Gene Lemon, former chairman of the Citizens Clean Elections Commission, agreed to continue his role as an outside investigating consultant after the commission voted to seek more money for his efforts.

Based on a staff recommendation, the commission, which oversees the state’s public campaign spending program, approved on July 11 going through the procurement process to award a contract for $22,500 to Mr. Lemon, with an additional $10,000 available if cases drag on and go to court or if any new complaints are filed stemming from the 2004 election cycle.

Mr. Lemon is paid $150 an hour, said Paula Ortiz, an executive assistant to the commission. She estimates that Mr. Lemon will need 150 hours to complete his work. The initial $30,000 approved for investigations has been exhausted, Ms. Ortiz said.

Seven existing cases, plus seven others that are nearing completion, are yet to be resolved, Ms. Ortiz said.

Mr. Lemon, who joined the commission meeting via speaker phone after a motion to seek the additional funding was approved, was asked if he is available for the task.

“I think that I can do that,” he replied.

Interim Director Leaves To Join Nonprofit

In addition to dealing with the funding issue for investigations, the special meeting was held to accept the resignation of Eric Gorsegner, who has been serving as interim director since Colleen Connor resigned June 17. A nationwide search is underway for Ms. Connor’s successor.

Mr. Gorsegner, who was deputy director and second in command prior to Ms. Connor’s departure, leaves his post July 22 to join the Arizona Business & Education Coalition as manager of public policy and communications effective Aug. 15. The coalition is a nonprofit organization representing a cross section of business, education and community leaders dedicated to promoting a sound and effective K-12 education system.

Mr. Gorsegner previously served as chief of staff for former Phoenix Mayor Skip Rimsza and was senior governmental relations representative for the Salt River Project.

On leaving the commission, Mr. Gorsegner said, “I deeply believe in the mission of Clean Elections. We are a pioneer in this field.”

Commission Chairwoman Marcia Busching and other members of the commission thanked Mr. Gorsegner for his work on behalf of the agency.

Mr. Gorsegner then joked: “Now I can write letters to the editor.”

Prior to the meeting, Ms. Busching said it would be up to whoever becomes the next executive director to choose Mr. Gorsegner’s replacement by going through the state’s personnel process.

Could someone be promoted from within the agency? “Certainly,” Ms. Busching said.

Duties of the deputy director are “somewhat flexible depending on the skills and qualities of the executive director, who would look for somebody who, I assume, is complementary to their own skills,” Ms. Busching said.

Filing Deadline Is July 25

She said she doesn’t know how many applicants have filed for the executive director’s position. The deadline for filing is July 25, and Ms. Busching said, “People have a tendency to procrastinate and then file at the last minute.”

The personnel unit at the Department of Administration will put the applicants into three groups – highly qualified, marginally qualified and not qualified, Ms. Busching said.

When the commission meets July 29, it will review the list and decide how many applicants to interview.

“Presumably we’ll start the interview process right after that,” she said. “If we don’t have any qualified applicants, we’ll decide at the July 29 meeting what we should do.”

Asked if she is concerned about being without an executive director and deputy director at the same time, Ms. Busching said, “Obviously I’m sad that we’re losing two of the top people. They bring a wealth of experience to the agency. But we have a great staff here. For the most part they have been here a long time. They’re very capable and competent and we’ll be able to carry on until we get a new executive director.” —