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Former Aide: Johnson Spoke of Jobs for 2 SBOE Member Relatives

Birmingham – A former aide to fired two-year college system Chancellor Roy Johnson said he once claimed state school board member Sandra Ray asked him to hire Ray's relatives and lobbied for a higher salary for one of them. Ray has denied the claims.

Amanda Vaughan was communications director for Johnson from 2004 until shortly before his firing in July 2006. She told The Birmingham News in a story today that Johnson also hired board member Ella Bell's niece to work as Vaughan's assistant without Vaughan ever seeing an application, resume, references or job qualifications.

Bell has said she never spoke with Johnson about hiring her niece. Vaughan said Johnson made it clear the hiring was because of Bell's position on the board.

Johnson has pleaded guilty to 15 felony counts in a far-reaching bribery case and has agreed to assist prosecutors, who say the ongoing probe includes his ties to state school board members.

Vaughan's husband was a banker handling construction loans on Johnson's Opelika home. She said she has been cooperating with federal investigators since she resigned in the summer of 2006.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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