Libba Evans

Cultural deputy gets job from Easley

bniolet — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 13:35:29 -0500

On his last day at work, Gov. Mike Easley gave the acting head of the Department of Cultural Resources a new job.

Easley appointed Staci Meyer to the N.C. Industrial Commission. Meyer was the chief deputy and general counsel to the department who ran things when Secretary Libba Evans went on extended, unpaid leave.

Meyer spoke for the department in defense of two departmental trips to Europe that included first lady Mary Easley.

Meyer told her staff of her appointment Monday. The commission oversees workers' compensation.

"I will strive to provide meaningful and effective service to the State through this appointment," Meyer wrote.

Document(s):
Meyer letter.pdf

Who on Easley's Cabinet might stay?

ryanteaguebeckwith — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 20:54:37 -0500

What will happen to members of Gov. Mike Easley's Cabinet?

As the two-term governor prepares to leave office in January, at least six of his top appointees have already said they will do the same, while others may be hoping to stay under Gov.-elect Beverly Perdue.

Here's the current rundown on their plans (question marks indicate decisions are not official):

Britt Cobb, Administration: Stepping down
Jim Fain, Commerce: Stepping down
Theodis Beck, Correction: Retiring
Bryan Beatty, Crime Control: Moving to Correction?
Libba Evans, Cultural Resources: On leave already
Bill Ross, Environment and Natural Resources: Hoping to stay?
Dempsey Benton, Health and Human Services: Stepping down
George Sweat, Juvenile Justice: Retiring
Reginald Hinton, Revenue: Retiring
Lyndo Tippett, Transportation: Hoping to stay?

We've put the question to each of the secretaries and will update this post as we get more definitive answers on the remaining holdouts.

As always, e-mail any tips, gossip and unsubstantiated rumors to dome@newsobserver.com.

Elected officials make more than appointees

ryanteaguebeckwith — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 16:11:03 -0500

Council of State members are paid more than Cabinet members.

Under 2008-09 budget, nine of the 10 statewide elected officials — including lieutenant governor, attorney general and state treasurer — are paid $123,198 a year. The governor is paid about 13 percent more, or $139,590.

Department heads appointed by the governor— such as the secretaries of Transportation and Correction — make a maximum of $120,363 under the current budget. The exception is the current secretary of Cultural Resources, Libba Evans.

Because she was on unpaid leave when the raises were instituted in July, her salary remains at the previous level of $117,142, said chief deputy secretary Staci Meyer. She said that discrepancy should be rectified when Evans returns or a new appointee takes over.

The budget wording appears to give some more leeway to the governor to set the pay of appointees, noting that the amounts listed are the "maximum annual salaries," while the Council of State positions are described as "the annual salaries."

Previously: Cabinet officials have bigger budgets than Council of State.

The diversity question and Perdue's Cabinet

ryanteaguebeckwith — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 11:52:51 -0500

How diverse will Beverly Perdue's Cabinet be?

As the governor-elect makes her decisions about the top 10 appointments to her administration, many observers will be looking at its diversity.

Gov. Mike Easley's original Cabinet from 2001 was described at the time by an N&O reporter as "perhaps the most diverse Cabinet in North Carolina history."

That group of 10 included three women (Administration Secretary Gwynn Swinson, Cultural Resources Secretary Libba Evans and Health and Human Services Secretary Carmen Hooker Buell) and three black appointees (Swinson, Correction Secretary Theodis Beck and Crime Control Secretary Bryan Beatty).

Only five appointees were white men.

After a handful of personnel changes, Easley's Cabinet became a little less diverse by the end of his second term. It now has one woman (Evans) and three black appointees (Beck, Beatty and Revenue Secretary Reginald Hinton).

Six appointees are now white men.

As the first female governor, Perdue may face higher expectations for the number of female appointees, although her campaign team had fewer women than primary rival Richard Moore's. After criticism of the lack of diversity on her transition team, she added new members.

What is the Iron Cabinet?

ryanteaguebeckwith — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 15:45:20 -0500

Answer:

Seven Cabinet members appointed by Gov. Mike Easley in 2001 who stayed through the end of his administration.

After winning his first election as governor, Easley appointed 10 people to his Cabinet after nearly three months of deliberation.

The following stayed through the tail end of his administration in late 2008:

Theodis Beck, Secretary of Corrections, reappointed Jan. 11, 2001 after serving under Gov. Jim Hunt since April of 1999
George Sweat, Secretary of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, reappointed Jan. 9, 2001, after serving under Hunt since 2000.
Bryan Beatty, Secretary of Crime Control and Public Safety, appointed Jan. 8, 2001
Libba Evans, Secretary of Cultural Resources, appointed Jan. 11, 2001
Bill Ross, Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources, appointed Jan. 15, 2001
Lyndo Tippett, Secretary of Transportation, appointed Jan. 25, 2001
Jim Fain, Secretary of Commerce, appointed March 7, 2001

N&O political reporter Rob Christensen nicknamed the group "the Iron Cabinet" in a March 1, 2007, column.

