Beverly Perdue

Dome Memo: Eras and Rhetoric

bniolet — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 08:10:20 -0500

RAND OUT: State Sen. Tony Rand is quitting the Senate. The news that the chamber's chief Democratic enforcer and most formidable political gamesmen is leaving likely thrilled liberal Democrats and conservatives alike. Rand is one of the great characters in state politics and the legislature just got a little more boring.

HOW MANY IS THAT: Gov. Bev Perdue's communications director David Kochman has resigned as her approval numbers remain in the sub-basment. From her days as lieutenant governor, Perdue has had four communications directors in six years, making the job a little bit like being the drummer for Spinal Tap. With luck, Perdue's approval rating will go above 11.

REP. HYPERBOLE: U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx said the Democrats' health reform proposals are more dangerous than terrorists. Republicans may have more to fear from Foxx's own mouth than anything Democrats have to say.

IN OTHER NEWS: President Barack Obama has nominated two North Carolina judges to the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, which has had only six Tar Heels since 1801. With the election of a new mayor in Charlotte, Pat McCrory will be out of elected office, but his loss to Perdue is apparently still gnawing at him, so don't expect McCrory to be out of politics. N&O political cartoonist Dwane Powell has retired after 35 years of skewering politicians.

Rand 'blindingly clear'

bniolet — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 08:45:46 -0500

Sen. Tony Rand is known for his pointed and colorful style. His quips are delivered in a deep, scratchy drawl, and impersonating him is an unofficial sport around the halls of the legislature and at Dome's office.

Over the years, he has provided plenty of memorable lines. "It is blindingly clear," he would often say during floor debates.

Here are some Rand moments:

To Sen. Ed Jones, about Jones' bill this year to regulate possession and handling of venomous snakes: "If we get a cobra loose in Fayetteville, will you come down there and catch it?"

Describing negotiations with prosecutors and defense lawyers over a 2003 bill to require prosecutors to turn all evidence over to defendants: "They argued, they prayed, they kicked, they gouged. ... We bled right smart on it."

Explaining in 2008 that the top issue for then-candidate Barack Obama was not a flag lapel pin but creating jobs, energy independence and solving the problems in the Middle East:

"If we can do those things, you know, he could walk around naked as far as I'm concerned and it would be fine."

Telling why he would not take a question on the state budget in 2008: "Because we're going to adjourn in a few minutes, and that's what it says."

DAs' letter unanswered

bniolet — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 08:22:06 -0500

CHECK THE MAIL: Gov. Bev Perdue's administration has not responded to a letter from the state's District Attorneys complaining about the erosion of services for the mentally ill who are accused of crimes. (N&O)

JUDGE NOT: Sen. Kay Hagan has withdrawn her support for a possible lifetime federal appointment for a state judge who ruled in favor of a company that includes Hagan's husband. (Greensboro N & R)

SPEND AWAY: A higher sales tax means North Carolina consumers will get a larger break when they purchase energy-efficient appliances during this weekend's tax break. (AP)

Rand to resign

bniolet — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:07:15 -0500

State Sen. Tony Rand, one of the most powerful political figures in the state, is leaving the Senate.

Rand, a Fayetteville Democrat, will become chairman of the state Parole Commission, Mark Johnson reports. He will resign before the end of the year.

"There comes a time when it's time to go," Rand said.

Rand has been in the Senate since 1981. He was appointed to his seat and later became rules chairman and the majority leader.

Rand, known for his wit and gravelly drawl, was the enforcer for Senate Leader Marc Basnight and made sure that the Senate's machinery ran smoothly. On the Senate floor, he is known for delivering pointed, but often entertaining allegories: "It's all chicken but the beak," he once told Dome.

Gov. Bev Perdue released a statement announcing her appointment of Rand to the Parole Board.

"North Carolina is fortunate that Senator Rand decided to take this position. He, like me, cares first and foremost about protecting the public but also understands the importance of giving people a fair shot at a second chance," said Perdue. "I don’t believe I could find a better candidate in the state or country to lead this commission."

McCrory not over gov race

bniolet — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:34:43 -0500

For the first time in 20 years, Pat McCrory voted in a Charlotte election and didn't see his name on the ballot.

Charlotte Observer columnist Tommy Tomlinson spent some time with McCrory on Tuesday as the Republican's tenure as mayor comes to a close. The paper is giving McCrory the full sendoff, including a photo gallery of him over the years. Here's a notable section of Tomlinson's column.

He expected to be voting on this day from Raleigh, as governor. He ran last year as a veteran mayor with a nationwide profile, a moderate Republican record and good hair. He took a whipping from Lt. Gov. Bev Perdue. He couldn't even carry Charlotte.
McCrory says Perdue spent more money on the ground and Barack Obama had long coattails. He says he's over it. But then he says he might run again. In a 45-minute stretch, he mentions the governor's race eight times. "That's a tough knot in the stomach," he says.

