NC SPIN Online

There is no normal
Just when you think things might be slowing down or at least returning to some semblance of normal, another round of strange stories come forward, leading this political junkie to the realization that there is no normal. This week`s buzz helps demonstrate the point.

Easley as a secret agent
How will historians describe the eight years Mike Easley served as governor? As long as new stories about his administration keep hitting the news, we might never know. The big bombshell this week came from depositions taken from former Easley press and communications aides. There is controversy over whether high-level folks in the Easley administration were ordered to destroy all e-mails going to and coming from the governor`s office. But there was no dispute about the fact that Easley had a private e-mail account and, according to information obtained from the depositions, transacted government business from this account, making it subject to public records laws.

Nick Danger was the name adopted for the account, and just to prove the cloak and dagger nature of this secret e-mail account some clever person determined to spell it backwards, so it was regnadkcin@nc.rr.com. Why? According to Sherri Johnson it was done this way because Easley writes backwards. Johnson attributed this to the former governor`s dyslexia. (Note: We`re waiting for dyslexia support groups to protest the depiction of their illness.)

We will likely never know the content of any of these e-mails because we`re told the account has been closed. There is some speculation that the hard drive that a former Easley official delivered to his home might have contained the e-mails in question, but whether true or not we are not likely to ever know.

Is a public official entitled to a private e-mail account? Yes, so long as the public and the private are kept separate, something most of us would agree is difficult to do. But there is further damage done to the credibility of Mike Easley. No doubt the Grand Jury will be interested in this new information.

But the depositions also revealed another lie. Remember when the story about deleting e-mails first broke it was Debbie Crane, then PIO for the Department of Health and Human Services who confirmed that she and other PIO`s were told to delete e-mails. Governor Easley ordered her fired and then Deputy Press Secretary Seth Effron, himself a former N&O reporter, called Crane…"dishonest, untruthful and insubordinate."

Now, Michael Biesecker in an Under the Dome story today, says Sherri Johnson, former Easley Communications director testified these were not really Effron`s words. "The governor dictated it word for word and ordered that it be sent out. And Seth was the one who had to — to give it out," Johnson said. "Seth was the vehicle, but the governor is the one who — he was the mouthpiece, but he was...not the speaker."

Crane lost her job. Effron and Johnson still work for state government.

Perdue recognizes SEANC to represent state employees
In another bizarre story Governor Perdue has, without discussion or approval from anyone else, decided that the State Employees Association of North Carolina is THE authority to represent state employees in discussions on workplace conditions. Some worry that this is a big step toward collective bargaining agreements with SEANC.

SEANC has 55,000 members but there are approximately 170,000 state employees so approximately one-third belong to the organization. With such a small percentage, this group doesn`t come close to being the voice of state employees. But Perdue says it is so.

This move will not be well received and the Governor will likely hear about it in TV ads in 2012 for whoever runs against her. Find out what our panel thinks about this idea on next week`s NC SPIN.

Turning the prisoners loose
This story keeps getting more interesting. The News and Observer has released e-mails which seem to prove that the Perdue administration had indeed prepared to release the prisoners sentenced under the old Fair Sentencing Act, which limited life imprisonment to 80 years. After a large public outcry about the possibility of releasing a significant number of criminals who were sentenced under this law, Governor Perdue halted the releases.

Superior Court Judge Ripley Rand ruled that in two instances the sentence, less time off for good conduct, had been fulfilled and the prisoners should be released. The Court of Appeals upheld Rand but the state appealed to the Supreme Court. The hearing by the Supremes will be held February 16th and Charlotte O columnist and NC SPIN panelist Jack Betts says this should be a great spectator sport.

Kevin Siers, the satirist for the Charlotte Observer had a great cartoon on this subject.

Workin` on the railroad
North Carolina learned last week it would receive half a billion dollars to improve high speed rail transportation in our state, specifically the link between Charlotte and Raleigh. After the hoopla faded, many are asking questions about whether or not this is such a good investment of funds. While it may create some jobs in the planning and construction of some 30 projects, the ultimate benefit of the expenditures is being questioned. It is unlikely to significantly cut the time of the train trip between the two cities, currently at 3 hours 15 minutes. It might benefit freight traffic, which is of some real benefit. But there is little reason to believe it will significantly increase passenger traffic. And nobody has talked about the increased subsidies the state will incur to support passenger trains.

