The Republican Governors Association is running an ad linking Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue, the Democratic nominee for governor, to corruption and scandal.

What the ad says: Announcer: "Bev Perdue took thousands of dollars from political fat cats who needed her.

"A sweetheart deal to rest home owners, costing millions. A slush fund costing millions more.

"Perdue's insider friends, corruption, conflicts of interest. One in jail. Two resigned from a state board. Even Democrat Richard Moore says 'Status Quo Bev' is..."

Moore: "So typical of someone who has led the go-along, get-along club in Raleigh for 20 years."

The ad flashes newspaper headlines and words such as "conflict of interest" over shots of shadowy figures engaged in various activities. The ad concludes with a statement made by Richard Moore at a debate during the Democratic primary for governor.

The background: Although the ad isn't specific, a spokesman for the Republican Governors Association said the sweetheart deal claim refers to the 1999 state budget, which included $3.7 million to pay for a rate increase for rest homes. Draft copies of that budget disappeared, apparently because they didn't contain the provision, lobbyists for the industry told The News & Observer. Perdue was a chief senate budget-writer then.

The industry said the increase reflected the acutal cost of running the homes.

Three years earlier, Perdue's campaign received $19,000 from a rest home operator and his family members. Prosecutors charged the operator with trying to circumvent the state's contribution limit by giving donations in others' names. Perdue's campaign returned the money and a prosecutor said there was no evidence that Perdue knowingly accepted illegal contributions. The prosecutor made similar findings about the governor, lieutenant governor and another senator.

The "slush fund" claim refers to the fiscal 1997 and 1998 state budgets. Editorial writers criticized Democratic and Republican legislative leaders over a provision that allowed them to spend $21.3 million on building renovations and other pet projects not approved by the full legislature. Critics called it a "slush fund." Perdue defended it as a way to pay for projects when the legislature wasn't in session. Spending would still need approval from a committee.

Former Speaker of the House Jim Black is serving a five year sentence after he pleaded guilty to taking thousands in cash payments from chiropractors interested in issues before the legislature.

Two Perdue fundraisers have quit the state Board of Transportation this year. Thomas Betts quit after he was found to have pressured a city official in Roanoke Rapids to raise money for Perdue's campaign. She said she was not aware of how he was trying to raise money. Louis W. Sewell Jr. quit the transportation board after revelations that he steered road work to areas near property he or his son co-owned.

During a debate in the primary, Moore, the state Treasurer, made the statement about Perdue when she challenged him to explain why Roanoke Rapids was allowed to borrow money for a theater project featuring country music performer Randy Parton. After the primary, Moore endorsed Perdue in an e-mail, although he has done little else publicly to help her campaign.

Is it accurate? Not entirely. It's true that two men with ties to Perdue have quit the transportation board. Other than belonging to the same political party, Perdue had no strong ties to Black. The legislature, including Perdue as a budget writer, did give a rate increase to rest home operators.

It's a stretch to blame Perdue alone for the pet projects included in the budgets. Republican and Democratic leaders in the legislature were responsible for the provision.

Federal authorities who have charged a former state environmental official with public corruption subpoenaed a state agency in November 2007 for any records dealing with a company called Agri-Ethanol Products of Raleigh.

That subpoena, obtained today through a public records request, was related to a federal corruption charge against Boyce Allen Hudson, a former N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources official who is accused of trying to expedite permits for an ethanol company — not identified in court documents — in exchange for cash, Dan Kane and Ben Niolet report.

Court records show that Hudson will plead guilty to the charges next week in federal court. Efforts to reach Hudson and his attorney have been unsuccessful.

Officials with Agri-Ethanol Products could not be immediately reached for comment today.

The subpoena also sought information about the agency's dealings with a partnership that figured prominently in the Randy Parton Theatre.

More after the jump.

   Comments (0)

Sometimes the jokes write themselves.

The Roanoke Rapids Theatre, formerly known as the Randy Parton Theatre, will be hosting a three-hour casting call for the "Big Brother" reality show on Saturday.

"We feel that this is a great opportunity for the community, the theatre, and for us to connect with our wonderful viewers in the Roanoke Rapids area," said WNCT-TV Vice President Vickie Jones in a statement.

Dome immediately thought: Big Brother? Wasn't Randy Parton better known for his Big Sister?

A colleague suggested that it's ironic that a government-owned theater that has tried so hard to avoid public scrutiny is now hosting a reality show in which participants are filmed 24 hours a day.

Maybe they can loan a few cameras to the Roanoke Rapids City Council.

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.

   Comments (1)

Check your caller ID for a phone call from Rick Watson.

At Randy Parton's press conference Friday, Watson, the former head of the Northeast Partnership who brought Parton to North Carolina in the first place, spoke in your stead, Jonathan Cox reports.

"I'd just like to, on behalf of over 8 million people in the state of North Carolina and the leadership in the state of North Carolina and also the city of Roanoke Rapids, I'd like to apologize ... to Randy Parton for coming here and lending himself and his family and his name to create an entirely new industry in the state of North Carolina and to be treated the way he's been treated," Watson said.

Watson doesn’t work for the state. In fact, his employment was terminated with the partnership in 2006 after the State Auditor deemed he had a conflict of interest. He continued to lead the state-funded economic development group after he signed on to work for Parton’s company, Moonlight Bandit.

Pressed at the news conference, Watson said he had a right to apologize because he was born and raised in North Carolina.

Dome called Gov. Mike Easley's press office to see if he shared Watson's view. After all, Watson said he was speaking on behalf of the leadership.

"I'm not going to ask the governor to respond to something that dumb," said Seth Effron, his spokesman.

Randy Parton will speak out Friday.

The country singer, who has recently been the focus of a bitter fight over a theater project in Roanoke Rapids, will hold a press conference at the Umstead Hotel in Cary.

Additional Parton family members will attend, according to a news release. It did not specify which Partons, but Dome presumes it's not his sister, Dolly.

"This will provide Mr. Parton an opportunity to set the record straight and to tell his side of the story," said political consultant Brad Crone, who is representing Parton. "Mr. Parton is looking forward to explaining his work and letting the people of Roanoke Rapids and the state of North Carolina know the inside story on the project."

Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue has been accusing state Treasurer Richard Moore of withholding a feasibility study that questioned the financial chances of Roanoke Rapids' plans to open a theater featuring Randy Parton.

Dome wanted to share its copy of the study, which was received from the treasurer's office.

Perdue continues to question why members of the Local Government Commission, which authorizes public borrowing, were not briefed on the contents of the study before they voted on Roanoke Rapids' plans.

The study can be seen here.

Update: A Perdue spokesman said that Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines, who is a commission member and Perdue supporter, still has not received his copy of the feasibility study.

Sara Lang, Moore's communications director, said that Joines can come view whatever documents he wants.

"There's two boxes of stuff. He's welcome to come look at it," Lang said.

Previously: Perdue's attacks on Moore's role are overstated.

Who says the forum format won't allow the candidates to spar?

During a question about illegal immigration, Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue gave a quick answer about federal law change and then said that state Treasurer Richard Moore should release whatever information he has about his office's involvement with the Randy Parton deal in Roanoke Rapids.

She asked Moore to release a feasibility study that said the city's plans to build a theater wouldn't succeed without other amenities.

"A lot of us have been watching what's been going on with Randy Parton's party palace and that's been problematic," she said. "We'd like to know the background on it. We'd like to know why the decisions were made. And I'd like to ask the treasurer publicly—because a lot of us have asked the treasurer—to soon release the feasibility study." 

In response, Moore said that the state asked cities and counties to be more creative in their investments. He said that it was "typical of someone who led the go-along get-along club" in Raleigh to go after a project in one of the poorest places in the state.

"They've tried something new," he said. "They're six months into it. Y'all the Research Triangle Park took 30 years to be successful. The New Bern convention center. The Raleigh convention center. All these things take time." 

He then said that his office released the documents and said if Perdue would participate in more debates, which she has so far been reluctant to do, they could have a long talk about Roanoke Rapids.

For the record, Dome has a copy of the study that it obtained through a request to Moore's office.

State Auditor Les Merritt has nominated the head of the state Libertarian Party to help the Local Government Commission decide its role in approving special financing deals like the one used for a theater in Roanoke Rapids.

Her qualifications? She's not a Democrat or Republican and she's against such financing deals, Merritt said in a news release announcing that he picked Barbara Howe to serve on the committee.

"Barbara Howe will provide the independent voice that this task force needs," Merritt said.

This week, the commission, which approves all public debt in the state, discussed creating a task force to examine its role in approving so-called tax increment financing arrangements. In such deals, the money generated by a sucessful project is used to pay back the money borrowed to get the project started.

That's how Roanoke Rapids proposed to pay back $21.5 million it borrowed to build a theater and entertainment district that would feature Randy Parton. The city has since parted ways with Parton and has struggle to sell tickets.

More after the jump.

   Comments (1)