How much did Don Beason really make last year?

If Raleigh attorney Michael Weisel is correct, then most lobbyists' clients report from 15 to 30 percent of their payments to the state.

According to a report from Democracy North Carolina, Beason reported $145,521 from 16 clients in 2007.

That would put his actual income at between $485,070 and $970,140.

Of course, Beason is being investigated for underreporting his income — and we use this word to mean reporting below the traditional and reasonable amount used by other state lobbyists — so the real pay could be much higher.

As noted previously, Beason may have reported about 16 percent of his pay from the Albemarle Mental Health Center, five percent from IBM in 2004 and potentially 10 percent from BB&T.

Don Beason is being investigated for using the consulting loophole.

As previously noted, the lobbyists must tell the Secretary of State how much they are being paid to argue a special interest's cause before the legislature under state law.

But they do not have to disclose any secondary contracts for political consulting or other non-lobbying work.

Once the state's top lobbyist, Beason often broke up his contracts this way, possibly underreporting his pay from BB&T, IBM and Progress Energy.

His contract with BB&T was exactly one-tenth what he earned from Catawba County during a similar period. (Contracts with government agencies would not benefit from the loophole because they are public anyway.)

A special agent with the Secretary of State said in a court filing that the Albemarle Mental Health Center also underreported its payments.

"The Center was being directed by Donald R. Beason to report a significantly reduced amount and not the actual amount of compensation," agent John Lynch wrote in a court filing.

An audit of the mental health center first showed the discrepancy.

Former lobbyist Don Beason is being investigated.

In a four-page statement filed in Wake County Superior Court, a special agent with the N.C. Secretary of State's lobbying compliance division wrote that he thinks Beason directed some of the 24 groups and companies for which he and his son lobbied in 2007 to include inaccurate information on disclosure forms.

"I have discovered a pattern of under reporting of the lobbyist compensation," agent John M. Lynch wrote. "This under reporting is often done at the instruction of the lobbyist without any written or substantial justification."

The agent said Beason made one request of the Albemarle Mental Health Center, a regional facility in Elizabeth City.

State law treats many reporting violations as misdemeanors.

The affidavit was filed in mid-March in Wake County seeking a judge's help in getting records about Beason from Progress Energy, one of his requests. (N&O)

What happened to Don Beason's clients?

When the once-top lobbyist resigned his practice last year over a shady loan to House Speaker Jim Black, his lucrative list of clients was up for grabs.

By Dome's count, seven of the 16 clients did nothing. BB&T, Cingular Wireless, Albemarle Mental Health Center, Dale Earnhardt Inc., Sigma Corp., the Association of Settlement Companies, and the Carolina Ballet have no registered lobbyists during the current session.

That may be because they don't face any pending bills in a short session devoted to the budget. 

Three clients still employ Beason's son, Mark, along with other lobbyists: The Association of Health Information Outsourcing Services, AT&T North Carolina and S&M Brands.

Two clients, the city of Hickory and Catawba County, went with a new team of Jack Cozort, Kevin Leonard and noted lobbyist Alexander "Sandy" Sands.

Among the other top clients, Progress Energy went with noted lobbyist Zeb Alley, John Bode and Kathy Hawkins; while IBM went with former lieutenant governor Dennis Wicker and a team of eight lobbyists. Colonial Life Insurance hired Glenn Jernigan and the N.C. Railroad Co. hired Michelle Frazier and John McMillan.

Did Don Beason report all of his pay from the Albemarle Mental Health Center?

At N.C. Policy Watch, Chris Fitzsimon noticed a discrepancy between the payments for lobbying services reported to the Secretary of State and those in a state audit.

The audit (Table 5, page 35) shows a total of $76,082 for "lobbyist services" in fiscal year 2006.

During that time, Beason and his son, Mark, represented Albemarle. But state lobbying forms only list payments of $5,224 from January to September of 2005, $3,201 from September to December, and $4,000 from January to July of 2006.

That's only $12,425 — just a sixth of what was paid per the audit — and it's still high since the fiscal year likely runs from July to June.

As we've noted before, Beason also underreported payments from BB&T, IBM and Progress Energy.

The Albemarle Mental Health Center overpaid its top employees, according to a state audit.

The auditor's office criticized the mental health office in northeast North Carolina for paying director Charles Franklin Jr. $282,663 last year. His assistant, who does not have a college degree, made about $143,000 — more than Gov. Mike Easley.

The average pay for directors of regional mental health agencies was about $115,000 last year, the audit said.

The local mental health board that set Franklin's salary refused to talk with a reporter, instead sending a statement through a Raleigh public relations firm, French/West/Vaughan. 

In addition, the audit said board members wasted money on unnecessary conferences, including $12,476 at the Biltmore Estate in 2005. (N&O)

Bonus for Dome readers: Guess who Albemarle's lobbyist was...

Former Health and Human Services Secretary Carmen Hooker Odom said the state's mental health reform needs a reform of its own.

In a half-hour documentary on WRAL Wednesday night, she said that local mental health offices need to be more accountable to the state.

In particular, Hooker Odom noted that the state did not have any authority over the Albemarle Mental Health Center, which paid its head $319,000 a year.

Her remarks echoed her concerns about so-called "local management entities" from an Aug. 17 letter she sent to state legislators.

The interview was conducted shortly before she left office.

The documentary, "State of Minds," can be seen in full here. Extra footage of reporter Cullen Browder's interview with Hooker Odom is available here and here.

Don Beason made over $100,000 in the first half of the year.

According to filings with the Secretary of State's office, 15 corporate clients paid Beason a total of $107,671 from Jan. 1 to June 30, 2007.

Two clients, Carolina Ballet and Dale Earnhardt Inc., paid nothing. The ballet said Beason had donated his services. The city of Hickory did not pay Beason directly, but reimbursed Catawba County for half of its contract.

The largest single contract was the county, which paid Beason $32,903, according to the filings. (The county's records showed a slightly different amount.)

Another large client was Sigma Corp., a New Jersey-based maker of pipe fittings, which registered Beason as a lobbyist on May 21. The company paid Beason $27,000 in the second quarter of the year.

Progress Energy, the Raleigh-based electric utility, paid Beason $8,500.

Other contracts for clients such as BB&T, Cingular Wireless and the Albemarle Mental Health Center, were worth between $3,000 and $4,000 each in the first half of the year.

Update: AT&T North Carolina, formerly BellSouth, is also a Beason client, but it does not show up on his clients listings. According to the company's filings, it paid him $2,940 in the first half of the year. His total earnings have been updated.