Perdue said in a statement issued through a campaign spokesman that she is proud of her record.
"As a citizen, a candidate for public office, and an elected official of this state, I have tried my best to abide by all applicable laws, and my administration has been one of the most open in history," Perdue said. She said it would be inappropriate to make any additional comments about the probe.
North Carolina's State Bureau of Investigation has already opened its own probe into Perdue after the district attorney in Wake County said he had lingering questions about her campaign's airplane flights. A spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney George Holding did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
The State Board of Elections fined Perdue's campaign $30,000 in August for failing to report in a timely fashion private flights going back to 2005. A majority of the board found no deliberate effort to break the law.
Perdue issued the statement shortly after The News & Observer of Raleigh reported about the probe.
The governor and her staff have said for the past year that an internal review found the unreported flights and that the campaign voluntarily reported the potential problems to the elections board. But the board found that the campaign had information on 37 flights in mid-2007 but only reported 18 of them before Election Day of the following year. Perdue's committee attorney couldn't explain why the campaign information was withheld.
Perdue said earlier this month that she's confident the state investigation won't turn up intentional criminal wrongdoing. She said Friday she would continue focusing on her work.
"North Carolina, a state we all love, as we all know, is in a critical time in its existence," she said in the statement. "I will continue to use all my time and energy to address and resolve the challenging issues facing our state."
The NC State Secretary for Health and Human Services has continued to receive checks of about $3,000 a month from his former lobbying firm even as the firm helped land $30 million in No-Bid contracts from the agency.
Lanier Cansler, a former Republican legislator from Asheville, says he stepped away from any role in awarding the contracts to avoid a conflict of interest.
He said that before he returned to government service, he sold his stake in Cansler Fuquay Solutions, the lobbying firm he helped found in 2005. Cansler said the monthly checks are payments and interest for his share of the company, which he sold to his partner.
In a complaint filed with the NC State Ethics Commission this week, Richard Morgan, the former co-speaker of the state House, said that the continued payments violate a state law that forbids government officials from enriching themselves through their duties.
"The money travels in a circle," said Morgan, a Moore County Republican now campaigning for the state Senate. "Delegating to someone you hire and control isn't a recusal - it's a dodge. It's like Mike Easley appointing the trustees of N.C. State University, telling them to hire his wife, then saying they made the decision."
Cansler said that he has done nothing wrong and that Morgan has a beef against him going back more than a decade, when the two served together in the state House.
"I've been completely open about all of this," Cansler said Thursday. "I've complied with every ethical requirement under state law. I'm confident there are no ethical violations."
The issue revolves around two no-bid contracts awarded to the Carolinas Center for Medical Excellence, a firm the state hired to help determine whether Medicaid recipients are qualified to receive in-home nursing care or specialized outpatient therapy.
The programs are expensive, and Cansler has made it a priority to save the state money by making sure services go only to those entitled to them.
Cansler Fuquay Solutions is the lobbyist for CCME.
On state ethics forms filed in February 2009, Cansler disclosed that Cansler Fuquay owes him money from the sale of his share of the business and that the debt would be paid over time. He did not disclose on the form the amount of his regular payments from Cansler Fuquay. He said Thursday that amount totals about $36,000 a year.
A certified public accountant, Cansler said he was not required to disclose the repayment arrangement at all, but did so only out of an "abundance of caution."
The ethics form requires officials to disclose income. The repayment of principal from a debt is not income, Cansler said, only the interest earned on the note is. He said his former firm pays him 6 percent interest on the debt.
Governor Bev Perdue was aware
Chrissy Pearson, a spokeswoman for Gov. Beverly Perdue, said the governor knew about Cansler's arrangement with his former lobbying firm before appointing him.
"The governor was aware of the secretary's prior business arrangement, as was everyone else because he disclosed them freely from day one," Pearson said. "A plan was in place before he even began work to recuse himself as was appropriate. As far as the governor knows, he has done just that."
Cansler's lobbying ties were raised as a potential ethical issue almost from the moment Perdue, a Democrat, announced his appointment in January 2009.
In addition to his relationship with CCME, Cansler also worked for Value Options and Computer Services Corp. , companies that have DHHS contracts valued in the hundreds of millions.
Stacey A. Phipps, an attorney for the Ethics Commission, wrote to Cansler in a Dec. 30, 2009, letter that the payment of the debt presents "the potential for a conflict of interest."
As long as Cansler recused himself from decisions involving current and past clients of his former firm, Phipps advised, he would not violate ethics rules.
Cansler says he did right
Cansler said Thursday that he has recused himself in every case, including the no-bid contracts to CCME. A deputy secretary handled the negotiations, and they were given final approval by the state Department of Administration.
"I had nothing to do with any part of the process," Cansler said. "I didn't even know they had done them until they were pretty much done."
Morgan said that argument doesn't hold up. He is making the issue a focus of his campaign for the state Senate.
Morgan is running for the Moore and Harnett county state Senate seat held by GOP Sen. Harris Blake. Morgan has created a television ad that accuses Cansler of participating in a "pay to play" scheme.
"You are supposed to divest yourself of those types of potential conflicts," Morgan said. "It's an embarrassment to Bev. The timing on it is right in the middle of when she's talking about more transparency and cleaning up government and stopping corruption, and Bev, now's the time to do something about it, with all due respect, governor."
NC State officials say the motivation behind a no-bid contract to provide diabetes supplies for people on Medicaid was the need to cut costs in difficult budget times.
But critics - from Government watchdogs to health educators - say North Carolina may have been too quick to embrace such contracts after awarding the diabetes contract to a company whose owners have a troubled business history.
They also question whether the use of such contracts provides the sort of Transparency in government that Gov. Bev Perdue promised.
The NC State Medicaid office has signed Charlotte-based Prodigy Diabetes Care to a two-year contract to provide supplies for about 50,000 people on Medicaid who have diabetes.
Prodigy is run by two brothers, Ramzi Abulhaj and Rick Admani, who have been involved in a string of legal battles involving companies they started in Florida, including a Bankruptcy and Lawsuits Alleging Patent Piracy.
The state signed a contract with the little-known company in October, two months after Prodigy was founded. Until word leaked about the no-bid contract, competitors, retailers and diabetes educators were unaware that state officials had been talking to Prodigy's parent company for months. People with diabetes on the government health insurance program did not know they would need to get new meters to monitor their blood glucose levels.
