Perdue lobs Randy Parton at Moore

Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue on Monday blamed the Randy Parton mess on State Treasurer Richard Moore.

In a news release sent to reporters Monday, a spokesman for Perdue accused her rival for the Democratic nomination for governor of approving the $21.5 million financing deal for a theater bearing Parton's name just outside Roanoke Rapids despite questions of its feasibility.

Last week, the city banned Parton, the brother of country superstar Dolly Parton, from performing at the Randy Parton theater after city officials said Randy Parton showed up drunk for a performance. He denied being drunk. The ban came on the same day city officials released records that showed Parton had spent public money meant to get the theater running on booze, trips to Las Vegas casinos and payments to his daughters.

Moore, and six other members of the Local Government Commission including state Auditor Les Merritt, did approve the financing for the project in February 2007. Moore is the chairman of the commission, which approves all local government debt.

More after the jump.

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A spokeswoman for Moore's office said Monday the commission's role has been to "assess a local government's ability to pay, not to second guess the decisions made by local elected officials."

Sara Lang, communications director for Moore's office, wrote in a statement that Moore believes the commission should have the ability to do a more comprehensive evaluation of projects it considers. In her statement, Lang said Moore would create a task force to help Roanoke Rapids fix the problems with the project.

A Perdue spokesman dismissed Moore's call for a task force.

"If he'd paid attention to the feasibility study before approving the deal, he wouldn't be talking about a task force today," said David Kochman, a Perdue spokesman.

Perdue's release said Moore should have rejected the deal because of a feasibility study that showed the theater wouldn't be profitable without retail space and other entertainment options. Those additions have yet to open and the theater has struggled to fill seats.

Perdue's release also pointed out that Moore held a fundraiser in Roanoke Rapids in June. Among the donors from that event were theater employees.

Moore's campaign manager, Jay Reiff, said Monday that Roanoke Rapids is part of Moore's home area and that he naturally has supporters there.

The Carolina Journal has written extensively about the accusations.