Brief:

Seven Cabinet members appointed by Gov. Mike Easley in 2001 who stayed through the end of his administration.

Evans on leave since May

ryanteaguebeckwith — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 08:55:13 -0500

Libba Evans hasn't worked since May.

The secretary of the state Department of Cultural Resources took unpaid leave from her job to attend to personal business.

Still, she showed up at a Barack Obama rally in Greensboro in October.

The prolonged absence has led some Republicans to question why she hasn't resigned and whether her job is even necessary.

"Since we're facing tremendous budget problems and we have a secretary of cultural resources who hasn't been to work in six months and apparently wasn't missed, perhaps we could do away with that position," said Sen. Tom Apodaca, a Hendersonville Republican and deputy Republican Senate leader.

Evans, a former state Democratic Party chair, did not return messages left for her on three phone lines in North Carolina and Florida as well as an interview requested made through the department's attorney. (N&O)

Evans reimburses state for liquor

ryanteaguebeckwith — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 13:06:55 -0400

N.C. Cultural Resources Secretary Libba Evans reimbursed the state last week $465 for booze bills from the trip she took with North Carolina's first lady Mary Easley to Russia and Estonia earlier this year.

State auditors caught the expense while reviewing the trip as part of a report that has yet to be released. Chief Deputy Secretary Staci Meyer said she and her staff missed the alcoholic beverage purchases because they made mistakes in translating two restaurant bills that were in Russian, Dan Kane reports.

"I took it off of some bills but not those two," Meyer said. "I missed it, and [Evans] assumed I had taken it off."

Evans did not review her bills when she returned from the trip, Meyer said. The standard practice was to turn them over to staff, who would then determine what Evans should reimburse.

Evans, who is on unpaid leave from the department attending to a personal matter, wrote a check to cover the expenses when Meyer told her of the auditors' findings.

The trip was intended to foster a relationship with museum officials in those two countries that might lead to a sharing of exhibits. But that trip and another Easley took to France for similar purposes in 2007 have drawn criticism for the tens of thousands of dollars in expenses paid for by taxpayers.

Meyer said Evans had previously paid for $647 in wine and champagne the entourage drank at a Russian restaurant. That puts the total alcohol bill at more than $1,100.

Evans was on leave during Russia trip

bniolet — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 13:02:58 -0400

Libba Evans, head of the state cultural agency, has been on unpaid leave since May 1 — which means she wasn't on the clock when she participated in a trip to Russia and Estonia.

Evans was a member of a five-person cultural exchange trip in May to Russia and Estonia that cost taxpayers more than $56,000. The delegation also included first lady Mary Easley.

Evans, the secretary of the state Department of Cultural Resources, initiated the leave to take care of "personal business," said Staci Meyer, general counsel and chief deputy for the department.

"She initiated it and we discussed it and decided that was the appropriate thing to do as she dealt with some personal business," Meyer said.

Evans had already committed to participating in the trip and she was not paid as a state employee during the trip, Meyer said.

Meyer said she could not comment on the nature of Evans' personal business.

Evans salary when she went on leave is $117,142. The figure would increase upon her return because the legislature approved a pay raise.

Meyer has been running the department. She now makes $119,000.

Obama announces 50 Edwards supporters

bniolet — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 12:37:01 -0400

The Barack Obama campaign Wednesday released a list of 50 former North Carolina supporters of John Edwards who are backing the Illinois senator in the May 6th primary.

Rob Christensen reports that the list included Congressmen David Price, and G.K Butterfield, former state House Majoirty leader Phil Baddour of Goldsboro, attorney Wade Byrd of Fayetteville, former state Democratic party chairs Libba Evans and Wade Smith, former Charlotte Mayor Harvey Gantt, former N.C. Supreme Court Justice Henry Frye, and Jim Phillips, the chairman of the University of North Carolina Board of Governors.

"We are going to be in the trenches helping him to do well," said Ed Turlington, a Raleigh attorney who was general chairman of Edwards’ 2004 presidential campaign.

Turlington and state Rep. Pricey Harrison said that Obama shared many of the ideas of Edwards on such issues as fighting poverty, and changing the culture of Washington.

Edwards, a former North Carolina senator who dropped out of the presidential race in January, has suggested that he and his wife Elizabeth were unlikely to endorse.

Easley defends records policy

ryanteaguebeckwith — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 08:20:31 -0400

Gov. Mike Easley and his lawyer defended his public records policy.

Debbie Crane, a former spokeswoman for the state Department of Health and Human Services, said that Easley's press office instructed her to delete all e-mails from them.

At a press conference Tuesday, Easley said his legal staff had reviewed his administration's policies on the retention of public records.

"What we're doing is consistent with policy," he said.

On Nov. 12, 2001, Easley and Department of Cultural Resources Secretary Lisbeth C. Evans signed a records retention policy that affirms e-mails are public records but says they may be deleted when their "reference or administrative value" ends.

"E-mail of ephemeral or rapidly diminishing value may be erased or destroyed when the user has determined that its reference value has ended," the policy states. (N&O)