So the investigator who helped out Meg Scott Phipps, Jim Black, Thomas Wright and Mike Easley had her wings clipped by her boss while looking into Bev Perdue's campaign finances?
The lead investigator at the State Board of Elections said Thursday that board chairman Larry Leake ordered her not to interview some witnesses during a probe into 42 undisclosed campaign flights by Gov. Bev Perdue.
Kim Strach, the deputy director of campaign finance at the board, said Leake, who like Perdue is a Democrat, told her to end her investigation without interviewing Zach Ambrose, the governor's longtime chief of staff and campaign manager.
Posted by: jhs in Ethics on
Jun 26, 2010
FETZER STATEMENT ON BOE REPORT
Raleigh - NCGOP Chairman Tom Fetzer released the following statement concerning the State Board of Elections' report:
"An initial review of the State Board of Elections report pertaining to Governor Bev Perdue's campaign air travel leaves us with two obvious conclusions: First, Bev Perdue and her campaign have lied about their failure to disclose illegal flights. We now know that they knew about many of these flights as early as October of 2008 and willfully and knowingly declined to disclose those those flights in at least two campaign reporting cycles, in violation of campaign finance laws. And the lame excuse of a computer software glitch being the cause of the problems has proven to be just that: lame
Second, from the content, tone and even release date of the report, it is obvious that the State Board of Elections has lost all credibility and the public is justifiable in its cynicism that the the SBOE will pursue the truth and hold the Perdue campaign committee fully accountable.
John Hood rips apart the state Democrat's ethics bill floating around the capitol:
Recognizing this recent history of corruption and other official acts that were unethical even when they weren't illegal, Gov. Beverly Perdue and the Democratic leaders of the General Assembly recognized early this year that it would be wise to enact a broadly supported set of ethics reforms. It made sense to require more sunshine on the relationship between political appointments and campaign contributions, reduce the ability of special interests to pull strings in secret, and strengthen public confidence that government isn't simply being used for the financial benefit or political aggrandizement of state politicians.
Posted by: jhs in NC Democratic Party, Ethics on
Feb 3, 2010
Via Guarino:
Doug Clark has a great column today that discusses the culture of political corruption we have both in Raleigh and here in Guilford County. He discusses the matter of Ruffin Poole, but also the recent episode involving Skip Alston.
An extended excerpt:
If North Carolina truly wants to reduce opportunities for elected officials to use their power to win public support for projects through which they personally profit, it must enact tough new conflict-of-interest laws. One suggestion: If an elected official has a financial connection to a project, then that project should be ineligible for public support of any kind.
This must be backed by strict financial disclosure reporting by elected officials, with heavy penalties for violations.
Some politicians will protest. That would require them to give up too many business interests and sacrifice income.
Posted by: jhs in NC Democratic Party, Ethics on
Feb 3, 2010
The hits keep on falling from the NC Democratic Party ethics machine:
Former Gov. Mike Easley kept a private e-mail account that he used for state business.
Posted by: jhs in Ethics, Bev Perdue on
Jan 29, 2010
SBOE Should Conduct Investigation
Raleigh – Late on Friday afternoon as North Carolina braced for a major winter storm with Governor Perdue still out of the state vacationing at a mystery location, Governor Perdue’s campaign for the third time disclosed illegal flights that she previously failed to properly report. This time, the campaign reported eight additional flights valued at $4,534. This brings the grand total of improper flights to 31 totaling a value of $25,000. “The committee already had disclosed 17 other flights from Perdue’s successful 2008 campaign for governor in August, followed by six more in December.” (“Perdue’s campaign finds 31 undisclosed flights,” Greensboro News & Record, 1/29/10)
Posted by: jhs in Ethics on
Jan 22, 2010
UPDATED: Mark Binker provides a link to the full indictment. (.pdf)
I'm sure it's a day Cameron, Josiah, Terry and Jim spent years laying the ground work for:
Posted by: jhs in state spending, Ethics on
Jan 6, 2010
Raleigh - According to new reports, new information uncovered following the resignation of the three members of the Alcohol Beverage Control Board in New Hanover County shows that the ABC Administrator in the county, Billy Williams, took home a $30,000 bonus last month and has done so for the past three years.
"That said, Williams, who manages New Hanover County's liquor stores, is actually pulling in $279,615 this year, which includes his total salary of $232,200, plus a $30,000 bonus, plus $17,415 in longevity pay that's automatically added to his salary and is not controlled by ABC board members. ... And he's not the only one benefitting from bonuses. ... His son, Bradley Williams, the assistant administrator, has received $20,000 bonuses in that same time period and he's also raked in his share of longevity pay." ("ABC administrators take home even more money, new details show," Wilmington StarNews, 1/5/10)
Senate Republican Leader Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) made the following statement:
