CONWAY, Ark. (AP) - Former state Sen. Gilbert Baker has returned to the University of Central Arkansas campus as a faculty member in the Department of Music.
The move comes less than a week after Baker resigned his position as executive assistant to UCA President Tom Courtway. In a statement to the Log Cabin Democrat, (https://bit.ly/1eo6YUB ) Baker said he stepped down from his administrative position because of recent news articles that detailed his connections to officers of political action committees tied to Circuit Judge Mike Maggio, who is currently under investigation by the Arkansas Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission.
“President Courtway, the board, faculty, staff and students are doing tremendous work and I did not want to be a distraction,” Baker said. “I appreciate the university allowing me to return to the faculty, where I had served for over 20 years, and I look forward to working with the leadership of the Music Department and the College of Fine Arts and Communication in the days and weeks to come.”
UCA said Baker is a nine-month faculty member at the rank of assistant professor with a salary of $50,000. Courtway said Baker still has tenure at the university.
Baker, who has served as president of the Arkansas Senate and ran for the Republican nomination for a U.S. Senate seat in 2010, became Courtway’s executive assistant in late 2012. The $132,000-a-year job included special projects, university development and communications, community outreach and lobbying.
Baker’s link to the Maggio case was first reported by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. The Arkansas Ethics Commission and the Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission are investigating contributions made to Maggio before the judge reduced a multimillion-dollar judgment against a nursing home.
Maggio abandoned his campaign for an Arkansas Court of Appeals seat last month.
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Information from: Log Cabin Democrat, https://www.thecabin.net
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