824 1 BEFORE THE SELECT INVESTIGATIVE COMMITTEE 2 STATE OF WYOMING HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 3 ---------------------------------------------------------- 4 In the matter of the investigation into issues relating to 5 budgetary and administrative activities within the Wyoming Department of Education and the Office of Superintendent of 6 Public Instruction, including issues identified by the Governor's Inquiry Team Report regarding the Wyoming 7 Department of Education dated June 13, 2013 and subsequent reports released or resulting from that inquiry. 8 ---------------------------------------------------------- 9 10 11 TRANSCRIPT OF HEARING PROCEEDINGS 12 VOLUME III **NONCONFIDENTIAL** 13 14 PURSUANT TO NOTICE duly given to all 15 parties in interest, this matter came on for hearing 16 on the 8th day of January, 2014, at the approximate 17 hour of 8:00 a.m., at the Wyoming State Capitol 18 Building, Room 302, 123 Capitol Avenue, Cheyenne, 19 Wyoming, before the Select Investigative Committee, 20 with Speaker Tom Lubnau presiding, and Representatives 21 Mark Baker, Gregg Blikre, Cathy Connolly, Kathy Davison, 22 Mike Greear, Michael Madden, Glenn Moniz, John Patton, Ruth 23 Petroff, Tim Stubson, Mary Throne and 24 Dan Zwonitzer in attendance. 25 Wyoming Reporting Service, Inc. 1.800.444.2826 825 1 APPEARANCES 2 Special Counsel: MR. BRUCE SALZBURG Special Counsel 3 CROWELL&MORINGLLP 205 Storey Boulevard, Suite 120 4 Cheyenne,Wyoming82009 5 MR.ROBERTC.JAROSH MR. KHALE LENHART 6 SpecialCounsel HIRST APPLEGATE, LLP 7 1720CareyAvenue Suite 400 8 Cheyenne,Wyoming82001 9 INDEX 10 PAGE 11 WITNESSES: 12 ANGELA BENNER 13 Examination-Mr.Salzburg 289 14 EXAMINATION BY THE COMMITTEE RepresentativeStubson 855 15 RepresentativeZwonitzer 857,862 RepresentativeThrone 859 16 RepresentativePatton 861 SpeakerLubnau 863 17 WILLIAM DAVID PANNELL 18 Examination-Mr.Salzburg 869,908 19 EXAMINATION BY THE COMMITTEE RepresentativeBaker 896 20 RepresentativeZwonitzer 896,898,926 RepresentativeThrone 898,985 21 SpeakerLubnau 900,902,927 RepresentativeMoniz 901 22 RepresentativeDavison 902 23 24 25 Wyoming Reporting Service, Inc. 1.800.444.2826 826 1 INDEX(CONTINUED) PAGE 2 WITNESSES (Cont.): 3 TERI LYNN WIGERT Examination-Mr.Salzburg 932 4 EXAMINATION BY THE COMMITTEE 5 RepresentativeMadden 979 RepresentativeStubson 982 6 RepresentativeZwonitzer 984,996 RepresentativeThrone 985 7 SpeakerLubnau 986,997 8 CYNTHIA JO Hill Examination-Mr.Salzburg 1000 9 EXAMINATION BY THE COMMITTEE 10 RepresentativeStubson 1091 RepresentativeZwonitzer 1099 11 SpeakerLubnau 1102 12 ***Pages 875 through 907 are confidential and bound 13 and sealed in a separate transcript 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Wyoming Reporting Service, Inc. 1.800.444.2826 827 1 PROCEEDINGS 2 (Hearing proceedings reconvened 3 8:00 a.m., January 8, 2014.) 4 SPEAKER LUBNAU: We are back on the record. 5 Mr. Salzburg, call your next witness. 6 MR. SALZBURG: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. 7 We'll call Superintendent Hill, please. 8 SPEAKER LUBNAU: Superintendent Hill, did 9 you receive the initial advisement with the subpoena? 10 SUPERINTENDENT HILL: Mr. Speaker, yes. 11 SPEAKER LUBNAU: Did you read it? 12 SUPERINTENDENT HILL: Yes. 13 SPEAKER LUBNAU: Did you understand it? 14 SUPERINTENDENT HILL: Yes. 15 SPEAKER LUBNAU: Do you have any questions? 16 SUPERINTENDENT HILL: I do not. 17 SPEAKER LUBNAU: Okay. Would you rise and 18 raise your right hand. 19 SUPERINTENDENT HILL: Yes. 20 (Witness sworn.) 21 SPEAKER LUBNAU: Mr. Salzburg. 22 SUPERINTENDENT HILL: Mr. Speaker, before 23 we begin, Mr. Salzburg. Mr. Speaker, yesterday you 24 released me from my subpoena, and as you can see, I'm here 25 voluntarily today. I rearranged my schedule so I can be Wyoming Reporting Service, Inc. 1.800.444.2826 828 1 here until 5:00 today. Five o'clock today would be the 2 full amount of time that the hearings were scheduled to 3 run, and I make a request to be able to in some fashion 4 respond to all witnesses with sworn testimony. 5 Yesterday was a good example of a sliver of 6 information used as a misrepresentation. I don't want that 7 to happen again. I want a set of full facts on the table. 8 So I would suggest that other witnesses that do go after me 9 today that I have an opportunity to also respond to them 10 today. 11 REPRESENTATIVE GREEAR: Mr. Speaker. 12 SPEAKER LUBNAU: Representative Greear. 13 REPRESENTATIVE GREEAR: In light of that, 14 in order to accommodate the superintendent, I would prefer 15 we switch back to our other schedule and take the other 16 witnesses and then let the superintendent respond at the 17 end. If that's what she wants to do, that's fine with me, 18 and I would prefer that for the efficiency of these 19 proceedings. 