New ethics commission chief named

By Aaron Gould Sheinin

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The state ethics commission on Friday named a lobbyist for the state Public Defenders Standards Council as its new executive director.

Holly LaBerge takes the place of Stacey Kalberman, who agreed to resign under pressure in June after a dispute over the agency's budget and its investigation into Gov. Nathan Deal's campaign.

LaBerge beat out Jerry Presley, a former lobbyist, local government official and consultant, for the position. The commission interviewed the pair at its meeting Friday before meeting in private to choose between the two.

LaBerge, in her interview, said her experience as director of governmental affairs at the public defenders agency and her background as a budget analyst at the House of Representatives would serve her well in the ethics commission job.

"My relationships with the Legislature, budget offices, governor's office, attorney general's office will help the agency move forward," she said.

Commission member Kevin Abernethy, who led the agency's search for a new director, said they received between 35 and 50 applications even after the salary was reduced from $125,000 to no more than $80,000.

Commission Chairman Patrick Millsaps said the board was swayed by LaBerge's experience at the Public Defenders Standards Council, an agency that, like the ethics commission, has struggled to maintain services in a time of state budget cuts.

"She's coming from one pressure cooker to another," he said.

Millsaps said the commission took into account the applicants' "experience, their interviews, their references -- which were checked -- and following up with people they had worked with."

Commissioners, however, refused to release LaBerge's references.

LaBerge's start date and salary have not yet been set, commissioners said.

William Perry, executive director of the watchdog group Common Cause Georgia, said LaBerge seems a good fit, although he said he is concerned about her lack of deep management experience.

"For the budget they have been given, I want to give the benefit of the doubt for the new hire," Perry said, "but having to reduce the salary by $35,000 per year limits the candidate pool."

LaBerge takes over an agency in flux. Millsaps was recently involved in a dispute over his appointment, its vice chairman, Josh Belinfante, just resigned to consider a bid for the state Senate, and the commission agreed earlier this month to dramatically reorganize the agency.

LaBerge will oversee the hiring of a private attorney to write advisory opinions and answer questions from elected officials, candidates and the public about what the law allows. She also will lead the agency's auditors and staff charged with auditing the filing of required campaign finance and personal financial disclosure reports. The agency's reorganization also means using the state attorney general's office for more assistance in investigating complaints.

Kalberman agreed to resign after a dispute with the commission over the agency's budget and the status of several cases involving Deal. Her deputy's position was eliminated June 30.

In an email obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Kalberman linked the decision to eliminate her assistant's job and deeply cut her own salary to their requests for subpoenas against the governor's campaign. She also revealed in that email to Millsaps that the state attorney general's office reviewed their work and that the FBI offered to assist in the ethics investigation.

Millsaps and the commission, however, said the shake-up was completely budget-related.