By Yvonne Wingett Sanchez | The Republic | azcentral.com
The director of Arizona State Parks hired his three sons last year to work for the agency. Just as parks Director Bryan Martyn’s sons were being hired, the agency increased the starting pay of its temporary park specialists — his sons’ job assignment — to $12 an hour from $10.52.
One of Martyn’s sons was employed for a month, and the others worked for about two weeks before the Department of Administration ordered they be terminated. State officials later determined that their hiring had violated the state’s employment-of-relatives statute.
The DOA launched an investigation that resulted in Martyn being suspended for two weeks without pay, costing him $5,229.80 in gross earnings. Former DOA Chief Human Resources Officer DiAnne Baune, who advised the parks department on personnel issues, resigned in the wake of the investigation and later retired.
