Nixon's office defends paying staff with other departments' money

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Gov. Jay Nixon's office said a "spending spree" by former governor Matt Blunt has made it necessary to pay some of Nixon's staff members from departments outside of the governor's office.

But critics say the arrangement raises accountability and transparency concerns, even though the practice has been used by several administrations.

For much of three decades, state auditors have criticized governors for paying their workers with funds from other departments. But Nixon's office is going beyond past practices, paying nearly half of his 29 staff members from outside departments -- and compensating some of them much more money than what Blunt had paid.

Critics called some of the salaries irresponsible at a time when the governor is proposing to slash 1,329 jobs across state government because of tight budgets. Gary McElyea, a spokesman for Republican Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, called Nixon's budgeting "somewhat disheartening."

But a spokesman for Nixon defended six-figure salaries as necessary to get the best and brightest to work in state government, even if they come at the expense of some lower-paying positions in the governor's office.

"Taxpayers are less concerned about what specific account the money comes into and more concerned that their tax dollars are being spent wisely," said Jack Cardetti, a Nixon spokesman. "That's what we're going to do in this administration."

Cardetti said part of the reason Nixon was looking so heavily at other departments to pay his staff is that Blunt paid more than $400,000 between November and January to a Springfield law firm that represented his office in a lawsuit over e-mail records.

The suit was brought against Blunt by independent investigators that Nixon appointed in 2007 while attorney general. Lawyers' fees and other charges far exceeded the office's expense and equipment budget, eating into the funds needed to pay salaries for the rest of the fiscal year, which runs through the end of June.

"The previous administration had spent a ton of money in the first six months of the fiscal year," Cardetti said, "including an unprecedented amount on attorneys' fees that left the office in a real hole."

Former Blunt spokesman Rich Chrismer blamed Nixon for the legal costs to Blunt's office and said that as attorney general, Nixon rejected a request by Blunt's office to have the legal fees in the e-mail case paid by the state's legal defense fund.

"It is ironic that Nixon is trying to place the blame for his inability to manage his office budget on bills that his attorney general's office was responsible for paying but did not," Chrismer wrote in an e-mail

But Nixon officials say Blunt never made such a request, although other officials in the lawsuit did ask and were covered by the defense fund. Current Attorney General Chris Koster also said Blunt never requested coverage.

During the past 10 years, governors in both parties typically paid about a half-dozen staffers from the Office of Administration, the managerial arm of state government. In 2003, Democratic Gov. Bob Holden paid part or all of the salaries for nine employees from OA at a cost of $180,000, while in 2007 Blunt paid between six and eight employees $159,000 out of the OA budget.

The annual salaries of 12 staffers in Nixon's office are being paid from the OA budget, totaling about $589,000 for the current fiscal year. The salaries of the governor's director, deputy director of legislative affairs and a senior adviser total $232,000.

Cardetti argued that salaries for some of the top staffers are worth paying for the experience the employees bring to the office.

"To get that type of talent in the governor's office, you certainly have to pay people," Cardetti said. "Obviously these people could make a lot more money out in the private sector, but we're thrilled they remain committed to public service."