Georgia Lottery board member resigns citing pressure to hire new director

Oct 12, 2012, 7:11 am (16 comments)

Georgia Lottery

A member of the Georgia Lottery Board resigned last week because she thought the panel was feeling pressured to hire the governor's budget director to run one of the country's most successful lotteries.

Frances Rogers, who has served on the board since late 2010, said she hung up the phone in the middle of a conference call to discuss a new lottery president last week and immediately resigned.

"There were things that were said and I decided I was not going to be able to be part of the process," she said.

"I felt like there was undue influence on us. I feel like the independence of the board has sort of been taken away."

Brian Robinson, spokesman for Gov. Nathan Deal, said the governor's chief of staff called board members individually nearly two months ago to tell them that the governor's choice for the job was Debbie Dlugolenski Alford, director of the governor's Office of Planning and Budget and a member of the lottery board.

The board is expected to approve the appointment of Alford — who has never worked for a lottery — on Oct. 23. She would replace Lottery President Margaret DeFrancisco, who announced in August she would retire. The board told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Alford was the lone finalist.

Rogers of Atlanta, who was appointed by former Gov. Sonny Perdue, said her decision to resign had nothing to do with Alford or anyone else on the board.

"It has nothing to do with who the candidate is, who I am sure will grow in the job and do well. It's about the process," she said. "We weren't told who to hire. But the process was broken when the word got out someone was a candidate (backed by the governor)."

Rogers said the board posted the job on lottery websites across the country but got only 11 resumes, none from Georgia Lottery staffers and none from the people the board had hoped would apply. By comparison, the state had 300 applicants when the job was last open in 2003.

"Would you have quit your top lottery job somewhere and applied for one somewhere where you knew you weren't welcome by the governor?" Rogers asked.

"Debbie applied. Of the candidates that applied, she's probably the best choice. I am sure she will do a very good job."

The lottery — with $3.8 billion in sales last year — pumps more than $900 million into the HOPE scholarship and pre-kindergarten programs each year. Since its inception in 1992, sales have fallen only in three years, but they have not kept up with the growth of HOPE, and scholarships have been cut.

In a statement Thursday, Alford said, "I'm happy to be a finalist and look forward to the board's vote.

"As state CFO, OPB director and lottery board member, I've had the opportunity to work closely with the lottery corporation on a myriad of issues, including revenue, budget, operations and legislation. Over the past decade, I've been actively engaged with and have a passion for the two programs funded with lottery proceeds.

"If selected, I look forward to working with the exceptional Georgia Lottery team in growing the lottery, building on past success and meeting the demands of these vitally important programs."

Robinson said it's not unheard of for lottery directors to not have lottery experience before they take the job. He said half of the lottery directors around the country had not run a lottery before they were hired.

Alford served as president of Georgia's virtual technical college and as deputy director of the budget office before taking over the top budget job in 2010. Her husband, Dean Alford, is a former state lawmaker who was appointed to the state Board of Regents by Deal earlier this year.

The governor is tasked with appointing members to the seven-member lottery board.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Comments

mcginnin56

Some people can't take the pressure, better to resign without a fight, and go down in defeat.  Thinking of...

Ronnie316

I say give Debbie the job.......  The Governor always gets his way.... or hit the highway.....

rdgrnr's avatarrdgrnr

It wasn't just pressure from the governor.

She didn't like that woman for some reason.

I know wimmins.

I'm not sayin' I understand 'em.

No man does.

But I know 'em.

Littleoldlady's avatarLittleoldlady

Even though she did not say it out loud, I think the lady believes favoritism is going on.  Where there is favoritism, corruption will soon follow.    If the lottery board cannot operate independently and make suggestions and recommendations about open positions,  then who is to say that the lottery itself is not crooked?    The Governor seems to favor this new woman(who is to be the lottery director) and her husband.  If the lottery has not made a profit in 3 years, then either player expendable income is down, player interest has waned (no new games) or the players are sharp and are winning more than they are losing.

mcginnin56

Quote: Originally posted by Littleoldlady on Oct 14, 2012

Even though she did not say it out loud, I think the lady believes favoritism is going on.  Where there is favoritism, corruption will soon follow.    If the lottery board cannot operate independently and make suggestions and recommendations about open positions,  then who is to say that the lottery itself is not crooked?    The Governor seems to favor this new woman(who is to be the lottery director) and her husband.  If the lottery has not made a profit in 3 years, then either player expendable income is down, player interest has waned (no new games) or the players are sharp and are winning more than they are losing.

The players are very sharp, therefore the only recourse is for the lottery to go crooked.

That's OK, were all used to to the corruption, greed, rigged games and the like here. Jester Laugh

Just one more challenge for us players. We'll just have to become even smarter and sharper then ever. 

Ronnie316

Quote: Originally posted by Littleoldlady on Oct 14, 2012

Even though she did not say it out loud, I think the lady believes favoritism is going on.  Where there is favoritism, corruption will soon follow.    If the lottery board cannot operate independently and make suggestions and recommendations about open positions,  then who is to say that the lottery itself is not crooked?    The Governor seems to favor this new woman(who is to be the lottery director) and her husband.  If the lottery has not made a profit in 3 years, then either player expendable income is down, player interest has waned (no new games) or the players are sharp and are winning more than they are losing.

Georgia has the biggest losers in the country..........

mcginnin56

Quote: Originally posted by Ronnie316 on Oct 14, 2012

Georgia has the biggest losers in the country..........

And also the biggest winners.

Ronnie316

Not so, the players lose more money every year than any other state.

mcginnin56

Quote: Originally posted by Ronnie316 on Oct 14, 2012

Not so, the players lose more money every year than any other state.

That's what I meant by winners. (the state of Georgia).  Jester Laugh

Ronnie316

They aren't "winners" they are proprietors!!

mcginnin56

Quote: Originally posted by Ronnie316 on Oct 14, 2012

They aren't "winners" they are proprietors!!

Proprietors are always big winners.  Yes Nod

Ronnie316

Quote: Originally posted by mcginnin56 on Oct 14, 2012

Proprietors are always big winners.  Yes Nod

Only when they operate government approved and protected monopolies.

mcginnin56

Quote: Originally posted by Ronnie316 on Oct 14, 2012

Only when they operate government approved and protected monopolies.

Exactly correcto mundo!

Sherita's avatarSherita

Quote: Originally posted by Littleoldlady on Oct 14, 2012

Even though she did not say it out loud, I think the lady believes favoritism is going on.  Where there is favoritism, corruption will soon follow.    If the lottery board cannot operate independently and make suggestions and recommendations about open positions,  then who is to say that the lottery itself is not crooked?    The Governor seems to favor this new woman(who is to be the lottery director) and her husband.  If the lottery has not made a profit in 3 years, then either player expendable income is down, player interest has waned (no new games) or the players are sharp and are winning more than they are losing.

Tha AJC reports that Lottery Director is paid $284,000 per year and receives $204,000 in bonuses yearly which includes Xmas bonus. All other employees receive $1,500 to $50,000 in bonuses yearly. From this info I see that the GLC believes in paying themselves FIRST and the players last. This new person is a experienced financial expert and I think we Georgians are in for a rude awakening! She is definitely going to crunch the numbers and figure out how to make a bigger profit and pay herself first!

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