"We weren't given all the information up front," said Andy Ingram, owner of Home Assist Medical Equipment in Laurinburg.
"We were given information in bits and pieces," said Ingram, a retailer who will distribute the Prodigy equipment to patients. "We're finding things out after they actually occurred."
The Prodigy contract is one of several no-bid deals the state Department of Health and Human Services has signed in the last few months, using special powers granted last summer by the state legislature. Legislators hoped the state agency would save money by eliminating time needed to request and evaluate bids.
Bob Phillips, Executive Director of Common Cause North Carolina, said no-bid contracting practices should be reviewed and made consistent, and the reasons for eliminating competition made narrower and more clearly defined.
"I think it sends a bad signal to the public at a time when there is already a lot of suspicion about how open things are in state government," Phillips said. "I think the governor has made great strides. There still remain questions, and this just adds to that."
DHHS Secretary Lanier Cansler has said the department is pushed to squeeze savings out of the fast-growing Medicaid program. The contract with Prodigy is estimated to save the state $4.4million over two years.
"This contract is short term and allows savings of millions of dollars," Chrissy Pearson, a spokeswoman for Perdue, said in a written statement. "The secretary has confirmed with the governor that his department is monitoring closely the quality and accessibility of this product while protecting the quality of patient care."
Senate Minority Leader Phil Berger, an Eden Republican, said no-bid contracts should be exceptions and that agencies have an obligation in those cases to make sure the state is getting quality services at competitive prices.
In circumstances where agencies want to move quickly, it may be a good idea to seek informal bids from several companies to find the best deal, Berger said.
"We're talking about taxpayers' dollars," he said. "The obligation is to be very careful with that money."
Sen. William Purcell, a Laurinburg Democrat who helps write the budget for DHHS, has fielded complaints about Prodigy and has heard that the state might face a lawsuit from those who don't like the no-bid contract.
Legislators told DHHS to wring out savings in a time when more people are signing up for Medicaid but the state budget is shrinking.
"It's hard to tell them to save money, then say we don't like what you're doing," Purcell said.
NC Health Care Advocates are questioning contracts the NC State Department of Health and Human Services awarded in recent months without competitive bidding.
Lawmakers allowed the no-bid contracts so DHHS could save time and money during a difficult budget year. Department officials maintain that the contracts are with companies with proven track records and can provide better value.
Still, some people question the fairness of the deals and the potential for conflicts of interest.
"No-bid contracts are bad government," said Adam Searing, director of the North Carolina Health Access Coalition, a group that advocates health care reform to benefit uninsured people.
Searing notes that DHHS Secretary Lanier Cansler was a lobbyist before Gov. Beverly Perdue picked him in January to run the state's largest agency. Three of the five no-bid contracts awarded in recent months have gone to clients of his former lobbying firm: two to the Carolinas Center for Medical Excellence and one to SAS Institute.
CCME's contracts, valued at $29 million total, are to review personal care services and outpatient therapies for determination of clinical necessity. DHHS officials estimate they will save the state at least $24 million.
SAS has an $800,000 subcontract on a $229 million Medicaid information systems contract that was awarded through a competitive bidding process in 2008.
DHHS spokesman Brad Deen said Cansler "has taken deliberate actions to abstain himself from dealings and negotiations involving former clients." He cited a June 9 memo Cansler issued to Deputy Secretary Allen Feezor in which Feezor and other officials were instructed to handle any contract decisions involving Cansler's former clients.
"I don't think, from what I've seen, anything untoward is going on from (Cansler's) perspective, but it gives the appearance of favoritism. That's the problem with these no-bid contracts," Searing said.
Another of the no-bid contracts went to Charlotte-based Prodigy Diabetes Care LLC, which makes diabetes testing equipment. Officials estimate the two-year, $27 million contract will save taxpayers $4.5 million.
Raleigh pharmacist Mike James said he never heard of Prodigy before its blood glucose meters started showing up on his shelves in recent months. Now, the company's monitoring products are the only ones that his customers on Medicaid can buy.
"It is concerning to me. We haven't seen any history on this product," James said.
Federal records show the owners of Prodigy previously ran a company called Vitalcare that filed for bankruptcy after getting sued for patent infringement. The FDA also issued safety warnings for Vitalcare's manufacturing plant in China.
Charlotte used incentives to convince Prodigy's parent company, Diagnostic Devices Inc., to move its headquarters and manufacturing to the Queen City. With the new state contract and tax incentives, the company has promised to add space and jobs.
James said the lack of a track history for Prodigy raises questions for him.
"Is the product going to be in the pharmacies as people need them because of the toughness in supply?" he said. "Is the product going to work efficiently?"
The fifth no-bid contract went to MedSolutions to reduce redundancies and inefficiencies in radiological imaging. The two-year, $230 million deal is expected to save the state $77 million, DHHS officials said.
Two Charlotte area legislators gained the unfortunate distinction of worst attendance record during last year's legislative session.
And the whole issue of absences has deteriorated into a dispute between Rep. Nick Mackey and Rep. Beverly Earle, both Charlotte Democrats.
Sen. Malcolm Graham, a Charlotte Democrat, and Rep. Jeff Barnhart, a Concord Republican, accumulated the worst attendance records in their respective chambers, with the exception of fellow lawmakers who were ill or had surgery during session.
Graham attended 91 of 112 legislative days for an 81 percent attendance rate. The only lower record was that of Sen. Richard Stevens, a Cary Republican, who was sidelined with a broken kneecap.
"Not only am I a state senator, but I work for a living as well," Malcolm Graham said, adding that the supposed part-time job is full time. "I try to balance the responsibilities of serving as well as making a living at the same time."
Legislators receive less than $14,000 a year in salary, plus $559 per month for expenses.
Barnhart made it to 95 of 114 days, or 83 percent. Earle, who underwent two back surgeries last year, and Rep. Becky Carney, who was out for two months after suffering cardiac arrest, had lower attendance figures.
The grim outlook for Democrats in the 2010 midterm elections just got a little worse.
Four top Democrats — including veteran Sens. Chris Dodd and Byron Dorgan — all prepared to pull the plug on their campaigns in a 24-hour period that began Tuesday, and in the process, offered an unnerving glimpse at the perilous election year ahead.
With Dorgan’s stunning retirement announcement Tuesday evening, Democrats are now facing their bleakest election outlook in years — and the very real possibility the party will lose its 60-40 Senate super majority after the November elections. On the House side, the prospect of a 20 to 30 seat loss is already looking increasingly likely.
