Chas Anderson probe finds no wrongdoing but raises concerns

By Mike Kaszuba

Chas Anderson, a former top spokesperson on education issues for Gov. Tim Pawlenty, said Friday that an investigation into a state consulting contract she received "yielded no evidence" of wrongdoing. The report, which she released, however raised some concerns about her conduct.

Anderson's comments came as a state advisory opinion Friday concluded that the investigative report should be made public, and state officials said the report would be officially released next week.

But Anderson released the report herself Friday, saying it vindicated her. "The state's review of the matter found that [the state Department of Education's] consideration of contracting with me constituted a 'sound business case' and was for 'legitimate business reasons,' and only identified problems in the process used to write the contract," she said.

Anderson, a former state deputy education commissioner, has been the subject of an inquiry regarding a consulting contract she received when she left the state Department of Education in June. Three days after leaving the department on June 4, she signed a $5,000 consulting contract with the department to help state officials write a grant application to help obtain federal money.

The report though was more nuanced in examining a series of issues, including whether Anderson properly received the consulting contract, whether she should have been paid for 15 state holidays which she said she worked during a two-year period and whether she began a job in the private sector before she left the department.

In all three cases, the report found no evidence of wrongdoing -- but attached several caveats.

The report added that state Education Commissioner Alice Seagren "presented the [state-hired] investigator with concerns that Anderson may have begun employment" in the private sector "prior to the date that Anderson completed her employment" with the state. But the report concluded that "the evidence does not support a suspicion that Anderson was performing services" for a new employer "while working on state time."

The report also disclosed what seemed to be friction between Seagren and Anderson, Seagren's top deputy. In an interview for the report, Seagren said that Anderson was already at the state Department of Education when she was appointed as commissioner and that Seagren was "concerned that Anderson had more responsibility than should be allocated to one person."

Anderson, according to Seagren, responded with "quite a bit of resistance." Seagren, according to the report, said she found it was "very difficult" to obtain information from other employees within the department and that "some of them told her they would get 'in trouble' for working directly with Seagren."

An attorney for Anderson, who also served as Pawlenty's deputy campaign manager in 2002, had argued that state officials were required by law to keep the report private. Following Friday's opinion by the state Department of Administration, a spokesman for the state Management and Budget Office (MMB) -- which conducted the inquiry -- said the report would be officially released next week.

MMB Commissioner Tom Hanson, Pawlenty's top budget official, said Friday that while the probe concluded that Anderson's consulting contract "made sound business sense [the] process for establishing the contract was unacceptable."