PBS chief ends Louisiana job pursuit; raise in works
Arkansas PBS Chief Executive Officer Courtney Pledger is not currently considering other employment opportunities, a spokeswoman said Friday, though the broadcasting service’s board will continue to pursue a salary increase for the network’s director.
Lawmakers on the Legislative Council’s personnel subcommittee delayed a decision on the requested pay raise Wednesday while they wait to receive more information about the service’s viewership and funding.
In a letter to state personnel director Kay Barnhill, Arkansas PBS commissioners said Pledger is being pursued by other public broadcasting networks and that the commission wanted to make her salary more attractive with the goal of keeping her in Arkansas.
The Arkansas Times first reported Friday that Pledger had withdrawn from consideration as the director of Louisiana PBS, a position she was a finalist for.
The commission is requesting to raise the maximum salary for Pledger’s position to $180,000. The current pay range for the job is $120,543 to $157,100. Pledger makes $148,137.81, according to transparency.arkansas.gov.
The commission said Pledger’s current salary is one of the lowest in the nation for the role.
The state’s public broadcasting network has come under scrutiny from some Republican legislators in recent months.
In December, a legislative panel delayed approval of a pair of contracts Arkansas PBS requested to produce educational content for elementary school students after Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Jonesboro, objected to one of the prospective contractors’ left-leaning political views. The contracts were eventually approved.
Sullivan, along with Senate President Pro Tempore Jimmy Hickey, R-Texarkana, submitted an interim study proposal that aims to look into the operation requirements, content selection criteria and funding restrictions of the broadcasting service.
Sullivan said Wednesday that the proposal will go before the Joint Performance Review Committee in June. The personnel subcommittee approved a motion to delay consideration of the request until after that.