Niece gave different answers on job

In September, when The N&O interviewed the niece of Greene County patronage boss Eddie Carroll Thomas about how she had gotten a job as a state Division of Motor Vehicles examiner, she denied that her uncle had anything to do with it.

"I just saw it online and I applied," said Vanessa Gordon, who works in the Greenville office. She added that "I did contact (state) Sen. John Kerr, and he's the one who told me to apply for the job."

Two weeks later, she told DMV internal investigators looking into Thomas' influence in DMV jobs that she was told to drop Kerr's name. She told them Vickie Keel, another examiner who had also been helped by Thomas, wanted Gordon to say that, Dan Kane reports.

"Vickie Keel had instructed Ms. Gordon to tell the reporter that she got assistance through Senator John Kerr when she applied for her job," the DMV investigative report said. "Ms. Gordon assumed that her uncle [Mr. Thomas] told Ms. Keel to tell her to say that."

Gordon, 38, was hired in May 2006, and makes roughly $32,000 a year. She told investigators that she had given Thomas her job application. She did not know what effect that may have had in getting her the job.

More after the jump. 

————— 

Gordon is one of a half dozen of Thomas' relatives who work in the DMV's Driver and Vehicle Services section.

An internal investigation found that Thomas had long-standing and widespread influence in personnel matters within the section. The investigation led to the firing of the section's head, Wayne Hurder. He is suing to get his job back.

Keel, 46, is a former court clerk in Greene County who also joined the DMV in 2006. She was hired well above the starting pay for examiners. Hurder said he gave her the higher pay so that it was comparable to her previous salary. She makes $42,596 a year. She too told investigators that she gave her application to Thomas.

She confirmed telling Gordon to say she had contacted Kerr's office. He is a Goldsboro Democrat who did not seek re-election this year after more than 20 years as a state lawmaker.