20 SPEAKER LUBNAU: Counsel, are we prepared 21 with other witnesses? 22 MR. SALZBURG: We are. 23 SPEAKER LUBNAU: All right. Okay. Call 24 your next witness, Counsel. 25 MR. SALZBURG: Mr. Pannell -- wait a Wyoming Reporting Service, Inc. 1.800.444.2826 829 1 second. Angela Benner. We had originally scheduled Angela 2 Benner to be the last of the witnesses prior to 3 Superintendent Hill. I'm advised that Ms. Benner has to go 4 to Riverton for Leadership Wyoming today. And so if it's 5 okay with everybody, I'm going to call her now. 6 SPEAKER LUBNAU: Call your next witness, 7 Counsel. 8 MR. SALZBURG: We'll call Angela Benner. 9 SPEAKER LUBNAU: Miss Benner, did you 10 receive the initial advisement with your subpoena? 11 THE WITNESS: Mr. Chairman, I did. 12 SPEAKER LUBNAU: Do you have any questions 13 regarding that advisement? 14 THE WITNESS: No. 15 SPEAKER LUBNAU: And you understand? 16 THE WITNESS: I do. 17 SPEAKER LUBNAU: Would you please rise and 18 raise your right hand. 19 (Witness sworn.) 20 SPEAKER LUBNAU: Thank you. 21 Counsel. 22 MR. SALZBURG: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. 23 ANGELA BENNER, 24 called for examination by the Select Investigative 25 Committee, being first duly sworn, on her oath testified as Wyoming Reporting Service, Inc. 1.800.444.2826 830 1 follows: 2 EXAMINATION 3 Q. (BY MR. SALZBURG) Ma'am, would you state your 4 full name, please. 5 A. Angela Benner. 6 Q. Miss Benner, have you been in the room during the 7 hearings yesterday and the day before? 8 A. No. I was listening to it over the Internet on 9 and off. 10 Q. Okay. Well, let me give you some short 11 guidelines for your testimony here today. First, with 12 regards to who is asking the question, you're entitled to 13 know and understand what the question asked is. So if I or 14 anybody else asks a question, will you, if you don't 15 understand for any reason, please ask us to rephrase, and 16 we'll be able to do that. 17 Second, there's a court reporter who is sitting 18 right here in front of me who is taking down your testimony 19 today as well as my questioning and everybody else's 20 questioning. It's important, therefore, that we don't talk 21 over each other. So if you'll let the question be fully 22 asked before you start your answer, we'll try to remember 23 to let you fully answer before we ask the next question, 24 okay? 25 A. Yes. Wyoming Reporting Service, Inc. 1.800.444.2826 831 1 Q. And in normal day-to-day communication, everybody 2 nods and shakes their heads and says uh-huh and huh-uh. It 3 will be much clearer, if you are asked a yes or no 4 question, that you answer audibly with a yes or no 5 response. 6 A. Okay. 7 Q. If you forget to do that, I'm going to remind you 8 to do that, all right? 9 I'm told that you need to get the microphone a 10 little closer to you so he can hear you. 11 A. Is that better? 12 Q. Ms. Benner, how are you currently employed? 13 A. I'm currently the human resource manager for the 14 Department of Administration and Information. 15 Q. Can you summarize your employment history for us? 16 A. I've been in human resources since 1999. I was 17 back in D.C. the human resource director for the American 18 Trucking Association, then I was in Phoenix the human 19 resource director and part of the executive team for the 20 Arizona Kidney Disease and Hypertension Center. I've 21 currently been with the State a little less than six years. 22 I started with A&I in the human resource division, then I 23 was the human resource manager for the Department of Family 24 Services for almost three years, and I've been back at A&I 25 since March of 2013. Wyoming Reporting Service, Inc. 1.800.444.2826 832 1 Q. And, Miss Benner, what's your educational 2 background? 3 A. I have a Bachelor of Science from the University 4 of North Carolina in Greensboro in management and 5 marketing. 6 Q. Any other post-grad work? 7 A. No, other than I'm going through Leadership 8 Wyoming right now. 9 Q. I'd like to direct your attention to early 10 February of 2012 and the request that you conduct an 11 investigation into allegations that were made by Peg Brown- 12 Clark when she resigned her position as the division 13 director of the Wyoming Department of Education. Do you 14 recall that investigation? 15 A. I do. 16 Q. Who asked that the investigation be done? 17 A. I was approached by Megan Meisen and Liz Gagen, 18 and then I had a request in the form of a letter from Cindy 19 Hill to conduct the investigation.