The Associated Press

LITTLE ROCK—The newly appointed co-chairman of the state’s Martin Luther King Commission said Wednesday he agrees with Gov. Mike Beebe that the panel’s infighting has been an embarassment to the state.

Andy Montgomery of Batesville was appointed Wednesday by Senate President Jack Critcher and House Speaker Benny Petrus to co-chair the King Commission, two days after the panel voted to no longer recognize Odies Wilson as its co-chairman.

Beebe has scolded the group for its infighting over the legitimacy of its members and over the hiring of DuShun Scarbrough as its new executive director. The panel’s interim director has questioned whether Scarbrough’s hiring was proper, and the state’s personnel director said she won’t put him on the state payroll until an attorney general’s opinion is issued.

Montgomery, 36, said he hoped to be able to heal some of the rifts on the panel.

“I do agree with the governor. It is an embarrassment,” Montgomery said. “We all need to come together and just do the work of the commission and help the community and the state of Arkansas. Hopefully, as one of the co-chairs of the commission, I will try to get the commission back on track.”

Beebe said Wednesday he doesn’t know who’s to blame for the panel’s discord.

“I don’t know the answer to that. I’m not choosing sides,” Beebe said. “What I’m saying is the entire process has lent itself to one of not being consistent with the tenets of (the late civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.).”

Monday, co-chairman John Walker accused Wilson and interim director Jerelyn Duncan of trying to obstruct the commission’s work and Scarbrough’s hiring. Walker did not return a message left at his office Wednesday.

Also pending is a lawsuit brought by Commissioner Jimmy C. Morris Jr. in Pulaski County Circuit Court. The suit challenges the legitimacy of Wilson and other board members, including some whose terms have expired.