The effects of Public Corruption
Bev Perdue mulls Ethics Policy
Gov. Bev Perdue says her staff is exploring a policy that would give the boot to appointees under indictment.
Perdue, a Democrat, was responding to a letter sent by Democratic consultant and watchdog Joe Sinsheimer. The letter called on Perdue to unappoint Ruffin Poole from the Golden LEAF board because Poole refused to testify at a State Board of Elections hearing on former Gov. Mike Easley.
Perdue said her staff is looking into a policy that would remove a gubernatorial appointee who is under indictment or refuses to cooperate with an investigation.
"Like all of us who have the honor of serving in government, those who serve on state boards and committees must be held to high standards," Perdue wrote in her response to Sinsheimer.
Sinsheimer also called on Perdue to release all reports on missing gubernatorial travel records from 2005. Perdue has so far refused to release the records. She wrote that she has appointed a panel to look into the missing records and when that investigation is complete she would release all records.
NC Watchdog wants Reforms
NC Campaign Finance Watchdog Joe Sinsheimer is urging Gov. Bev Perdue to remove Ruffin Poole, a former top aide to Gov. Mike Easley, from the Golden LEAF board because he refused to testify at last month's state elections board hearing.
Sinsheimer, a Democratic political consultant who has emerged as an advocate of transparent government and campaign finance reforms, also said Perdue should release all reports on missing gubernatorial travel records from 2005, J. Andrew Curliss reports on the Investigations blog.
Perdue has so far refused to release the records.
In addition, he asks for a review of the permitting process surrounding a controversial cement plant near Wilmington, citing ongoing revelations about the state's environmental agency.
There was no immediate response from Perdue.
Update: A spokeswoman for Perdue said this afternoon that the governor is reviewing the letter and did not have a detailed response about Poole.
Public Corruption in North Carolina
North Carolina voters don't have much trust in their politicians, regardless of party.
45% think that the Democrats in state government are corrupt to 27% who think they are not. The Republicans aren't a whole lot better with 37% thinking they're corrupt to just 28% who believe they are not. There are a lot more undecideds about the Republicans probably due to their out of power status.
It's predictable that Democratic voters think Republicans are corrupt and vice versa, but there's actually a decent number of folks who think their own parties are as well. 26% of Democrats think their own party is corrupt and 25% of Republicans say the same of theirs.
These numbers are a good indication of why corruption hasn't been a particularly effective electoral issue for Republicans in 2006 and 2008 despite the number of Democratic scandals. The voters don't really trust them any more than they do the Democrats.
North Carolinians also think that corruption in the state is on the rise. 55% believe there is more of it going on in state government than there was 25 years ago with only 8% feeling it's on the decline. Even compared to just five years ago 43% think it's becoming more common to 9% who believe it's become less so.
We've talked frequently about how North Carolina gives its politicians some of the lowest approval ratings of any state in the country- these findings may at least be a start to explaining some of that- elected officials just haven't earned a whole lot of trust from their constituents.
Fire Harry Jones, Tomorrow
Over the years I’ve defended County Manager Harry Jones in public and private as a competent manager who seems to have the right goals and standards in place for Mecklenburg County. But his handling of the DSS mess is a firing offense, specifically his move to quiet a critic of DSS by calling the man’s employer to silence him.
Jones has not said why he contacted Bank of America after a local BAC employee complained that he felt “duped” by giving money to DSS’ charitable efforts for kids. That is no doubt because the tone of the email exchange is unmistakable — and chilling.
“There seems to be a need for a wholesale cleanup of many county agencies, and I think that starts from the top down,” BofA employee Harry Lomax wrote to county officials. A week later, Jones sent the email on to a BofA VP with an ominous “Do you know Harry Lomax” addition.
The response was immediate from BofA government liaison Betty Turner. Lomax’s email was deemed “embarassing” and Jones was assured that BofA execs were on to Lomax: “I am tracking it down. I don’t know him – I have alerted charles. Will be back to you.” Question: Who the hell is “charles?” The Uptown paper of record account leaves this out.
Anyone with even a glancing understanding of Charlotte’s history is probably flashing back to the time when uppity mill hands who questioned local leaders were met with, “What’s your name again? I know your pastor.” The threat was clear — shut up and know your place.
Harry Jones clearly has no problem pulling the same power levers as boss men of years past. And no doubt Jones has done this sort of thing before to be so comfortable as to put such a smoking gun in email form, and on such a high profile matter as DSS’s continued money and management woes. For that reason, the “isolated incident” defense we are sure to get this week does not wash.
Harry Jones has proven he does not have the temperament required of highly compensated public employees, particularly at a time when revenues are tight and citizens are concerned about spending. Criticism from engaged citizens — Harry Lomax was concerned that a county Christmas charity was misusing funds — must be welcomed and encouraged, not kick off corporate retaliation efforts among the lock-step Uptown crowd.
A unanimous vote by the Mecklenburg County commission to remove Jones from his position is the only thing which can restore confidence in the notion that local government works for local citizens rather than actively conspires against them.
Update: Betty Turner is a registered lobbyist for BAC in both North Carolina and Virginia.
Bev Perdue not releasing Internal Inquiry
Gov. Beverly Perdue today declined to take steps to make public an internal state Highway Patrol investigation into missing records pertaining to her predecessor's travels in 2005.
Patrol officials say the internal affairs investigation, the second of two internal probes into the missing records, cleared a patrol supervisor involved in the records' disappearance, Capt. Alan Melvin. But neither the patrol or its boss, state Crime Control Secretary Reuben Young, are making the report public.
They cite state law that keeps most personnel matters secret. But the law includes an exemption for the release of personnel records when an agency's integrity is in question.
Perdue did not directly answer a reporter's question as to whether she would order the report released. She suggested she did not have the legal authority to do so.
"I'm not a lawyer," said Perdue, a New Bern Democrat. "I'm trying to follow the rules of the law ... I'm constantly told this is privileged information."
The missing records have created a storm of controversy for the patrol and are now part of state and federal investigations into perks provided to then-Gov. Mike Easley and his family.
Records the patrol has found and released have helped show that Easley received free air travel from fundraisers whom he appointed to important positions in state government.
The first internal probe, released last week, said that a patrol secretary had been told by Melvin in February 2006 to download the records on to a computer disk to give to him. Melvin headed Easley's security detail from 2003 to 2007.
The patrol secretary, Diane Bumgardner, said that Melvin then told her to delete the records from her computer to "free up space on the computer."
She said in an interview with The News & Observer on Friday that she never expressed a problem with the computer's space capacity.
Young said that interview caused him to request an independent investigation of the missing records, and to put Melvin back on administrative duty. The patrol has yet to announce who would conduct that probe.
Senate Minority Leader Phil Berger, a Rockingham County Republican, and Joe Sinsheimer, a Democratic consultant turned government watchdog, said the internal affairs investigation needs to be released. They said the first internal probe raises far more questions than it answers.
Sinsheimer said the initial probe looked "amateurish."
"It just looked to me like someone going through the motions to say they did it," Sinsheimer said.
Both said an independent investigation is needed and the findings need to be made public.
"There are all kinds of conflicts of interest that are sweeping through this whole thing and it just cries out for an independent prosecutor," Berger said.
Perdue said she too is having a hard time with the explanations offered so far for the records' disappearance.
"It may have been a mistake," she said, "but it's a mistake that's hard to swallow."
She has ordered the patrol to take steps to maintain its security detail records.
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Sources: McClatchy Newspapers, Under The Dome, Public Policy Polling, The Meck Deck Blog, John Locke Foundation, Wikipedia, Google Maps
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