Perdue picks DOT board members

Submitted by bkrueger on July 9, 2009 - 11:07am.
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Gov. Beverly Perdue has picked six new members for the state Board of Transportation. All but one of them, Durham lawyer Chuck Watts, gave money to Perdue's campaign last year.

The legislature’s Joint Transportation Oversight Committee received the names earlier this month, and the new members are expected to take their seats at the Aug. 6 meeting, reports Bruce Siceloff.

The new members, after the jump.

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Charles D. “Chuck” Watts Jr., a Durham attorney, to succeed Ken Spaulding of Durham, who stepped down in February as the board representative for Division 5 (Wake, Durham, Franklin, Granville, Person, Vance and Warren counties). State records show no political contributions from Watts to Perdue.

Hugh Overholt, a New Bern attorney and retired general, to succeed Greenville lawyer Marvin Blount III in Divisin 2 (Beaufort, Carteret, Craven, Grene, Jones, Lenoir, Pamlico and Pitt counties). Overholt has given $12,500 to Perdue campaigns since 1998.

Ralph H. Womble, a Winston-Salem investor, in Division 9 (Davidson, Davie, Forsyth, Rowan and Stokes counties). Womble has given $10,805 to Perdue campaigns since 2006.

John Collett, a Charlotte developer, in Division 10 (Anson, Cabarrus, Mecklenburg, Stanly and Union counties). Collett has given $6,000 to Perdue campaigns since 2007.

Wanda J. Proffitt, a Burnsville real estate executive, in Division 13 (Buncombe, Burke, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Rutherford and Yancey counties). Proffitt and her husband have given $6,266 to Perdue campaigns since 2004.

Leigh Harvey McNairy of Kinston to succeed Cameron McRae as at-large board member for ports and aviation. McNairy has given $8,000 to Perdue campaigns since 2005.

The six will join 11 other board members. Perdue has scaled back the board's powers, removing board members from decisions on individual transportation projects.

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Re: Perdue picks DOT board members

Submitted by Kingixolib on July 9, 2009 - 3:38pm.

Career politicians breed corruption and lies. Vote them out or they and their cronies die in office.

Option one....you win
Option two....you lose

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Re: Perdue picks DOT board members

Submitted by beachbum474 on July 9, 2009 - 2:08pm.

Pay to play for sure. What's the deal here? There needs to be a federal investigation into this.

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Good to see Pay-to-Play is alive and well

Submitted by PoliticalJunkie on July 9, 2009 - 1:07pm.

Change. The kind you can spend to get elected is what Perdue was looking for in new DOT members.

What happened to her promise to appoint people that know something about Transportation to the DOT board.

Let me mark my scorecard:

Campaign Promise: "I won't raise taxes"
Status: Broken

Campaign Promise: "Competent Professionals not pay-to-play donors on DOT board"
Status: Broken

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Re: Perdue picks DOT board members

Submitted by PaulTerrell on July 9, 2009 - 12:09pm.

It has been said that the last election and very much so the next election will be about jobs. But if you cannot trust the people you elect like Perdue, Hackney, Basnight, and State Auditor Wood you cannot expect anything to get done.

The Republicans here in North Carolina have the answers to job creation by the "PRIVATE" sector. The voters of North Carolina need to realize that reelecting the same Democratic leadership into the majority will lead to "MORE OF THE SAME". How high will our unemployment go under this leadership.

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