Aaron Black, the state budget director, has resigned after less than four months in the role. You might remember that Black, who sings in Mike Huckabee’s band Capitol Offense, was found back in 2011 to have taken hundreds of hours of undocumented leave time — almost $20,000 worth — as executive director of the state Tobacco Settlement Commission.
Perhaps Black is following a familiar path of cashing in on political connections. Andrew “Vu” Ritchie, who for a short time was chief legal counsel to Gov. Sarah Sanders, recently became vice president for government relations at Stephens Inc.
Here’s Hunter Field from the Arkansas Advocate on Black:
Sanders named Aaron Black her budget director in January. He had previously been the compliance director at the Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment.
Before that, Black was an aide to former Gov. Mike Huckabee, who is Sanders’ father, and the director of the Arkansas Tobacco Settlement Commission. He has also been a vocalist in Huckabee’s band, Capitol Offense.
Black’s final day was Friday. While state leaders determine whether to fill the position, Department of Finance and Administration Deputy Director Robert Brech will oversee the agency’s budget division, according to department spokesman Scott Hardin. Brech served as budget director during the end of former Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s administration.
“It has been an exciting and fast-paced last many months through the transition and the session,” Black wrote in a Friday email to DFA budget office employees. “Each of you have brought so much to the experience and provided such support for me. I wanted to tell each of [you] how much I appreciate you. Thank you for making my time enjoyable and for serving the new administration so well.
“I am resigning from my position, but I wish you all the very best as you carry forward with all the hard work and follow through on the policy changes and new initiatives recently passed.”
Black’s salary was $144,499. His resignation was first reported by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on Tuesday.
After his resignation from the Tobacco Settlement Commission in 2011, state auditors flagged hundreds of hours in undocumented leave time Black took while head of the agency.
Auditors estimated that the leave time amounted to roughly 72 days and an estimated cost of $19,576.
Black told auditors at the time that only 170 of those hours should have been reported as leave. The audit was referred to prosecutors, but no charges were ever filed.
Attempts to reach Black on Tuesday weren’t successful.