“It’s not good news for Democrats,” said Roy Temple, a Democratic strategist. “The reality is this is going to be a challenging year, and this is an additional challenge you would prefer not to have. Because of the success of the last two cycles, there are a lot of seats to defend. This is just an additional complication.”
Dorgan’s announcement was accompanied Tuesday by Michigan Democratic Lt. Gov. John Cherry’s decision to end his floundering bid for governor, and by the revelation that both Dodd and Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter would announce Wednesday that they would not seek reelection.
There is some silver lining in the Democratic cloud: Ritter, Cherry and Dodd were all struggling to gain traction and their departures could actually increase Democratic chances of holding those offices.
Several top-tier prospects immediately surfaced in Colorado as potential Democratic candidates for governor. In Connecticut, Democrats expect that state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal will run in Dodd’s place, providing them with a stronger nominee than the embattled five-term senator.
But the retirements of two senior Democratic senators, and the suddenly altered landscapes in Michigan and Colorado, continue a wave of Democratic bailouts that began with a burst of retirements by veteran House Democrats representing competitive districts, followed by the stunning late December party switch by freshman Alabama Rep. Parker Griffith.
In the meantime, President Barack Obama’s and the Democratic Party’s poll ratings have slipped across the board, generic polling is now generally more favorable to Republicans and a handful of promising Democratic House candidates have abruptly ended their campaigns.
Suddenly, the sad sack GOP is looking at its best shot in three election cycles of making serious gains in November.
“Sen. Dorgan’s retirement coupled with the recent spate of retirements by House Democrats show the national mood is swinging against them,” said Carl Forti, a GOP strategist. “With Sen. Blanche Lincoln and others in a precarious position, Democrats will have to thread the needle to get back to 60 seats.”
In Dorgan’s case, Republicans now have a very strong chance at picking up his seat in Republican-oriented North Dakota, a state that Obama lost by eight points in 2008 and John Kerry lost by 27 points in 2004.
Dorgan said his decision had nothing to do with his re-election campaign, where he had yet to face stiff competition — though the popular GOP Gov. John Hoeven might have jumped into the race and forced the senator to wage a fierce campaign. In the wake of Dorgan's announcement, North Dakota GOP Chairman Gary Emineth told POLITICO that he believes Hoeven is likely to run now.
In a memo to staff and later to the press, Dorgan said that he came to his decision over the holiday season and wanted to pursue interests outside politics, including writing two more books, working on energy policy and teaching.
“[M]y decision has no relationship to the prospect of a difficult election contest this year,” Dorgan said. “Frankly, I think if I had decided to run for another term in the Senate I would be reelected.”
Still, his decision forces Democrats to defend yet another open seat in addition to Delaware and Illinois — two states in which Democrats typically run up the score but where the GOP is poised to run competitive candidates this year. And it comes in a year in which Democratic incumbents including Majority Leader Harry Reid, Sen. Arlen Specter, appointed Sen. Michael Bennet and Lincoln are battling weak poll numbers.
“Remember the old Tareyton cigarette slogan? ‘I'd rather fight than switch?’” said Alex Castellanos, who advises the Republican National Committee. “Now that the Democrats are expected to drop under 60, we will probably see other retirements as Democrats decide they would rather retire than fight.”
Despite the souring outlook, Democrats are hopeful about their chances in five of the six states where Senate Republicans have their own retirement-related problems — Ohio, New Hampshire, Missouri, Florida and Kentucky. They envision a scenario in which the economy will yield job growth heading into the midterms, and expect that public perception of the party will brighten if Congress gives final approval to the Democrats’ sweeping health care bill and approves other measures on the ambitious agenda.
Some Democrats give little credence to the retirements, noting that they have no broader meaning other than the fact that individual lawmakers chose not to run for reelection.
“These guys quit sometimes,” said Jim Jordan, a Democratic strategist.
The timing — the first week of the new year — and the locales of the retirements makes them hard to dismiss as isolated incidents, however.
In Colorado, the epicenter of the recent Democratic resurgence in the interior west, it is telling that Ritter, a 53-year-old former Denver prosecutor who cruised to victory in 2006, would unexpectedly pull down the curtain on a promising career and that Bennet, the senator he appointed to a vacant Senate seat, would be in jeopardy of losing it.
In Michigan, a state battered by job losses but still a reliable Democratic bulwark in state and federal races in recent years, the heir apparent to two-term Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm is similarly quitting before even starting, unable to raise money or get out from under the shadow of what has become a deeply unpopular administration.
And back in Washington, Democrats were all but blindsided by Dorgan’s decision to retire rather than seek a fourth term in a seat that only he might have been able to hold. Neither the Senate majority leader nor the White House even had a statement prepared.
Compounding the problem for Democrats — and spreading the pain to all three Democratic campaign committees Tuesday — the one Democrat who may be able to hold Dorgan’s seat is Rep. Earl Pomeroy. But if he vacates North Dakota’s at-large seat, that would create another problem: Republicans would be positioned for another House pickup.
The odds for a Republican take over of the North Carolina State Senate just got a lot better. State Senator R.C. Soles (D-Tabor City), the longest serving in the Senate has announced that he will not seek re-election. It’s not that surprising that he has chosen to retire. Aside from being 75 years old, he has been plagued with two scandals, one that he molested a teen aged boy and he is facing a possible indictment for shooting someone in his home last August.
Republicans need to win six Senate seats to take over the body and Soles is another retirement that may make that possible. The district has been trending towards the GOP and Soles opponent last year, Bettie Fennell, came considerably close to defeating him. Soles’ retirement is in addition to a few other Democrat retirements who also represent Republican friendly districts.
Senator David Hoyle of Gastonia represents a heavily Republican leaning district that the GOP will almost certainly pick up. Senator Julia Boseman of Wilmington who like Soles has been embroiled in personal conflicts has also decided not to run for re-election. Her predecessor was a Republican.
Who controls the state legislature next year will be vital as he who has the power controls the redistricting after the Census is completed.
His time to go was several years ago. Tony Rand had his hands directly in steering North Carolina into being the highest taxed state in the southeastern U.S., the beginning of turning the state into a northeastern rust bucket.
