Ethics Board finds violations by arts council member who OK'd grants for her employer

LANSING — The State Board of Ethics on Thursday found that the executive director of the Michigan Library Association violated state law by failing to recuse herself from votes that awarded grants to her employer and another group she headed.

Deborah Mikula, of Howell, violated two sections of the Ethics Act as a governor's appointee to the Michigan Arts and Culture Council, which awards millions of dollars in grants each year, the board determined in 7-0 and 5-2 votes.

Members of the Ethics Board did not think Mikula did anything nefarious or tried to personally enrich herself, but some felt she showed poor judgment and all said improvements are needed in the way grants are approved at the state council charged with encouraging arts and cultural activities around the state. Mikula faces no penalty for the civil violations.

The seven-member board, which meets infrequently, acted on a complaint from East Lansing artist Tedda Hughes, who alleged cronyism at the council and conflicts of interest for Mikula.

Hughes said she's grateful for the board's finding and hopes it will lead to further investigation by other agencies.

The board said it lacked jurisdiction to address complaints from Hughes related to the council awarding grants to entities that Hughes said do not comply with required assurances related to diversifying their hiring.

But board members were concerned about Mikula repeatedly voting as a member of the Michigan Arts and Culture Council to award grants to the Michigan Library Association and the Cultural Advocacy Network of Michigan, where Mikula has served as a director and, for a time, as president. They were especially concerned about Mikula voting on "invitation-only" grants, each worth tens of thousands of dollars, to the two organizations, for which only about 10 groups statewide were eligible.

"Absent a recusal, then it's a conflict of interest," said Ethics Board member Nancy Strole.

Assistant Attorney General Ryan Wier, who represented Mikula at the hearing in Lansing, argued the votes, while in hindsight not optimal, were OK because the grants related to the entities Mikula had ties to were bundled with grants to other unrelated organizations.

Catherine McClure, who chairs the Ethics Board, described that argument as "a reach."

And when challenged by board members, Wier also walked back an earlier argument that the council's role in approving the grants was merely a "rubber stamp." He agreed they could send the staff-approved grant lists back for revisions if they had any issues with the selections.

The board recommended Mikula "recuse herself from deliberations or voting on matters involving organizations she has a personal or financial interest in, and that the council review and, if necessary, strengthen its conflict-of-interest policy to make sure it is clearly communicated and consistently enforced."

Hughes, who did not attend the hearing, said in an email she is grateful to the board for "confirming that Deb Mikula's conduct is/was unethical within the scope of its authority." She said she would like to see further investigation by "less constrained authorities."

"If Michigan's leadership is serious about transparency, it will fund an independent oversight commission to finally actually address Michigan's perpetual last place standing in the area of government corruption," Hughes said.

Mikula, who did attend the hearing, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @paulegan4.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Board finds violations by state appointee who OK'd grants for employer