Look for some interesting discussion on this topic on this week`s NC SPIN.

Now that the dust is settling, some are coming to view this as yet another unfunded mandate by the federal government. It`s like our Interstate highway system, built largely by federal funds, but largely dependent on state funding for maintenance and support.

Former House Speaker and NC SPIN panelist Joe Mavretic says this is nothing new. Mavretic, who has been around budget debates many years, predicts this is exactly how the Congress will solve the current federal budget debate. Nobody wants the federal deficits and the mounting debt, so Mavretic believes Congress will just shove the responsibility for programs down to the states. Ouch!

Debt
The federal government isn`t the only public entity racking up massive debt. State and local governments in North Carolina are rolling up unprecedented amounts of public debt. So much so that State Treasurer Janet Cowell, in the annual Debt Affordability Study, reports that we cannot incur more than 9 million dollars per year for the next five years in order to remain under the cap state leaders agreed to enforce. Some years ago the legislature agreed that the state would not exceed debt service payments that were greater than 4 percent of the annual budget. Currently, that amount is 3.7 percent or $600 million annually on the 6 billion in state debt.

That, of course, doesn`t even count debt that city and county governments have amassed. We are told that the city of Raleigh, for instance, has approximately 1 billion dollars in debt.

Cowell is sounding an alarm, as well she should. Let`s hope government leaders heed it. A group of policy wonks were discussing this story and John Hood, head of the John Locke Foundation and NC SPIN panelist, asked whether or not we would ever again be asked to approve public debt. Anymore, the only time voters have a say in borrowing money is in school bond referendums. This is in direct conflict with Article V, Section 3 of our state constitution, which states…..”The General Assembly shall have no power to contract debts secured by a pledge of the faith and credit of the State, unless approved by a majority of the qualified voters of the State who vote thereon...” and then lists a number of exceptions. In recent years state leaders have hidden behind the using of Certificates of Participation or COPS which do not specifically pledge the full faith and credit of the state. But that is nothing more than a ruse. Anyone who understands state government knows the state will NEVER allow a debt to go into default. It would virtually assure we could not borrow future money or, if we were able to do so, we would pay exorbitant interest rates in doing so.

The Treasurer is right in standing up for taxpayers on this count, just as she is right in standing up to protest the borrowing of $50 million to complete the I-485 beltline around Charlotte. A law passed by the legislature (while Richard Moore was Treasurer) allowed DOT to borrow money, obligating the state without a vote of the people, specific authorization by the legislature or even approval of the State Treasurer. This law will be tested in court and we anticipate it will be negated for violating Article V, Section 3.

The subject of public debt will be featured next week on NC SPIN. It should be interesting and we invite your questions to us so that we might pose them to our panel for that debate. Also, My Spin next week will address the subject of debt.

South Beach in February
The cold, snowy weather can cause one to seek warmer climes. It was certainly the case with Governor Perdue and now we know the same is true with Senator Kay Hagan. Under the Dome reports that Hagan joined an elite group of Democratic Senators at the Ritz Carlton in Miami`s South Beach to mingle and conduct informal discussion with big dollar lobbyists. Wouldn`t you love to know what was said in those discussions? Included among the group were the American Bankers Association, tobacco giant Altria, Marathon Oil, several drug manufacturers, defense contractor Lockheed, and most of the large independent lobbying firms: Ogilvy, BGR, Quinn Gillespie, Heather Podesta, and Tony Podesta. We`re betting we can determine the success of those discussions in future campaign finance reports.

Speeding tickets don`t count as campaign expenses
Our legislature has always boasted some unique and colorful characters. None, however, were more colorful than Cary Allred, the Burlington Republican Representative, who ran into a buzz saw over a speeding ticket for doing 102 in a 65 mph zone because he was in a hurry to get to the legislature. The ticket ended up costing him $1,800 and it comes as no surprise that Allred wanted to pay the fine from campaign funds. The State Board of Elections said No. Allred protested that he wouldn`t have received the ticket if he hadn`t been trying to do his job as a legislator. Heck, if he hadn`t been a legislator the law enforcement officer who pulled Allred would have also slapped him with a DWI. Memo to Allred: Sometimes it is just best to take your medicine like a man and be quiet.