There will now be a fight I’m sure among the Senate Democrats to claw their way up to the top and take over as Majority Leader. That should be an interesting sight to behold. What will also be on the radar is how hard the Republicans will fight to try and win this seat when the special election is called. The GOP needs to win six Senate seats if they want to take it over in 2010 before redistricting takes place. I don’t know how heavily Democrat this seat is, but if they can pick it up that will bring them closer to their goal.
There is speculation at Katy’s Conservative Corner as to whether or not Rand’s resignation has anything to do with the recent Easley trials, but according to the N&O he is stepping down to take a position as chairman of the State Parole Board.
R.C. Soles Jr., a N.C. State Senator from Tabor City will be indicted by a grand jury. This was reported in the News and Observer today.
The grand jury wrote in its presentment that it had reason to believe that Soles had committed a crime:
Twelve or more grand jurors concur in finding probable cause to believe that R.C. Soles, Jr. committed the offense of Assault With a Deadly Weapon Inflicting Serious Injury against Thomas Kyle Blackburn in Columbus County on or about August 23, 2009 by unlawfully, willfully and feloniously shooting Thomas Kyle Blackburn and inflicting serious injury.
Looks like we have another Democratic being taken to the woodshed. I wonder if Democrats will call for his resignation like they did the drunk Republican? Will they treat him the same as Rep. Wright?
The FBI will build its new Charlotte field office complex in southwest Charlotte, the agency announced Wednesday.
Raleigh-based Highwoods properties announced in July that it was developing a $45 million office for the FBI, but would not say where in Charlotte.
The new complex will be on 11.6 acres at Hanson Road and Microsoft Way, off of Arrowood Road. A five-story, 171,000 square foot office building, an annex and a parking structure will be built there, with crews breaking ground Thursday morning. The project should be finished in 2011.
Highwoods is one of the biggest owners of suburban office space in the Southeast.
FBI officials couldn't be reached late Wednesday to comment on whether new agency jobs will be created or moved to the area.
The FBI's current Charlotte field office is uptown on South Tryon Street.
Internal e-mails reveal new allegations of misspending at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg County Department of Social Services, raising more unanswered questions about what happened to money intended to help needy children.
Some of the more than 1,000 e-mails the Charlotte Observer obtained through a Public Records Request provide the most detailed account to date about the agency's accounting fiasco.
E-mails show:
Officials suspected an employee wrote $80,000 in checks to herself from donations.
An administrator questioned why other donations were used to buy $340 diamond earrings, leather coats and a $300 DVD player.
A top executive complained that a senior fiscal administrator frustrated co-workers with her "inability to explain the simplest concepts of revenue and expenses."
After nearly a year, officials have never said who was at fault for $162,000 that disappeared or whether anyone was disciplined.
No one has been charged in an ongoing police investigation and a county report says officials cannot be certain where the money went.
Meanwhile, donors are left to wonder whether their generosity ever helped buy Christmas gifts for those in need.
In one e-mail, a woman describes calling the county in 2007 to give $900 for single mothers at Christmas. The person who answered the phone told her to make a check payable to the worker's sister.
The donor said she grew suspicious and made the check out to the county, but the idea that it may still have been misused is "like a kick in the stomach."
In another e-mail, a founder of Second String Santa said he was concerned whether kids received the more than 50,000 toys his group had donated since 1989.
Will Miller said he believes some of the toys reached children, but he's not sure about the rest.
"Will we ever know? Probably not," he said.
Two Charlotte-Mecklenburg County Commissioners said they have asked County Administrators for a full accounting of what went wrong at DSS but have yet to receive answers. County officials have never explained who was responsible, they said.
"To fix it, you have to admit all the stuff that is messed up," Commissioner Bill James said. "They don't want to do too much digging."
County administrators declined interview requests. Instead, a county spokesman released a prepared statement saying appropriate fiscal controls have been installed in response to an outside audit and an internal investigation.
"Our review of the e-mails we provided and your follow up questions did not reveal any new information that would suggest any change in the audit findings or in management's response to those findings," the statement said.
Some commissioners said they have been told that the employees involved have either left county government or been placed in new positions. Unusual spending patterns
DSS spends $176 million annually and employs 1,200 workers to assist Mecklenburg's poor and neglected. The agency administers everything from food stamps to foster care and child protection services.
Last spring, DSS Director Mary Wilson ordered financial audits following reports of suspicious spending.
Auditors looked at multiple spending programs and financial practices in the agency. They found a $10,000 check made out to an employee, missing and altered receipts and money for kids spent on office supplies.
County leaders responded by suspending the programs, putting DSS finance under direct county control, training workers on accounting procedures and ordering a review of financial procedures in each county agency.
The Observer reviewed e-mails dating from December 2008 to July 2009 for seven current and former county administrators, including Wilson, County Manager Harry Jones, County Finance Director Dena Diorio and Internal Auditor Cornita Spears.
E-mails show county officials noticed unusual spending patterns as early as last December but did not disclose problems to the public until March.
On New Year's Eve, Wilson told staff she had suspended a voucher program the agency used to purchase clothes and other items for clients at local stores. She wrote that officials were worried about a lack of oversight and a spike in spending.
One monthly retail bill leapt from between $5,000 and $6,000 to more than $20,000 in October 2008, the e-mail says. Employees turned in receipts only 30 to 35 percent of the time, she wrote.
At one time or another, workers possessed or had access to numerous credit cards and gift cards, including some to Bath & Body Works, Bass Pro Shops, Macy's, the Cheesecake Factory and Outback Steakhouse.
Outside auditors verified for county administrators that DSS workers possessed county-issued credit cards, including 10 credit cards for Sam's Club, three for Harris Teeter and an online charge account with Amazon.com
In February, county officials asked internal auditors to look into questionable spending, including purchases of diamond earrings, leather coats and a DVD player.
An e-mail to one of the auditors from a human resources consultant said the purchases raise "many questions and concerns."
According to the county's statement, most gifts were typical children's items such as toys, clothes and books. More expensive items such as diamond earrings and leather coats were approved purchases for foster children who reached special milestones like high school graduation, the statement says.
"Receiving a gift of some significant value was viewed as an incentive for other children who were in foster care to set goals and accomplish them," the statement said.
Commissioner Harold Cogdell said he spent part of his early childhood in foster care and believes the gifts are a good idea.
"It makes sense to me to show the kids some love," Cogdell said.
A new Accountant
DSS has endured multiple management shakeups in recent years. The latest came when Wilson reorganized the agency after she was hired in July 2008.
She laid out the reasons to hire a new finance director in a February e-mail.
