photo by Arkansas House of Representatives
When lawmakers gathered to discuss the Franklin Co. prison fiasco, the one man responsible for the mess, former Corrections Secretary and current Sanders staffer Joe Profiri, didn’t bother to show up.
Y’all know that the Franklin County mega-prison scheme has been a disaster from the start. Bad planning. Hidden costs. A site riddled with problems.
The state’s malfeasance has left Arkansans wondering why their tax dollars are being wasted on a daily basis. And at this week’s Joint Performance Review Committee hearing, citizens expected answers. Instead, the hearing exposed just how little Governor Sanders’ administration respects the legislature or the people of Arkansas.
The man responsible for this debacle, Joe Profiri, flat-out refused to show up.
A slap in the face
Lawmakers said what everyone was thinking: Profiri’s no-show was a slap in the face. Rep. Jim Wooten put it quite bluntly: “I’m furious that Profiri, or whatever his name is, isn’t here. That is a slap in the face to every one of [the committee members].”
Sen. Mark Johnson echoed Wooten’s sentiment. Profiri was invited by the legislature, his salary is approved by the legislature, yet he couldn’t even be bothered to respond. The no-show move is pretty darn arrogant. It’s also a total disregard for democratic oversight.
Even Sen. King, a Republican, couldn’t resist pointing out the absurdity: “I think we have a better chance of getting Epstein here instead of Profiri, who gets a quarter of a million yearly on the taxpayers’ dime.”
Dodging the real questions
Instead of Profiri, committee members got bureaucrats and functionaries sent to take punches for him. Anne Laidlaw of the Division of Building Authority and Shelby Johnson of GIS stumbled through incomplete answers, shrugging off responsibility with “that’s not in my lane.” The duo also refused to admit the obvious, which is that the site was a bad choice from day one.
Water issues went unanswered. Workforce availability issues were dodged. Cost estimates were missing. Perhaps the most embarrassing part for Laidlaw and Johnson were questions regarding community buy-in. “Not our responsibility,” was the response. Who decided to ignore better sites and plow ahead with Franklin County? Every question and dodged answer pointed back to Profiri and the Governor’s office.
Accountability denied
We’re guessing Profiri didn’t skip out on the hearing because he was busy. Our guess is that he skipped out because this administration doesn’t believe it owes Arkansans any answers.
Governor Sanders has made it her practice to hand out taxpayer dollars to insiders, to push through reckless policies, and to ignore the legislature’s role as a check on executive power. The Franklin Co. prison mess is the most expensive example yet.
Yesterday, the legislature had the chance to subpoena Profiri, but Senate Republicans blocked it, protecting Sanders’ office from the accountability Arkansans deserve.
Why it matters
This issue is very much about a prison site, but it’s also about transparency and respect for the democratic process. It’s about due diligence. It’s about accountability and good use of taxpayer dollars.
When unelected staffers like Profiri dodge the legislature with impunity (the highest paid staffer in Sanders’ office) that’s not just bad government. It’s corruption of the public trust.
We deserve answers about what happened with the Franklin County land purchase and subsequent decisions. Instead, the public has been stonewalled, gaslit, and talked over with excuses. Friends, the governor’s administration can’t be bothered to even pretend they care.
And until Profiri and Sanders are forced to face the people they work for, the waste, the secrecy, and the arrogance continues indefinitely.
