A former state legislator tasked with overseeing an audit of Democratic Party of Arkansas' finances asked to step down in a letter sent to party Chairman Michael John Gray this weekend.

Johnnie Roebuck, a former state representative from Arkadelphia, said later that her letter was not an indication of "animosity" between her and Gray.

"I have the utmost confidence in Chairman Gray that he will move forward in this process," Roebuck said. "It was just that I could not see [the audit] done in a reasonable time frame."

Gray has been the subject of in-party squabbling and allegations by a Little Rock attorney and blogger of mismanagement.

Asked about the letter, Gray said he was still committed to conducting an audit, but would accept Roebuck's resignation and appoint a new chairman.

Gray named Roebuck on Aug. 9 to lead a special oversight committee that would solicit bids for an auditor to conduct a report on the party's finances. The committee was also tasked with recommending new policies once that report was complete.

The formation of the committee occurred three days after the first of several articles alleging mismanagement and shoddy record-keeping in the party; the allegations came from Matt Campbell's "Blue Hog Report", a political blog.

Gray has defended his leadership of the party -- which has long struggled with debt predating his 2017 start as party chairman -- and denied financial wrongdoing. Gray's call for an audit was supported by the Democrats' State Committee in mid-August.

Roebuck wrote in her letter to Gray that no other members have been appointed to the committee, preventing her from taking action to get an audit started.

Her letter stated that she texted Gray on Wednesday, asking if Gray had "decided to go in a different direction" regarding the oversight committee. She also said members of the party's leadership committee had been seeking an update on the status of the audit.

By Sunday, Roebuck wrote, she had not heard from Gray. (The letter was not made public, but a copy was obtained by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.)

"There is nothing I can do regarding this work without your appointment of the other Committee members and your guidance regarding our charge," Roebuck's letter says. "I have no way to accomplish the task and meet the time frame expected by the Executive and State Committees."

Speaking to a reporter Monday, Roebuck said she had initially wanted to complete the audit by Oct. 1, though she stressed that date had been her own goal, not one given to her by Gray or other party leaders.

Gray, meanwhile, said he has spoken to "three or four" party members about serving on the oversight committee. He said he has not come up with his own deadline for the audit, but would like it done "as soon as possible."

The party has simultaneously contracted with the Little Rock law firm Shults & Adams to study and produce a report on Campbell's blog allegations. A preliminary report released on some of Campbell's posts last month found some merit to the allegations, but mostly determined that campaign-finance reporting issues stemmed from a compliance company that the party had broken ties with in 2018.

Metro on 09/17/2019