POLITICS

Ethics committee accepts $5,000 settlement from Tony Bennett

Tony Cook and Eric Weddle

The State Ethics Committee accepted a settlement today that former Indiana schools chief Tony Bennett admitted to using state resources for political reasons and will pay a $5,000 fine.

The ruling also clears him of allegations that he manipulated the state's A-F accountability system for schools to benefit a GOP donor.

An investigation by Inspector General David Thomas's office found that Bennett's 2012 re-election campaign staff and Bennett's state Department of Education staff used his Statehouse office to discuss his schedule of political and job-related events.

State-owned computer servers were also used to store campaign donor lists and other political contacts for Bennett, according to a report by Thomas.

The report also states that Thomas' office submitted the investigation to the Marion County prosecuting attorney's office and "criminal prosecution has been declined."

"Today's announcement by the Inspector General that we did not violate any ethics laws in the way we implemented the A-to-F grading system should bring that matter to a final, conclusive end," Bennett said in a statement provided to The Indianapolis Star. "However, I have agreed to pay a fine and accept responsibility for violations of (the Indiana Department of Education's) electronic information policies.

"Limited personal uses of the agency's computer systems for political activity on my part would have been permitted if I had implemented policies that expressly permitted those uses. I did not and the failure to implement those policies is no one's fault, but my own."

Bennett, a Republican, was accused of improperly using state resources to work on his 2012 re-election campaign, which he lost to Democrat Glenda Ritz.

The charges stem from records first reported by the Associated Press last year that indicated Bennett kept campaign fundraising databases on Department of Education computer servers and told staff members in 2012 to review a speech by Ritz to look for mistakes.

An investigation by an inspector general agent found that Bennett violated the "use of state property" rule in three significant respects:

• Prior to the 2012 election, joint meetings between Bennett's campaign staff and state Department of Education staff were conducted in Bennett's Statehouse office in order to coordinate his calendar. Bennett used his state-owned and maintained Microsoft Outlook account to track official public appointments and campaign events.

• Bennett received emails of a political or campaign nature at his state email address. In September, Bennett responded to an email from a political supporter asking him to provide questions to ask Ritz at a public forum.

• After the 2012 election, Bennett asked his staff to build contact lists for his use in his new position as Florida's Education Commissioner. As a result, three electronic files used during the campaign titled "The 5000," "The Big Hitter List" and the "Red Meat List" were uploaded to a state-owned computer server before being downloaded on a storage device for Bennett to take when he left office. The investigation found Bennett did not know these lists were on the state computer system, but his request to compile the lists and the use of state resources was prohibited by the "use of state property" rule.

The report recommends approval of Bennett's settlement agreement and $5,000 fine because it is similar to settlements in three other investigations.

Less than a year after becoming Florida's commissioner of schools, Bennett resigned after a controversy erupted over Indiana's A-to-F school rating system.

The Associated Press reported that an Indianapolis charter school initially was to receive a C in 2012 until Bennett's administration found a loophole to boost the school's grade. The charter school, Christel House Academy, was founded by political donor and philanthropist Christel DeHaan.

A report commissioned by two Republican legislative leaders found that the grade change was "plausible" and that Bennett applied rules fairly.

Call Star reporter Tony Cook at (317) 444-6081. Follow him on Twitter: @indystartony.