State Sen. Johnny Key, R-Mountain Home, said Saturday that he has applied to be the vice chancellor of government relations at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.
Key, who is chairman of the Senate Education Committee, said in a written statement that “the level of consideration that is given to my application will certainly have an impact on my filing for re-election, that should become clearer next week.”
The filing period for state and federal offices begins Monday and ends March 3.
“There are very few pursuits for which I would consider not returning to the Senate. The opportunity to work for my alma mater to advance higher education in Arkansas is one of those pursuits,” Key said.
“Out of respect for the selection process, it would be inappropriate for me to comment further at this time,” he said.
Key is seeking the job at UA-Fayetteville held by Richard Hudson, who in November announced his retirement, effective July 31. Hudson has worked at that campus since 1994. His salary is $202,000 this fiscal year, according to university records.
Key acknowledged in a written statement sent to four news organizations Saturday afternoon that he had applied for the job. The announcement came nearly 13½ hours after he told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in an email that he “will address it later this weekend” when asked about speculation among lawmakers that he wouldn’t seek re-election this year and that he was applying for the UA job.
Key, 45, has served in the state Senate since 2009 and was in the House from 2003-09. He is married with two children. He has said that he sold his family’s child-care business in January 2013.
A month and a half ago, former UA-Fayetteville fundraising division leaders Brad Choate and John Diamond told legislators that over the past year, the state’s largest university has deteriorated into a “hostile work environment” rife with cultures of “cover up” and “delete and destroy.”
Fayetteville campus Chancellor G. David Gearhart denied Choate’s and Diamond’s accusations, but acknowledged that 18 months of wrestling with a surprise $4.2 million spending deficit in the university’s fundraising unit - and charges and countercharges that resulted - have been “a humbling experience for me and the university staff.”
Subsequently, the UA System’s board of trustees passed a resolution supporting Gearhart and accepted two audit investigations into the deficit.
Arkansas, Pages 13 on 02/23/2014