutt, Danny’s big brother, got upset about the request.
The head football coach said: “When you get letters of inquiry, FOIs on your desk, it’s so ridiculous. So ridiculous that somebody would think there’s something there [regarding Danny Nutt ].” Honestly, that is the role of a newspaper.
Smith (the boss ) rarely likes to be quoted, but even he was a little surprised that Houston Nutt was upset.
“I never thought there was anything controversial about the idea that taxpayers are entitled to know how much public employees are paid, and for what,” Smith said. “The coach’s brother is no different from anybody else.” And our man Tom Murphy did an absolutely great job of reporting the facts.
There was no opinion, nothing subjective and no agenda in the story, and the request for information was never a matter of asking for records about someone who has been ill.
Danny Nutt has been all over the football field this season, or in the coaches’ box, and he still has an office in the Big House (the Broyles Athletic Complex ) that he visits daily.
He apparently has improved physically since he stepped down, and one has to believe giving up the job he loved passionately has played a role in his getting better.
What the Freedom of Information Act request and responses from the UA revealed is Danny Nutt had accrued a ton of sick leave and he is using that leave to be paid through the remainder of this year.
In other words, everything appears to be aboveboard and there was no reason for anyone to get upset.
Taxpayers got what they wanted and deserved — an explanation.
One interesting thing that was revealed is that apparently Houston Nutt would like for his brother to return to work in the athletic department, but as a counselor, not a coach.
“A lot of these [college ] programs have player development,” he said. “They have those personal type counselors. He’d be ideal. We just have to see how [new UA Athletic Director ] Jeff Long wants to do things, what’s his philosophy. So you just don’t know.” Having known Danny Nutt for 35 years, it is the opinion here he would be a great candidate for such a job.
He’s a very caring person and was always one of the most popular coaches with the players.
If Long and Chancellor John White create such a position, Nutt would be an ideal candidate for such a job.
All he would need to do is apply, be himself in the interview and then hold steady through any required time the position has to be advertised.
That’s the way they do it in state agencies, and the University of Arkansas really is part of that system.
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