Who's in the Order? Who knows?

cliff2, your father in law was eligible to receive the award at least under the guidelines that existed from the early 1990s, but he had to be nominated to do so. Not many supervisors actually nominate people, so a lot of very deserving folks don't get the award.

and terrell, why be so terribly partisan about everything. There is very little money involved this reward..just the cost of printing a certificate. At least in state government, if an employee gets one, his supervisor or co-workers pay for the framing. Governors Hunt and Martin used private dollars, not government dollars to pay for the framing for outsiders receiving the award. I'm not sure what Easley did. But, this is not a partisan award. Governor Martin, who was a republican awarded his share of them, as well.

I am not sure about everyone with 30+ years getting the award. My Father -in Law retired with that from State in early 1980's and did not get it. I believe current Orange County Sheriff Lindy Pendergrass received one in 1980's for his long time Law Enforcement service, which surpasses 50 years now. Dean Smith probably got one too.

There is little question that the awarding of the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, like so much else, was considerably cheapened by Governor Easley.

Notwithstanding the Governor's considerable charm, he was cynical and corrupt. He greatly disappointed many of us who wanted to have faith in our party leadership.

The Order of the Long Leaf Pine, which has long been a valued award that public servants could display with genuine pride, was issued to toadies and hacks who did favors for Easley. Those plaques are fit to be hung in the garage now.

You might want to check it out with McClatchy's own Jack Betts, who received the honor from Governor Easley a couple of years ago in honor of Jack's long career serving the public.

And to PaulTerrell - what hundreds of millions are you talking about? Award recipients don't receive any cash prizes - just a plaque, and of course the honor.

How about us taxpayers close this atta boy program designed for and run by Democrats. Then use the hundreds of millions in US $'s and help pay off the excessive spending by Democrats.

If you have more than 30 years service and you retire from state government, then you have always been eligible for the reward...if someone nominated you. Really good supervisors did nominate folks,, but a lot of folks - particularly at the lower end of the pay scale and despite their wonderful work - didn't get nominated.

Other nominees were left up to the governor's office discretion. For instance, Gov Hunt would often present the award to people with less than 30 years service who were leaving state government but had done something outstanding during their time with state government. He also presented it to lots of amazing people who had led their field in one way or another and made NC proud. Dale Earnhardt, for instance got the award from him. And, these presentations were done publicly with lots of fanfare, so the Governor wasn't hiding anything.

Gov. Easley's office, on the surface at least, was very strict about who got the award. All state HR offices were told that the award would only be presented with the requisite 30 years service and applications for anything other than that were turned down. Citizens who had done great things in the cultural arts arena and people who had spent decades doing wonderful community work were turned down by his office. It was only after he left, or late in his term, that we discovered that people like Rick Hendricks' dad had received the award. Presumably giving the governor a free car and the chance to drive a race car, qualified your extended family for the award under Governor Easley.

A previous UTD posting stated that "The certificate is most often presented when a person retires," notes an application form by Gov. Beverly Perdue's office. "A State Employee is awarded The Order of the Long Leaf Pine if he/she has 30+ years of service to North Carolina." If so, there are likely many many more than 7000 people to have received the award.