Between June 30 and July 24, when one hiring freeze ended and another began, the Office of State Personnel hired a statewide wellness coordinator.

The coordinator, who starts work in August, will be responsible for organizing wellness programs for state employees and educating them on good health practices. The person's salary will be between $53,248 and $72,000. The actual salary is not a matter of public record until the coordinator starts work.

Representatives from the personnel office said it is an important job, and said an economic recession is a time when people should worry about health.

"This is a very critical position at an important time for the state, with budget cuts and potential reductions in the workforce," said Margaret Jordan, the office's public information officer. "People are under a lot of high stress."

Jordan said the new position also will help state employees deal with changes in the state health plan designed to encourage people to smoke less and lose weight.

A number of legislators have left this session.

Below, a running list of state lawmakers who have resigned, died, switched chambers or plan to leave before session's end:

Rep. Linda Coleman, Wake County Democrat: Resigned Jan. 11 after being appointed by Gov. Beverly Perdue to head the Office of State Personnel.

Sen. Vern Malone, Wake County Democrat: Died on April 18.

Rep. Dan Blue, Wake County Democrat: Resigned May 19 after being appointed to Malone's seat in the state Senate.

Rep. Cary Allred, Alamance County Republican: Resigned June 1 after allegations of impropriety with a teen-aged page and a speeding ticket.

Rep. Bonner Stiller, Brunswick County Republican: Announced he will resign June 15 to spend more time with his family and run his law firm.

Erskine Bowles said that it's not premature to look into reductions.

The president of the University of North Carolina system responded to a recent letter from State Employees Association of N.C. head Dana Cope, which argued that it was illegal for the UNC system to consider steps to cut back its work force.

"While you suggest that 'there is no shortage of funds yet,' recall that the University has had to absorb more than $175 million in state budget cuts during the current fiscal year alone — and that personnel costs account for 75% of our campuses' state funding," Bowles wrote.

Bowles said that the UNC system has contacted Office of State Personnel head Linda Coleman, who agreed that "in these extraordinary times" it is "appropriate and prudent" for the university to take the steps.

Though the university is not yet short of money, Bowles said it is "wholly unrealistic" to think it won't be hit in the budget year starting June 1.

"Waiting would only increase the number of staff who would have to be laid off in order to absorb inevitable cuts," he writes.

SEANC is taking on Erskine Bowles over layoffs.

Dana Cope, executive director of the State Employees Association of N.C., sent a letter today to the president of the University of North Carolina system.

In it, he says he's learned of an e-mail at UNC-Chapel Hill that calls for reducing staff size now in order to save money in the budget starting July 1.

He cites a rule by the State Personnel Commission which says reductions can only happen once there is a shortage of funds.

"There is no shortage of funds yet, as the next budget has yet to be passed and signed into law," Cope writes. "The General Assembly may, in fact, find a way to fund UNC for the next fiscal year in such a way that no redutions in force are required."

Copies of the March 26 letter were sent to Gov. Beverly Perdue and Office of State Personnel head Linda Coleman.

Gov. Beverly Perdue has appointed Darren Jackson to the state House 39th District, which includes part of Wake County.

Jackson was appointed to fill the unexpired term of former Rep. Linda Coleman, who is now head of the Office of State Personnel.

He was recommended by the 39th District Democratic Executive Committee.

Jackson is from Eastern Wake County and practices law at Gay & Jackson LLP in Zebulon. He is vice president for the East Wake Education Foundation and has served previously as a Community in Schools mentor at East Wake Middle Schools.

He holds a law degree from Duke University and an undergraduate degree in political science from UNC-Chapel Hill.

The Office of State Personnel found that there is no basis to allegations that former Division of Motor Vehicles Commissioner Bill Gore used favoritism in hiring.

The claims were made by Gore's former second-in-command, Wayne Hurder. Hurder was fired in November after an internal DMV investigation found that he had allowed a Greene County patronage boss, Eddie Carroll Thomas, to have longstanding and widespread influence over personnel matters within the Driver and Vehicle Services section.