Wilson wrote that the senior fiscal administrator who managed DSS finances failed to provide reports about oversight, alienated staff and lacked the ability to conduct productive discussions with senior county executives. The e-mail does not name the senior fiscal administrator.
DSS later hired accountant Angela Hurlburt to oversee its finances.
James, the commissioner, said he has asked for the names and background information on Hurlburt's predecessors. He wants them to answer questions from the Board of Commissioners' Audit Review Committee, which investigated accounting lapses at DSS.
He said administrators have failed to respond to his requests and complained that officials "keep us in the dark."
Other Charlotte-Mecklenburg Commissioners disagreed.
Chairman Jennifer Roberts and Commissioner Dumont Clarke said county leaders have already put in place reforms that will protect taxpayer and donor money.
"The highest priority" is implementing new financial controls, Clarke said.
Shifting the Finances
Auditors from Cherry, Bekaert & Holland reviewed DSS and found that Mecklenburg officials responded appropriately. The county's Audit Review Committee came to the same conclusion.
But DSS Director Wilson bristled at one of the major reforms.
Leaders put DSS finance under the direct control of the county's main finance department after allegations of misspending surfaced.
In April, Wilson sent an e-mail to County General Manager Michelle Lancaster to complain. Calling the decision "premature" and "shortsighted," Wilson said there are emergencies when DSS workers must write checks immediately, including occasions when the agency takes children in custody who need clothes, toiletries and school supplies.
"I understand the urgency at the time, but there was a reason DSS had check writing capability and I think we threw the baby out with the bathwater instead of fixing the underlying issue, which is documentation and accountability," Wilson wrote.
Donors left with questions
Past supporters of the DSS Christmas charity include Young Lawyers, employees of Wachovia and Bank of America, and Project Joy, the holiday fund drive initiated by Observer columnist Tommy Tomlinson. The Christmas charity, known as the Giving Tree, is now run by the Salvation Army.
The donor who gave $900 e-mailed the county in July after learning about accounting failures from news accounts. She attached a picture of the check copy she made around Christmas in 2007.
She wrote that she did not remember the name of the woman she spoke with on the phone.
The donor said she and her family all pitched in to raise the money so she could assist women like her who had struggled as single mothers.
When she heard there were allegations of misspending in a DSS charity program, "It's like your stomach just drops."
Tiffany Wright stood alone in the dark, waiting for her school bus.
It was just before 6 a.m., and her foster grandmother had walked back home to get Tiffany's water bottle.
Tiffany, 15, was eight months pregnant but determined to stay on track in school. She wanted to be a lawyer. And after just a few weeks at Hawthorne High, she had impressed teachers as smart and ambitious, despite a difficult childhood.
At 5:51, Tiffany sent a text.
"Wheres the bus?"
One stop away, replied her friend, already on the bus.
At 5:55, as the bus lumbered toward Tiffany's stop, people began calling police to report gunshots.
A school bus dispatcher radioed Tiffany's bus driver: Change course - something's happening ahead.
Tiffany lay dead in the road, shot in the head, that morning, Monday, Sept. 14. Her baby girl was delivered at the hospital and lived a week, but died Sunday.
Nobody's charged in the killings, but police call Tiffany's adoptive brother, Royce Mitchell, a "person of interest."
In the months before she died, local agencies took steps aimed at stabilizing her home life and keeping her safe. But her story exposes failures in the system that was supposed to protect her.
Among the missteps:
•In February, a Mecklenburg court clerk appointed Mitchell as Tiffany's temporary guardian — even though he was a felon who served time in federal prison. He was also tried in 2006 for murder, but found not guilty. And last year, he was accused of domestic violence, though the case was dismissed.
•In July, social workers told police that Mitchell, 36, might have committed statutory rape with Tiffany, but police didn't question him about it for seven weeks, and didn't charge him with the rape until after Tiffany was killed.
•This month, Mecklenburg social services failed to cut off communication between Tiffany, who was in foster care, and Mitchell, said a source close to the investigation.
On the day of Tiffany's killing, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police jailed Mitchell for statutory rape and indecent liberties with a child, naming Tiffany as the victim.
Police defend their work, saying they followed the industry's best practices - which takes time. Police didn't feel a need to rush, they say, because they believed Tiffany was secure, hidden in a foster home with no threat to her safety.
Police say it's hard to prove statutory rape: Of the 262 reports of statutory rape police received over three years, only 16 percent - 42 cases - were accepted by prosecutors.
Experts say statutory rape cases are complicated because they involve victims ages 13, 14 or 15 who often consider themselves voluntary participants in sex with someone at least six years older. So victims can be reluctant to help police.
But child advocates say in cases like Tiffany's, police should act more aggressively. An immediate arrest sends a signal to a suspect and can persuade them to stay away from victims.
"The cases may be difficult to win, but they're not difficult to charge," says Brett Loftis of Charlotte's Council for Children's Rights.
UNCC criminologist Paul Friday says: "Often, nothing is done in these kinds of cases because they're based on improper assumptions about the rationality of someone that age. But the minors are often unaware of disease, birth control and they can be exploited by someone."
Adopted by foster mother
Tiffany first entered the child welfare system as a toddler in Buffalo, N.Y., when her mother lost custody.
She was adopted at 4 by her foster mother, Alma Wright, an older woman with eight grown children, who was excited about raising another child.
One of Wright's grown sons was Royce Mitchell, a star quarterback in high school who'd gone on to play for a semi-pro team in Buffalo. But Mitchell also was indicted in 1999 as part of a drug trafficking ring and went to federal prison.
While he was in prison, authorities also charged Mitchell with an earlier murder, but a jury found him not guilty.
In 2004, Alma and Tiffany left Buffalo for North Carolina, settling near Kings Mountain. Tiffany made friends easily at school and church. She ran track at Bessemer City High School.
In 2007, Mitchell was released from prison and followed his mother to North Carolina.
But last fall, Alma Wright got sick. Friends at church helped out with Tiffany, inviting her for dinners and weekends. Tiffany spent time with Mitchell and his wife, too.
Alma Wright died Jan. 25, and Tiffany moved in with the Mitchells in Charlotte.
On Jan. 30, Royce Mitchell asked a Mecklenburg court to appoint him and his wife as Tiffany's guardians.
On his application, he wrote: "We are seeking guardianship because we were requested to do so by Mrs. Alma Wright before she died."
He wanted to transfer Tiffany to West Mecklenburg High School.
