Petty politics should not have forced Howard out of leadership posts
Published February 7, 2015
Editorial by Winston-Salem Journal, February 3, 2015.
Experience, hard work and service count. The new state House leadership would have done well to remember that lesson.
It’s disappointing to hear that long-time Republican legislator Rep. Julia Howard of Mocksville has been removed from committee leadership positions in the state House, as the Journal’s Richard Craver reported last week. She will no longer serve as senior chairwoman of the House Finance Committee, in addition to losing leadership posts on the Ethics Committee and the Program Evaluation Oversight Committee.
Howard’s district takes in Davie and a portion of Forsyth. A Realtor and appraiser, she has served on the finance committee for 26 years.
The decision to remove her from these positions lies with new House Speaker Tim Moore of Cleveland County, who was not available last week to answer questions about his decisions to the Journal. But Rep. Donny Lambeth of Forsyth County told the Journal that “there was a very talented freshman class elected in 2012. There will be some that will be moved up based on talent than necessarily seniority.”
Lambeth, in his second term in the House, was promoted to some important leadership positions: a chairman of the Appropriations Committee and a co-chairman of the Health Committee. We wish him well in helping our area and the state, as he has often done.
He told our editorial board: “Julia is a good friend and she has been very helpful to me.”
We’re troubled that a legislator of Howard’s proven ability lost her leadership posts over what appears to be petty politics.
“I was told if I didn’t vote for Tim Moore for speaker I would lose all of my committee chairs,” she told our board. She said she voted for Mitchell Setzer of Catawba County, with whom she has served for years.
And Moore may not have liked Howard’s independent streak.
Howard told us: “What I have done is try and be the conscience on the Finance Committee, because you only have so many dollars to spend. When it doesn’t fit, I have said, ‘We don’t have the revenue stream to do this.’ You don’t win friends doing that.”
This well-seasoned Howard has worked hard for our area and for the state. She took the latest news in stride, telling the Journal, “I’ve done lots of heavy lifting, always doing the best job possible and treating all members, regardless of party, fairly. It’s been lots of extra hours, but it is what it is. I will go to another committee and do the same.”
That’s an admirable attitude from an admirable woman. She is still on the Finance Committee, and did receive another leadership post: co-chairwoman of the Banking Committee. The legislature could – and should - continue to learn from her.
