Candidate in runoff faces ethics complaint

A Harrison man has filed an ethics complaint with the Arkansas Ethics Commission against state Rep. John Burris, R-Harrison, who is vying with Mountain Home Republican Scott Flippo in a June 10 runoff for a state Senate seat.

Edward George Geier of Harrison said in a letter dated Monday to commission Director Graham Sloan that he filed the complaint because Burris has been serving and receiving compensation as a representative of a state House district in which he does not reside, claiming expense reimbursements beyond the maximum amount allowed under state law, and filing incomplete personal financial disclosure reports.

Geier wrote that he filed the complaint against Burris "in good faith and based upon what I consider to be reliable facts."

Burris, who qualified for the runoff with Flippo in Tuesday's three-way primary in Senate District 17, said in a written statement that the ethics complaint is "an election-day gimmick -- straight out of Harry Reid's playbook -- orchestrated by a campaign that will do anything to get elected."

Reid, a Democrat from Nevada, is the U.S. Senate majority leader.

Burris, who is on leave as political director for U.S. Rep. Tom Cotton's U.S. Senate campaign, said he's "running on my proven conservative record, and I look forward to voters rewarding a positive campaign on June 10th."

In response, Flippo said Thursday in written statement that he's "aware that an ethics complaint has been filed against Rep Burris."

"I have not read the complaint, nor do I intend to. I have no comment on this issue, this is something for John to address and is not part of my campaign. My focus is on the the runoff and working on reaching out to the voters of District 17," Flippo said.

Geier said Thursday that he considers himself to be an independent and "a private citizen" before abruptly ending the interview. He could not be reached for further comment Thursday by telephone.

Geier's attorney, Brian Lester of Fayetteville, said that it's "a stretch" to suggest that the ethics complaint was "an election day gimmick" because it would have been filed a long time ago if it was designed to influence the primary election, and he's not aware that Geier worked on the ethics complaint with Flippo's campaign.

Burris said he believes that attorney Brenda Vassaur Taylor of Fayetteville, who is registered as a lobbyist for the Fayetteville-based Conduit for Action group, drafted the ethics complaint against him.

Taylor declined to comment Thursday when asked to respond.

In a wide-ranging ethics complaint, Geier said that Burris has claimed that his primary residence is at 923 West Prospect Ave. in Harrison, which is in House District 85, but the complaint says Burris no longer resides at that address or elsewhere in the district.

Among other things, Geier said Burris bought a home at 600 Gillette Drive in Little Rock on Feb. 28. Records in Pulaski County assessor's office show that Burris purchased the property for $168,000.

Burris said he purchased his first home at 923 West Prospect Ave. in Harrison about three years ago after some major remodeling. He purchased the home at 600 Gillette Drive in Little Rock -- which he rents to a tenant -- as an investment property, he added.

Burris purchased the Harrison property from his parents, Douglas and Cathy Burris, in January 2012 for $100,000, according to the Boone County assessor's records.

Burris said it's "a height of irony for some wealthy business people to come to Harrison and tell people who elected me to the House of Representatives that I am not one of them."

Geier said Burris has overcharged the state for mileage reimbursement for driving to and from Harrison because Burris doesn't occupy his property in Harrison as his primary residence "and instead resides in Little Rock or other whereabouts."

Geier said Burris has charged the state too much for a dedicated office space in his Harrison property by charging the state $300 a month for that space since April 2012.

Geier said Burris has charged the state $1,200 per month or more for clerical services to be paid to his father through Burris' limited liability company, Conservative Strategies, and the charges exceed what state law allows.

Burris said the allegations that he overcharged the state are "completely untrue," and the amounts of the expense reimbursements have been approved by a House staff member and a certified public accountant.

"Everything is in legal compliance," Burris said.

As for him overcharging the state to the benefit of his father, Burris said his father is a pastor with "an impeccable reputation for integrity that he's earned from a lifetime of service."

"It's embarrassing they would stoop this low," he said.

Burris collected the largest amount of expense payments among the state's lawmakers in 2013.

Burris, who is chairman of one of the Legislature's busiest committees, the House Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee -- was reimbursed $57,504 last year, including $10,390 for 2012 office-related expenses, according to state records.

Lawmakers are eligible for per diem (a daily allowance for lodging, meals and incidentals for attending legislative meetings.) They can also receive mileage and other expense payments in addition to their annual salaries, which are $15,869 each except for the House speaker and Senate president pro tempore, who get $17,771 each.

Geier said Burris' personal financial disclosure report filed with the secretary of state on Jan. 28 is incomplete since it said he didn't have a loan or guarantees on loans, and Burris obtained a mortgage Feb. 28 for $216,800 through Centennial Bank that is collateralized with the Little Rock and Harrison properties.

Burris said elected officials are not required to disclose mortgages and credit card debt on their personal financial disclosure report. He said House Speaker Davy Carter, R-Cabot, who is a regional bank president for Centennial Bank, didn't play a role in him securing a mortgage through the bank.

Burris is one of the three leading legislative architects of the state's "private option" program under which the state is tapping federal Medicaid dollars to purchase private health insurance for low-income Arkansans.

The Conduit for Action group, Taylor and Flippo are staunch foes of the program in which more than 120,000 Arkansas have enrolled for health insurance. The federal funding for the program is available under the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act signed by President Barack Obama in 2010.

The Conduit For Action independent expenditure committee reported spending about $25,000 on television advertising and mailers through May 10, most of it assailing Burris for his support of the private option.

Metro on 05/23/2014

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