The court set a hearing for Feb. 5 and appointed a child advocate to study the situation and look after Tiffany's best interests in court.
There's no transcript of what happened in court, and the clerk who handled Tiffany's case declined to discuss his decision.
Frederick Benson, a Mecklenburg assistant clerk of superior court, appointed Mitchell the temporary guardian of Tiffany's welfare.
It's unclear if Benson, a lawyer, knew about Mitchell's criminal background. Court clerks are not required to perform background checks in guardianship cases, says Clerk of Superior Court Martha Curran. It's up to each clerk to decide what checks are necessary, and they often rely on court-appointed child advocates to advise them in such cases.
Tiffany's advocate, lawyer Martha Efird, declined to discuss her actions in the case.
It was in the weeks surrounding the Feb. 5 court hearing that Tiffany got pregnant, if hospital estimates are accurate.
But friends say Tiffany, who started at West Mecklenburg High in February, wouldn't realize for four or five months that she was pregnant.
On Feb. 27, clerk of court Benson ordered DSS to conduct a "home study" of the Mitchell household. Officials won't release their findings.
But Mitchell didn't keep custody long, according to several of Tiffany's friends in King's Mountain.
In late March, Mitchell left Tiffany at a group home called With Friends in Gastonia, according to Marlene Jefferies and Cruceta Jeffeirs, two adult family friends who watched Tiffany grow up.
The group home wouldn't confirm that. But the friends say the home reported to social services that Tiffany was abandoned. And she was soon back in foster care.
On March 31, Jeffeirs, a Shelby pastor, wrote a letter to Benson seeking custody of Tiffany: "My desire is to see Tiffany accomplish all the goals that she has set for herself and I believe she can do that in a stable environment with lots of guidance and love."
DSS officials in Gaston and Mecklenburg won't discuss Tiffany's case or answer questions about what steps they took to protect her.
But friends and family say Tiffany was eventually placed in the care of foster parent Susan Barber, in a townhome off Mallard Creek Road in Derita.
By July, it was clear Tiffany was pregnant, friends say.
Barber tried to shield Tiffany from talking to those she believed might be bad influences, according to Tiffany's cousin Brittany Page. But a source close to the investigation said Tiffany and Mitchell continued communicating.
Despite repeated attempts, Barber could not be reached.
As the school year approached, Tiffany prepared to change schools again, this time to Hawthorne High in Charlotte, which offers a special program for pregnant students.
Delayed Investigation
On July 27, social workers reported to police that Royce Mitchell might have committed statutory rape with Tiffany.
It took eight days for a detective to look at the case, and three days more for it to be officially assigned to Teresa Johnson, a detective with CMPD's youth crime and domestic violence unit.
Another 12 days passed before Johnson interviewed Tiffany.
It's unclear when detective Johnson discovered Mitchell's background, but it wasn't enough to ramp up the investigation. Investigators say they believed Tiffany was safe in a foster home and faced no threats from Mitchell.
Police say their performance in the case followed procedure and met standards.
Police interview alleged victims immediately if the crime has occurred within the previous 72 hours, so they can gather evidence that may remain. But in cases like Tiffany's - where months had elapsed since the alleged offense - police try to arrange just one interview when children and teen victims of abuse are involved.
Police acknowledge that strategy takes time but minimizes trauma and reduces the chances that young victims might be led into inaccurate testimony by repeated questioning.
Police also let such victims decide when they want to be interviewed at the county's child-victim center called Pat's Place. There, specially trained interviewers talk to victims, while social workers, psychologists, police and others watch from another room.
Tiffany chose an Aug. 19 interview. She didn't say much during the formal interview. But later that day, Johnson won her trust and obtained enough information to move forward with the investigation.
The next day, Aug. 20, the detective made her first call to Mitchell to ask him about the charge, she says. Johnson left a message and gave him a few days to call back.
When Mitchell didn't respond, she made calls over the next two weeks to social workers and a federal probation officer to ask Mitchell to come talk to police.
Police say they didn't immediately arrest him because they believed they could get better information if he talked voluntarily.
On Sept. 9, a federal probation official told Johnson that Mitchell was not coming in.
On Sept. 10, a team of social workers, police and other agencies held a standard follow-up meeting to discuss how to proceed in Tiffany's case.
On Friday, Sept. 11, detective Johnson phoned Mitchell's wife and left a message. She asked her to call back to discuss Tiffany, Johnson says, but didn't give details of the rape allegation.
That Monday, Tiffany was shot and killed.
As emergency vehicles rolled to the scene, Tiffany's school bus was diverted from its normal route. But the students could see flashing lights. Tiffany's friends on the bus, Cimone Black and Tamia Corpening, began to worry.
"I kept texting her phone...," Cimone said. Then she started calling, but all she got was voice mail.
The bus continued on to Hawthorne. For Tamia, the hourlong ride was excruciating.
President Barack Obama late Monday nominated Charlotte Lawyer Thomas G. Walker to replace U.S. Attorney George Holding, who has spent months overseeing federal probes of two of the state’s most prominent Democrats: two-time presidential candidate John Edwards and former Gov. Mike Easley.
Walker had long been thought to be the front-runner for the job, but it was uncertain whether he would take over the investigations into Edwards and Easley.
Holding, who covers North Carolina’s Eastern District from Raleigh, has been examining the campaign finances of Edwards, a former senator who admitted last year to an extra-marital affair. Holding also has looked into campaign finances and gifts to Easley, who just completed two terms as governor. Holding has called grand juries in both cases, but charges have not been filed against either Easley or Edwards.
U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan, who put Walker’s name forward as a potential nominee, said late Monday she wants Holding to finish those probes.
“I will continue to impress upon the White House that George Holding should be given the time to complete his investigations into former public officials,” said Hagan, a Greensboro Democrat, in a statement.
Still, she praised Obama’s choice of Walker, a partner at the Charlotte office of Alston & Bird and a former Special Counsel to N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper.
Hagan called Walker “extremely qualified and fair-minded.” She added: “I expect the transition process to be undertaken in a mutually respectful manner with an eye toward what is best for the citizens of North Carolina.”
Obama also named U.S. attorney nominees, who must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate, to similar posts in Wisconsin, Wyoming and Michigan. “These fine attorneys have a extensive legal experience and a shared commitment to public service,” Obama said in a his prepared statement.
