A few days ago, it was made public that the Hoosier Lottery had made some expensive decisions with their new headquarters, besides the new location, extravagances like a workout room with the fanciest and most costly machines were shown proudly by Director Kathryn Densborn in a program called the “13 Investigates” from WTHR in Indianapolis. After a week of the press conference wherein she accepted that it was all an “error in judgment”, Densborn stepped down. Gov. Mitch Daniels stated that he accepted her resignation and it was effective on Friday 14th .
According to Lottery Hoosier Lottery Chairman William Zielke, the expensive exercise equipment which started the whole outcry because some cost over $25,000 will be sold and the spacious room where the workout area was supposed to be will be used in a more appropriate way. US lottery
Indiana Democratic Party Chairman Dan Parker one of the people who was in favour of Densborn’s resignation, commented that her departure is only the tip of the iceberg of a set of problems at the lottery under the Daniels administration. He mentioned that the lottery had to pay $2.8 million in 2009 to settle a race discrimination lawsuit filed by eight black employees fired by Esther Schneider, Densborn’s predecesor.
Daniels appraised Densborn’s work in spite of the reason why she left the agency.
“The lottery’s operations under Kathryn’s leadership have been solid, and hundreds of millions of dollars have been generated for the state of Indiana. I thank Kathryn for her six years of service at the lottery and in other public service roles,” he said.
The person appointed to serve as an interim director until a replacement for Kathryn Desnsborn is found is Magan Ornellas. She was appointed on Monday 17th October by Daniels and will start her duties on Tuesday. Ornellas is the chief of staff for the Family and Social Services Administration, the state’s largest agency. She will run all the day-to-day operations while the Department of Administration will make sure to monitor the lottery’s compliance to a “rigorous enforcement” of standards for economy and appearances. Lottery results
According to Earl Goode, the Governor’s chief of staff, he stated that: “from an overall standpoint, the lottery has never been better run. Administrative expenses have consistently been around 2.5 percent, far lower than the historical pattern. Notwithstanding that record, this administration established high, clearly defined standards for both economy and appearances and the governor insists on their rigorous enforcement.”