Hurder claimed in a suit filed shortly after his termination that Gore had violated personnel procedures in seeking to help two people get DMV positions, reports Dan Kane. One is the son of a former neighbor of Gore's who won a summer internship; the other was a temporary DMV employee who sought a fulltime job.

An investigation by the state personnel office found that Hurder came up with the idea of the summer internship and set it in motion, and did not raise objections about it at the time. Another person who had no connection to Gore was selected for a second internship.

As for the temporary employee, the investigation found that Gore expressed an interest in hiring him fulltime because he had fixed some equipment that others responsible for the repair had failed to fix. But the investigation found that Gore did not get involved in the hiring process as the temporary employee applied for two jobs, one of which he won.

Read more after the jump.

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Wake County Democrats will decide on a new representative next week.

The District 39 Executive Committee will hold a meeting at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 22, at the N.C. Democratic Party headquarters on Hillsborough Street.

Their job is to recommend a replacement for Rep. Linda Coleman, an Eastern Wake Democrat who was appointed head of the Office of State Personnel by Gov. Beverly Perdue last week.

"Any person that is interested in taking her seat is welcome to come and speak," said county chair Doris Weaver. "The committee may also have recommendations that they bring up."

The committee will vote that night on its recommendation, which then heads to state party chairman Jerry Meek and then Perdue, who makes the appointment.

Weaver said she's heard informally from a few people who are interested in the position, but she declined to identify them.

Former Knightdale Mayor Jeanne Bonds, Wake County commissioner Lindy Brown, one-time commissioner candidate Don Mial, Zebulon lawyer Darren Jackson and Knightdale Town Council member James Roberson are rumored to be up for consideration.

The legislature convenes Jan. 28.

A former Wake County commissioner candidate may be appointed to the state House.

The Independent Weekly reports on its Triangulator blog that Don Mial, who ran unsuccessfully for the county board in 2006 and currently serves as vice chair of the Wake County Democratic Party, may be appointed to replace Rep. Linda Coleman.

Gov. Beverly Perdue recently appointed Coleman head of the Office of State Personnel.

Party officials in Coleman's district will nominate Coleman's successor.

The alternative weekly also named former Knightdale Mayor Jeanne Bonds, mental health activist Ann Akland and advocate Bridgette Burge as possible nominees, although Akland and Burge said they're not candidates.

State Rep. Linda Coleman has been appointed head of state personnel.

Gov.-elect Beverly Perdue appointed the Knightdale Democrat, who has the strong backing of labor unions, as director of the Office of State Personnel.

Ann Cobb will serve as deputy director.

Coleman, a former Wake County commissioner, has been in the state House since 2005, serving as chair of the state personnel committee.

She previously worked as human resources management director at the state departments of Agriculture and Administration and as personnel director for the Department of Community Colleges.

She has a master's in public administration from the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Public and International Affairs and a bachelor's from N.C. A&T State University.

"It is an honor to be selected by Governor-elect Bev Perdue to head the Office of State Personnel," she said. "I will work hard everyday for North Carolina’s state employees."

Cobb has worked in human resources for a private firm and in the Office of State Personnel and the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

Gov.-elect Beverly Perdue has asked certain exempt state-employees, who serve at the pleasure of the governor, to quit.

A spokeswoman for Perdue, Chrissy Pearson, said the request affects about 100 employees whose positions are considered policy-making. Those employees are exempted from sections of the state personnel law that deal with termination and discipline. Exempted jobs are often considered so closely tied to a governor's goals that he or she is allowed to hire and fire them without regard to the process required for the rest of state employees. Other exemptions are granted for certain managerial positions and statutorial reasons.

Those employees have been asked to resign and Perdue's new cabinet secretaries will decide whether to rehire them or not. The letters are going out by e-mail and snail mail now.

Perdue has already decided that one exempt employee will not be back. Another is no longer exempt.

Update: Post includes text of the letter and more information about when it will go out.