Walker, 45, has worked at Alston & Bird since 2003, and before that worked for Cooper for two years. At Alston & Bird, he concentrates on complex federal and state government investigations and white-collar defense.
He has served as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Western District from 1994 to 2001, and was an assistant district attorney for Mecklenburg County from 1990 to 1994.
Walker gave $1,250 last year to Obama’s presidential campaign and $500 to Hagan’s Senate campaign, according to records.
Last summer, Hagan submitted Walker’s name along with that of Benjamin David, the district attorney for Pender and New Hanover counties; and Hampton Dellinger, a partner in the law firm of Robinson Bradshaw & Hinson.
Burley Mitchell, a former N.C. Supreme Court justice, said Walker stood out as a contender for the position. Mitchell chaired a committee advising Hagan on the judicial nominations.
“He gives every indication of being fair and moderate,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell did note say that the nomination took did take longer than in previous administrations, but that Obama’s attention understandably could have been elsewhere.
“He has one or two things on his mind in addition to who will be U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of North Carolina,” he said.
Mitchell said he doesn’t expect Thomas’ nomination to derail the ongoing Easley and Edwards investigations.
Hagan told the White House that she wanted Holding to finish that work.
“As I have previously discussed with the Office of the White House Counsel, it is my belief that the current U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, George Holding, should be allowed to complete the ongoing investigations of public officials in the state,” Hagan wrote in July.
She continued: “During my conversations with the Office of the White House Counsel, there was an interest expressed by the Counsel’s office to potentially appoint a separate individual to begin handling other matters not related to these investigations. Should you decide to do so, the following names are provided for your consideration.”
But in its spare news release Monday, the White House made no mention of whether Holding could stay on at all. Efforts to reach him were unsuccessful U.S. Sen. Richard Burr, a Winston-Salem Republican, was not immediately available for comment late Monday.
Internal e-mails reveal new allegations of misspending at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg County Department of Social Services, raising more unanswered questions about what happened to money intended to help needy children.
Some of the more than 1,000 e-mails the Charlotte Observer obtained through a Public Records Request provide the most detailed account to date about the agency's accounting fiasco.
E-mails show:
Officials suspected an employee wrote $80,000 in checks to herself from donations.
An administrator questioned why other donations were used to buy $340 diamond earrings, leather coats and a $300 DVD player.
A top executive complained that a senior fiscal administrator frustrated co-workers with her "inability to explain the simplest concepts of revenue and expenses."
After nearly a year, officials have never said who was at fault for $162,000 that disappeared or whether anyone was disciplined.
No one has been charged in an ongoing police investigation and a county report says officials cannot be certain where the money went.
Meanwhile, donors are left to wonder whether their generosity ever helped buy Christmas gifts for those in need.
In one e-mail, a woman describes calling the county in 2007 to give $900 for single mothers at Christmas. The person who answered the phone told her to make a check payable to the worker's sister.
The donor said she grew suspicious and made the check out to the county, but the idea that it may still have been misused is "like a kick in the stomach."
In another e-mail, a founder of Second String Santa said he was concerned whether kids received the more than 50,000 toys his group had donated since 1989.
Will Miller said he believes some of the toys reached children, but he's not sure about the rest.
"Will we ever know? Probably not," he said.
Two Charlotte-Mecklenburg County Commissioners said they have asked County Administrators for a full accounting of what went wrong at DSS but have yet to receive answers. County officials have never explained who was responsible, they said.
"To fix it, you have to admit all the stuff that is messed up," Commissioner Bill James said. "They don't want to do too much digging."
County administrators declined interview requests. Instead, a county spokesman released a prepared statement saying appropriate fiscal controls have been installed in response to an outside audit and an internal investigation.
"Our review of the e-mails we provided and your follow up questions did not reveal any new information that would suggest any change in the audit findings or in management's response to those findings," the statement said.
Some commissioners said they have been told that the employees involved have either left county government or been placed in new positions. Unusual spending patterns
DSS spends $176 million annually and employs 1,200 workers to assist Mecklenburg's poor and neglected. The agency administers everything from food stamps to foster care and child protection services.
Last spring, DSS Director Mary Wilson ordered financial audits following reports of suspicious spending.
Auditors looked at multiple spending programs and financial practices in the agency. They found a $10,000 check made out to an employee, missing and altered receipts and money for kids spent on office supplies.
County leaders responded by suspending the programs, putting DSS finance under direct county control, training workers on accounting procedures and ordering a review of financial procedures in each county agency.
The Observer reviewed e-mails dating from December 2008 to July 2009 for seven current and former county administrators, including Wilson, County Manager Harry Jones, County Finance Director Dena Diorio and Internal Auditor Cornita Spears.
E-mails show county officials noticed unusual spending patterns as early as last December but did not disclose problems to the public until March.
On New Year's Eve, Wilson told staff she had suspended a voucher program the agency used to purchase clothes and other items for clients at local stores. She wrote that officials were worried about a lack of oversight and a spike in spending.
One monthly retail bill leapt from between $5,000 and $6,000 to more than $20,000 in October 2008, the e-mail says. Employees turned in receipts only 30 to 35 percent of the time, she wrote.
At one time or another, workers possessed or had access to numerous credit cards and gift cards, including some to Bath & Body Works, Bass Pro Shops, Macy's, the Cheesecake Factory and Outback Steakhouse.
Outside auditors verified for county administrators that DSS workers possessed county-issued credit cards, including 10 credit cards for Sam's Club, three for Harris Teeter and an online charge account with Amazon.com
In February, county officials asked internal auditors to look into questionable spending, including purchases of diamond earrings, leather coats and a DVD player.
An e-mail to one of the auditors from a human resources consultant said the purchases raise "many questions and concerns."
According to the county's statement, most gifts were typical children's items such as toys, clothes and books. More expensive items such as diamond earrings and leather coats were approved purchases for foster children who reached special milestones like high school graduation, the statement says.
"Receiving a gift of some significant value was viewed as an incentive for other children who were in foster care to set goals and accomplish them," the statement said.
Commissioner Harold Cogdell said he spent part of his early childhood in foster care and believes the gifts are a good idea.
"It makes sense to me to show the kids some love," Cogdell said.
A new Accountant
DSS has endured multiple management shakeups in recent years. The latest came when Wilson reorganized the agency after she was hired in July 2008.
She laid out the reasons to hire a new finance director in a February e-mail.
