That does not compute

by Patrick Gannon, The Insider, November 17, 2014.

This is the first in an occasional series, called "That Does Not Compute," a look at goings-on in state government that don't seem to make much sense. 

The Incredible, Job-Creating Partnership

A few people around the Legislative Building have mentioned that they were surprised to see the state's new private job-recruiting agency, the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina, taking credit for helping create more than 1,500 jobs during its first month in business. The partnership opened its doors Oct. 6 in Cary. That month, "the Partnership helped bring to fruition eight economic development projects, creating 1,560 jobs and representing an investment of $439 million," according to an Oct. 31 press release from the partnership's PR firm.

That does not compute.

(On background, about three dozen partnership employees, including economic developers, moved to the partnership from the state Commerce Department, where they worked on these deals long before the partnership opened. Such projects often take months or years to develop.) But that fact isn't mentioned in the news release. Two projects the partnership takes credit for helping "bring to fruition" – totaling more than 800 jobs and more than $200 million in investment – were announced Oct. 3, three days before the partnership opened.

John Lassiter, chairman of the partnership's board of directors, said partnership employees worked on the projects as state employees, then as partnership employees. Asked why more context wasn't added to the news release to create a more accurate picture of what the partnership had done, Lassiter said: "We could have sent out a multi-volume set with those details."

"I think it was very positive news," he said. "It was the kind of news people are hoping to see on the economic development front, and there was not a falsehood in it."

Said Richard Lindenmuth, the partnership's chief executive officer: "We have a duty to the state and the people of North Carolina to quickly show a positive return on our efforts in economic development, international trade, tourism, film and sports development."

Apparently.

North Carolina's Ebola czarina

In a recent interview, Gov. Pat McCrory praised the work of Dr. Aldona Wos, the state's embattled health and human services secretary, in preparing the state for any possible cases of the deadly Ebola virus. "I hope the public has noticed that we had a very good process in place, and Dr. Aldona Wos, our secretary, she's not getting headlines on that like she got headlines on other things," the governor said. "But I've got a great leadership team, including Dr. Wos."

Despite the fact that there hasn't been a confirmed case of Ebola in North Carolina, the Department of Health and Human Services' official Twitter account has posted more than 275 tweets about Ebola and the department's preparations since Oct. 1. Many of the posts mention Wos.

That does not compute. Is this McCrory's and the department's way of trying to boost Wos' image, which has been tarnished by problem after problem at DHHS since she took the helm, or is the praise truly deserved? The answer isn't clear, but perhaps we should reserve judgment on whether the Ebola response is adequate until there's a verified case of the disease to respond to. After all, New Orleans was prepared for a hurricane, too.

And with all of DHHS's problems, what isn't Wos doing while she's spending much of her time on Ebola?