Rehab Official Says She Was Pressured To Hire State Senate Staffer

Monday, August 14th 2006, 9:07 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- The director of a nonprofit drug and alcohol recovery association is claiming she was pressured to hire a long-time employee of the state Senate as a "ghost" employee.

Donna Woods Bauer of the Oklahoma Citizen Advocates for Recovery and Treatment Association says former state Senator Ben Brown pressured her to hire Bob Craig. Craig spent more than three decades as the state Senate's chief sergeant at arms and Brown is now a deputy commissioner at the state Department of Mental Health.

Bauer says she can find no work product performed by Craig. Craig says he believes he fulfilled his contract by advising the association of developments at the Legislature and working on weekends.

Brown declined comment.

A spokeswoman for the mental health department says the agency suspended its review of the allegation at the request of the attorney general's office because a criminal investigation is being considered.

A spokesman for Attorney General Drew Edmondson declined comment on any investigation of the matter.