Superdelegate: Dannie Montgomery

ryanteaguebeckwith — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 09:06:33 -0500

Dannie Montgomery supports Barack Obama because of his outreach.

The vice chairwoman of the N.C. Democratic Party, who is a superdelegate to the national convention, told the Charlotte Observer she's excited about her opportunity to make a difference at "so historic a time."

"All the great significance is there," she said. "We are on the verge of changing the direction of our country. The concerns of the people are about to become relevant again."

Montgomery is a longtime Democratic activist in rural Anson County. She told the Observer that she's been contacted by the campaign of Hillary Clinton, but she's committed to Obama because he "wants to reach out to everybody."

Christmas bonus?

ryanteaguebeckwith — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 12:31:46 -0400

A state review released today of an Anson County nonprofit said that the former executive director was overpaid by roughly $36,000 and had spent more than $6,500 on questionable and "possibly fraudulent" expenditures such as a veterinary bill, car parts and Christmas items.

The executive director of the Anson County Domestic Violence Coalition, which has received roughly $400,000 in state funds since 2004, resigned in February as some of the expenditures came to light. The audit found that the coalition's board had "rubber-stamped" many of the expenditures and lacked internal controls to catch misspending, Dan Kane reports.

The questionable spending has also led to an overhaul of the board, with several members replaced. The new board in a letter to the state auditor does not dispute the findings and said it is taking action to recover the money. State Auditor Les Merritt has referred the findings to the attorney general's office.

Chris Mears, a spokesman for the auditor's office, said the coalition's troubles illustrate the need for better oversight of the several thousand nonprofits that receive state funds each year.

State budget proposals by the House and Gov. Mike Easley would award the state auditor's office with an additional $180,000 that would largely go toward nonprofit oversight, but the Senate budget did not include those expenditures and cut another $50,000 from the office.