Wildlife group wants politics ferreted out

bniolet — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:49:57 -0500

A conservation group is asking Gov. Bev Perdue to investigate whether political campaign contributions and influence played a part in how members of the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission got their seats.

The N.C. Wildlife Federation said testimony during the State Board of Elections hearing into former Gov. Mike Easley suggested that former commission member Gary Allen might have offered big donations to the N.C. Democratic Party. in exchange for keeping his seat on the commission, which regulates hunting and fishing.

"If these allegations prove true," said Tim Gestwicki, executive director of the federation, "We call upon Governor Perdue to immediately demand the resignations of any individuals who were appointed under such inappropriate circumstances. She should then appoint duly qualified, representative citizens to serve out any replaced terms."

Appeals Court rules against SEANC

mbieseck — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:10:53 -0500

In a split decision issued Tuesday, the N.C. Court of Appeals ruled that a lower court acted appropriately in dismissing a lawsuit filed against former State Treasurer Richard Moore.

The State Employees Association of North Carolina sued in 2008 over a dispute about whether Moore's office had provided public records requested by the group regarding the handling of the state retirement system.

Moore's lawyer argued in Wake Superior Court in June 2008 that the association cannot point to a single specific public record that had been withheld, and Judge James E. Hardin dismissed the suit.

In Tuesday's decision, appeals court Judges Cheri Beasley and Wanda G. Bryant ruled that Hardin was right to dismiss the case, ruling that Moore had fulfilled his obligation under the state's public records law to search his files for documents covered under the request filed by SEANC.

Appeals Court Judge Rick Elmore dissented, writing in a separate opinion that the employees group had shown that Moore had likely withheld records he was legally obligated to provide.

UPDATE: Thomas A. Harris, the chief of staff and general counsel for SEANC, said he will recommend to the group's board that they appeal Tuesday's decision to the N.C. Supreme Court.

"The majority opinion misstates the facts of the case and, as the dissent points out, adds a equirement for maintaining a Public Records Act lawsuit that is not in the law itself," Harris said in an e-mail to Dome.

Moore said: "This news, combined with the other recent news that North Carolina's pension fund was the best performing in the country for this past fiscal year, are nice exclamation points to the end of my 8-year-tenure."

Perdue defends hiring inmate

bniolet — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:29:03 -0500

Gov. Bev Perdue defended her decision to hire a convicted murderer to work in her office as lieutenant governor as part of a work release program.

"I have been a long believer and supporter of work release programs," Perdue told reporters Tuesday morning, Rob Christensen reports. "I believe prisoners can work to pay back restitution. I believe they must be supervised. I believe they must go back to their units. They must report in and report out. There is a whole set of rules by which they must operate."

She also said she supports parole if the offender receives community supervision. But Perdue said her support of work release and parole are different from her opposition to the proposed unsupervised release of 27 lifers convicted of rape, murder and other violent offenses.

"One has nothing to do with the other," Perdue said.

WRAL first reported Monday that Sally Holloman worked in Perdue's office when she was lieutenant governor. Holloman was convicted in 1981 of murdering her husband and a Selma businessman.

Perdue said it appropriate to release inmates who have gone through the parole process and are closely supervised. But she said that was not the case with the 27 people who were proposed to be released as a result of a court ruling that determined life sentences issued in the mid-1970s were defined as 80 years and could be further cut in half with good behavior credits.

Magazine puts NC biz climate on top

bniolet — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:01:41 -0500

North Carolina has been named the state with the the "top business climate" for the fifth year in a row by Site Selection magazine, Gov. Bev Perdue announced this morning.

"We are are all mighty proud given the circumstances we were dealt in January," Perdue said in making the announcement at the Council of State meeting, Rob Christensen reports.

But Labor Commissioner Cherie Berry poured cold water on the announcement. She noted that a half million citizens were about to lose their unemployment benefits and that the state's employment levels had declined to 1999 levels.

Since this time last year, Berry noted, the state had lost more than 200,000 jobs.

Perdue replied that North Carolina was part of "a global recession."

Perdue is a Democrat and Berry is a Republican.

Perdue communications chief leaving

markjohnson — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:23:51 -0500

David Kochman is resigning his post as communications director for Gov. Bev Perdue.

Kochman has not set a departure date but said he's working with the communications team to ensure a smooth transition. He said he is exploring a couple opportunities outside the governor's office.

"It's been an honor to help elect and work with Governor Perdue," Kochman said Monday. "I know she'll continue doing great things for the state."

Kochman's departure comes as Perdue's approval ratings were 37 percent in the most recent Elon University Poll and after other surveys put that figure in the 20's.

Perdue recently hired Pearse Edwards, a N.C. native who worked for Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire, as senior advisor for communications and policy. While Perdue was lieutenant governor, the job of her communications director had a high rate of turnover -- four people held the job in the first six years.

UPDATE: Correcting the number of communications directors to four in six years. A fifth communications director served only during Perdue's 2000 campaign and did not join the lieutenant governor's office.