Evans on leave since May

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)