The Department of Transportation, which has laid off temporary workers and is trimming its budget, paid more than $1,000 last weekend to send one of its managers to an executive networking conference at a resort hotel in Pinehurst.

Shelton Russell, director of workforce opportunity and development for the department, attended a conference organized by the N.C. Institute for Minority Economic Development.

The Transportation Department paid a $1,000 registration fee for him to attend. His room at the Manor – "a sportsman's lodge" – in Pinehurst is listed as $127, about double the usual state rate for hotels.

Russell initially filed a registration form indicating he would take advantage of the tennis function on Saturday, though at a beginner level. A subsequent registration form, though, left the tennis section blank.

The conference, which began Thursday, is billed as "bringing together minority business entrepreneurs and corporate decision makers."

The event, however, comes after the Transportation Department has laid off 1,200 temporary workers who typically do pothole filling, drainpipe clearing and grass cutting alongside roadways.

DOT Communications Director Greer Beaty said providing technical assistance and training to companies owned by minorities, women and the disabled will help them survive the recession, something that is central to the mission of Russell's office.

That office was created to help such businesses compete for DOT contracts.

"Making sure that all businesses in North Carolina have the same access to, and are able to take advantage of, the opportunities before them should be part of everyone's mission," Beaty said.

Public relations consultant and one-time candidate for the N.C. House Greer Beaty has signed on as communications director at the Department of Transportation.

Beaty joined the staff on Tuesday, leaving French West Vaughan public relations. She previously worked in various public relations roles for the Department of Commerce and the Smart Start program. In 2006 she ran unsuccessfully as the Democratic challenger to Rep. Nelson Dollar, a Cary Republican.

Beaty, 43, is a native of Rocky Mount and an East Carolina University pirate. She will earn $71,000-a-year.

The president of Public Policy Polling is a reliable Democratic donor.

In recent years, Dean Debnam has given thousands of dollars to Democratic candidates for state legislature, governor and U.S. Senate, according to campaign finance records.

His money has gone to local candidates for state office and some Democratic leaders.

He's given $2,000 apiece to state Sen. Janet Cowell and state House candidate Greer Beaty; $1,500 to state Rep. Deborah Ross; $1,250 to state House candidate Ed Ridpath; and $1,000 to Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight and state Rep. Grier Martin, among other donations.

He's also made sizable donations in years past to Govs. Mike Easley and Jim Hunt, U.S. Sen. John Edwards, Attorney General Roy Cooper and state House speaker Jim Black. 

In all, he's given at least $14,400 to state candidates in the past decade. (Figures in city and county races were not readily available.)

Debnam started the Democratic polling firm in 2002 as a side business. His regular job is as the chief executive officer at Workplace Options, a Raleigh consulting firm.