Wilson wrote that the senior fiscal administrator who managed DSS finances failed to provide reports about oversight, alienated staff and lacked the ability to conduct productive discussions with senior county executives. The e-mail does not name the senior fiscal administrator.
DSS later hired accountant Angela Hurlburt to oversee its finances.
James, the commissioner, said he has asked for the names and background information on Hurlburt's predecessors. He wants them to answer questions from the Board of Commissioners' Audit Review Committee, which investigated accounting lapses at DSS.
He said administrators have failed to respond to his requests and complained that officials "keep us in the dark."
Other Charlotte-Mecklenburg Commissioners disagreed.
Chairman Jennifer Roberts and Commissioner Dumont Clarke said county leaders have already put in place reforms that will protect taxpayer and donor money.
"The highest priority" is implementing new financial controls, Clarke said.
Shifting the Finances
Auditors from Cherry, Bekaert & Holland reviewed DSS and found that Mecklenburg officials responded appropriately. The county's Audit Review Committee came to the same conclusion.
But DSS Director Wilson bristled at one of the major reforms.
Leaders put DSS finance under the direct control of the county's main finance department after allegations of misspending surfaced.
In April, Wilson sent an e-mail to County General Manager Michelle Lancaster to complain. Calling the decision "premature" and "shortsighted," Wilson said there are emergencies when DSS workers must write checks immediately, including occasions when the agency takes children in custody who need clothes, toiletries and school supplies.
"I understand the urgency at the time, but there was a reason DSS had check writing capability and I think we threw the baby out with the bathwater instead of fixing the underlying issue, which is documentation and accountability," Wilson wrote.
Donors left with questions
Past supporters of the DSS Christmas charity include Young Lawyers, employees of Wachovia and Bank of America, and Project Joy, the holiday fund drive initiated by Observer columnist Tommy Tomlinson. The Christmas charity, known as the Giving Tree, is now run by the Salvation Army.
The donor who gave $900 e-mailed the county in July after learning about accounting failures from news accounts. She attached a picture of the check copy she made around Christmas in 2007.
She wrote that she did not remember the name of the woman she spoke with on the phone.
The donor said she and her family all pitched in to raise the money so she could assist women like her who had struggled as single mothers.
When she heard there were allegations of misspending in a DSS charity program, "It's like your stomach just drops."
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
Welcome to the BLACK POLITICAL BUZZ Blog. (Established 2008)
My name is Laurel. (Author & Publisher)
I Blog with a focus on POLITICS, Business, and occasionally Entertainment.
FACTS ABOUT LAUREL:
Wife,
Mother of a U.S. Soldier,
Sister,
Woman of GOD,
Loyal Friend,
Creative,
Blood-related to a nationally known Charlotte Politician.
Black Female, Intelligent,
Married,
Love to Travel,
Credentialed by the RNC and DNC.
Political Blogger/ Commentator
Grassroots Activist,
PROFESSIONAL STATUS:
Credential Political Blogger/ Commentator,
Registered Independent Voter
Original Native of BROOKLYN, NY
Currently reside in CHARLOTTE, NC
I’m Nice but don’t get it twisted because my Mind is Sharp!
Since You’ve Chosen to Visit and Read the Contents of this Blog by Personal Choice, and of Your Own Free Will,
Please don’t ask me to Compensate you for Expressing individual commentary/ Posted Articles, which are protected by the First Amendment, citing Freedom of Speech & Freedom of Expression.
No Intentionally Malicious Slander, Libel or Defamation of Character content will be published and I will always Credit all Sources.
NOTE TO ALL ELECTED OFFICIALS, APPOINTED OFFICIALS & PUBLIC FIGURES:
Per the Landmark U.S. Supreme Court Case: 1964 case of New York Times v. Sullivan………
The Public has a Right to Criticize the People who Govern them, so the least Protection from Defamation is given to Public Officials. When officials are accused of something that involves their behavior in office, they have to prove all of the above elements of defamation and they must also prove that the defendant acted with “actual malice.” (For a definition of actual malice, see the “History of Defamation and the First Amendment, below.”)
People who aren’t Elected but who are Still Public Figures because they are influential or famous — like Actors, Actresses, Movie Stars, Singers & Entertainers, Journalists, TV Hosts, Bloggers, etc., — also have to Prove that Defamatory statements were made with Actual Malice, in most cases.
To the Associated Press and other Media Organizations:
When I use your Content Links., I’m also citing the Fair Use Doctrine (Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107) for further Copyright permission.
Posts and Links published on Black Political Buzz are not endorsed by Black Political Buzz Blog Author Laurel’s Employer, nor the Employers of other Black Political Buzz employees.
This includes Links, Posts and Comments posted on Black Political Buzz’s Facebook and Twitter account pages.
Comments, Links and Opinions of site visitors are Independently-Owned and not endorsed by Black Political Buzz employees, Blog Author Laurel or Laurel’s Employer.)
(No Personal Offense intended) Please know that Black Political Buzz is not responsible for nor do I endorse Requests for Donations from Third Parties on this Blog.
I will Only Endorse Requests for Donations made on behalf of BLACK POLITICAL BUZZ Blog for Business Purposes & Operating Expenses.
I will also Only Endorse Requests for Donations on behalf of Legitimate Politicians and Legitimate Political Candidates. PERIOD!!
If anyone else or another Organization wishes to post a link to Request Donations, I am NOT endorsing ANY of those Requests!
Unless I receive a personal Request to do so and I have Professionally Confirmed that the Third Party Organization or Charity is indeed a Legitimate Entity.
NOTE: Anyone who chooses to give to any Third Party Organization NOT Endorsed by BLACK POLITICAL BUZZ is doing so at his or her own risk.
BLACK POLITICAL BUZZ does NOT Discriminate against Politicians, Political Candidates, Organizations or Charities based on Race, Color, Nationality, Ethnicity, Gender, Sexual Orientation, Religion, Faith, Disability, Political Affiliation, Creed, Education, Social Status, Age.
This disclaimer applies to ANY and All requests for Donations on this Blog. Thanks for understanding. Again No Personal Offense intended.
For Story Tips….Corrections…….. or Requests for Endorsements:
Please contact me via e-mail: blackpoliticalbuzz@gmail.com
or via my Facebook page: facebook.com/blackpoliticalbuzz
Thanks for stopping by
God Bless
Laurel @BLACK POLITICAL BUZZ
LINKS: POLITICAL PERSPECTIVE & INFORMATIONAL SITES
.jpg)
