Not all Perdue's BOT picks big givers

Campaign finance records reveal varied political pedigrees for Gov. Beverly Perdue’s newest picks for the state Board of Transportation.

Perdue is reappointing one board member who was a major contributor in her run for governor, Bruce Siceloff and David Raynor report. She is naming four new members including one who supported her Democratic primary rival and never contributed to Perdue’s campaign.

J. Gary Ciccone of Fayetteville, to succeed Mac Campbell in Division 6. Ciccone, a commercial real estate developer, chairs a bank board and has been a political contributor to two of its members: Sen. Tony Rand of Fayetteville, the Senate majority leader ($1,000 in 2008), and former Sen. Oscar Harris, who was Perdue’s campaign treasurer ($500 in 2004).

Ciccone gave heavily to former Gov. Mike Easley and then backed Perdue’s Democratic primary rival, Richard Moore, before giving Perdue’s campaign $1,000 in late 2007.

David L. Burns of Laurinburg, an agribusiness executive, to succeed G.R. Kindley in Division 8. Burns supported Easley and gave Moore’s campaign $1,000 in 2007, but records show no contributions to Perdue.

Burlington Mayor Ronnie K. Wall, assistant superintendent for Burlington-Alamance schools, to succeed Tony Dennis of Norwood as at-large board member for government-related finance and accounting. Wall gave Perdue’s campaign $1,000.

Sam Halsey of Jefferson, to succeed Arnold Lakey in Division 11: Halsey, a Christmas tree farmer and retired auto dealer, was a major Easley backer. He gave Perdue $200 in 2000, when she ran for lieutenant governor, and $500 in March.

Stan White of Nag’s Head, reappointed to Division 1: White is a builder and Realtor, and his wife gave Perdue $6,000 in 2007 and 2008.

Campbell steps down from DOT board

D.M. "Mac" Campbell Jr. of Elizabethtown has resigned from the state Board of Transportation.

In a letter to Perdue, Campbell cited "the increased demands of my business as well as my desire to spend more time with my children and grandchildren," Bruce Siceloff reports.

Campbell, appointed by former Gov. Mike Easley, served on the board for eight years. He and family members contributed more than $26,000 to Perdue's Democratic primary opponent, Richard Moore, and they later gave money to Perdue's campaign. He represented Bladen, Columbus, Cumberland, Harnett and Robeson counties.

His resignation comes a month after Durham lawyer Kenneth Spaulding said he would step down so he could give more time to his business interests. Doug Galyon of Greensboro, the board's longtime chairman, has said he is ready to leave the board as soon as Perdue finds a successor.

A spokeswoman for Gov. Beverly Perdue said she didn't know when the governor would name new board members.

Perdue ID's DOT fundraisers

Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue followed through on her pledge earlier today and identified Board of Transportation members who are fundraisers for her campaign.

They are Lanny Wilson of Wilmington, Louis Sewell of Jacksonville and Marvin Blount of Greenville. Thomas Betts Jr. of Rocky Mount was previously a board member, but he stepped down last month after a fundraising scandal, Dan Kane reports.

Perdue's campaign also challenged state Treasurer Richard Moore to disclose more than the name of his fundraisers on the board. She wants him to disclose his Wall Street fundraisers, and support a ban on fundraising by those who have business with the treasurer's office.

"Richard Moore says we should ban contributions from DOT board members, but not from people who do business with the Treasurer's office—maybe that's because he’s raised more than $1.5 million from them," said Perdue spokesman David Kochman. "Richard Moore's attacks are the height of hypocrisy."

Moore has said that board members should not be fundraising for the governor.

But his campaign said today that doesn't apply to those who have raised money for Moore in the current campaign—including board members Alan Thornburg and D.M. "Mac" Campbell. Moore could reward them and other fundraisers with board seats, said Moore's campaign manager Jay Reiff, but once on the board they would have to stop fundraising.

"He was going to break that cycle," Reiff said.

Kochman found that stand just as hypocritical. "It's another example of do as I say not as I do," he said.

Moore discloses DOT fundraising

Richard Moore isn't done making the state Board of Transportation an issue.

Shortly after Beverly Perdue said she would release the names of board members who are raising campaign money for her, Moore put out a spreadsheet showing his fundraisers on the board, who they solicited and how much they brought in.

Moore said that board member Alan Thornburg has so far raised $21,741 from himself and 21 other individuals, and D.M. "Mac" Campbell has raised $26,295 from his family and 28 others.

"I think we ought to get the Board of Transportation out of fundraising altogether," Moore said in a statement. "It is so typical of Raleigh to avoid even the watered down reform of ten years ago. We can start with that right now and that is what I am doing."

He also suggested that board members Lanny Wilson and Louis Sewell have raised "significant" funds for Perdue's campaign. Wilson has confirmed to The News & Observer that he is a Perdue fundraiser, while Sewell has not returned several phone calls seeking comment.



Document(s):
Moore-DOT.pdf

Perdue favors broader disclosure

Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue said today that the Board of Transportation reform law that she championed in 1998 was intended to require full disclosure of fundraising activity by board appointees.

"When the law was passed we intended for it to have full disclosure," said Perdue, who officially became a Democratic candidate for governor this morning by filing the required forms at the State Board of Elections. She did not specify what full disclosure would entail, reports Dan Kane.

The News & Observer reported on Feb. 3 that two current board members—D.M. 'Mac' Campbell of Elizabethtown and Louis W. Sewell Jr. of Jacksonville—raised money for Gov. Mike Easley's 2000 campaign, but said on disclosure forms they were required to file with the state that they were not fundraisers.

Their responses on the forms came after Easley obtained an attorney general's opinion of the reform law that said fundraisers did not have to disclose their efforts unless they personally accepted contributions from individuals. That meant that typical fundraising activities such as holding receptions and soliciting people for contributions were not considered fundraising.

Perdue was asked if she was surprised that the law had led to a narrow interpretation of fundraising.

"I was interested in the different way different members have interpreted the law," she said, "so I think the key for us in North Carolina is to have one standard for everybody."

Read more after the jump. 

In the audio below, Perdue answers Dan Kane's questions while filing for office, while her campaign spokesman, David Kochman, says it's not the time.


Perdue on DOT reform
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