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Friday, December 18, 2009
Clamming Up
Here's a headline you don't want to see if you're a governor, or an ex-governor:
The Easley aide of the headline also loses his job at the fancy Raleigh law firm where Easley himself is still employed. The N&O has the story.
Easley aide takes the Fifth
The Easley aide of the headline also loses his job at the fancy Raleigh law firm where Easley himself is still employed. The N&O has the story.
Labels: Mike Easley
Friday, October 30, 2009
Hefty Fine
Former Guv Easley has been fined $100,000 by the State Board of Elections.
PLUS ... the Board referred the matter to the state prosecutor "to investigate whether laws were broken."
PLUS ... the Board referred the matter to the state prosecutor "to investigate whether laws were broken."
Labels: Mike Easley
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Some Car Wrecks Are More Fatal Than Others
It had to be a cringe-inducing moment for members of the State Board of Elections yesterday, meeting this week to hear testimony and decide whether former Gov. Mike Easley flagrantly (or only innocently) violated campaign finance laws.From Mark Binker's eye-witness account, as the former Guv settled into the witness chair yesterday for almost five hours of motor-mouth self-explanation, he said to the members of the Board who will decide his fate, "Before we go any further, I do want to say I appreciate the board serving. I know it's an inconvenience and I know it doesn't pay that well. But I do hope since I had the privilege of appointing some of you on to say thank you for the service."
Would that not make your toes curl if you'd been appointed to the state Board of Elections by this man? Would you not wonder whether he was really saying, "Lookee here, Bucko, I gave you this job, so you'd better do right by me"?
In other words, AWK-WARD.
Chris Fitzsimon has a thorough summary of the whole scene that's worth reading.
The ex-Guv's "tell" was his general demeanor ... the famously anti-social Easley was all Junior-League smiles and air-kisses, hand-shaking with everyone in the room, back-slapping, striking a wholly unconvincing pose of "nothing to see here, and butter will never melt in MY mouth."
Labels: Mike Easley
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Conspicuous Consumption
In 2002 the state of North Carolina was experiencing a major drought, "the worst in a century." Gov. Easley first solemnly requested that citizens "turn off the faucet when brushing their teeth," then issued a directive that local water systems and businesses "take quick steps to reduce their water use by 20 percent." Before the crisis began to end, Easley directed all state agencies to stop "nonessential" water use, including grass watering, saying the state should "lead by example."While all this was going on, the N&O reveals this morning, the governor or the governor's office (you know how vague these lines of responsibility become!) was also pulling strings to make sure that The Guv's private golf club in Chatham County got access to some 6 million gallons of water to keep those golf greens nice and vibrant.
The details of how those strings were pulled, you can read for yourself, but it's very clear that the comfort of the 300 rich members of the Old Chatham Golf Club (monthly membership dues: something over $500) was a good deal more important than the drought. Let the little people conserve water! The good ole boys need the green. (It's fairly edifying, too, to read the Old Chatham Golf Club website, especially the page devoted to the exclusivity of the membership, which included, only incidentally, NC Senate Honcho Tony Rand.)
Wanna know the icing on this particular Devil's Food cake? Easley got his membership FREE, and he didn't bother to report that benefit on his financial disclosure forms.
Labels: Mike Easley, Tony Rand, water resources
Monday, June 08, 2009
Catching up, which is difficult these days: The Board of Trustees at NC State University met this afternoon and fired Mary Easley from her $170,000 per annum job.
And e-mails obtained by the N&O reveal that Gov. Mike Easley had been personally involved in getting her the job back in 2005.
And e-mails obtained by the N&O reveal that Gov. Mike Easley had been personally involved in getting her the job back in 2005.
Labels: Mary Easley, Mike Easley, North Carolina State University
Hanging with the Easleys
The costs of cozying up to former Gov. Mike Easley and his wife Mary just keep going up. Even the costs of resigning because you were so cozy with them.Take former North Carolina State University Provost Larry Nielsen for example, he who hired Mary Easley for a high-profile, cobbled-together position at NC State and then upped her salary by 88 percent last summer. He recently resigned when the whole deal began to get the attention of the federal prosecutor and a grand jury.
The N&O has now unearthed a deal that the NC State Chancellor made with Nielsen hours before his resignation to pay Nielsen $310,255 in extra pay above his faculty salary. And then the Chancellor set about covering that up.
Gosh, is anyone else thinking hush money?
The N&O is also digging into what exactly Mary Easley was doing for that 88 percent raise. So far ... doesn't look like much. But when you're hired because you're married to someone powerful, sometimes your main job is carting around that big name.
Labels: Mary Easley, Mike Easley, North Carolina State University
Friday, May 22, 2009
Ripping the Sheet
Rob Christensen's column in today's N&O, about the mounting problems besetting our ex-governor and his wife, is a must-read. Christensen is efficient in summing up the gist:
The saga includes many story lines. Did the Easleys use their position to get free cars, insider real estate deals, and cushy jobs? Were there built-in conflicts because Mary Easley was the first governor's wife with a professional career in a small state capital dominated by government and a university? Why does a former prosecutor, lawyer and law professor need another lawyer to do her talking?
One of the narrative threads is that the Democratic establishment is washing its hands of a leader for whom they never really cared.
Labels: Mary Easley, Mike Easley, North Carolina Democratic Party, Rob Christensen
Friday, May 15, 2009
Erskine Bowles Bares His Teeth
And well he should. He's asking for the resignation of McQueen Campbell, chair of the N.C. State Univ. board of trustees, who's implicated in the hiring of Mike Easley's wife Mary at a very high salary in some of the mutual-back-scratching that the Raleigh N&O has been delving into.
THAT WAS QUICK
As soon as we posted the above, at 2:38 p.m. to be exact, the Charlotte Observer had posted news that McQueen Campbell has resigned as the NCSU board chair. But he's hanging tough. In a letter addressed to Gov. Beverly Perdue, Campbell said: "I am not resigning because I have acted inappropriately. Both the chancellor and the provost have communicated publicly and independently that the hiring process of Mary Easley was free from any improper influence."
So why are you resigning?
DOMINOES, ANYONE?
At 2:34 p.m., the N&O posted news that the State Board of Elections has opened a criminal probe of former Gov. Easley's campaign reporting.
And the F.B.I. is also probing ... Easley's glomming onto all that free private air travel, which involves none other than ... McQueen Campbell, jet owner and pilot.
THAT WAS QUICK
As soon as we posted the above, at 2:38 p.m. to be exact, the Charlotte Observer had posted news that McQueen Campbell has resigned as the NCSU board chair. But he's hanging tough. In a letter addressed to Gov. Beverly Perdue, Campbell said: "I am not resigning because I have acted inappropriately. Both the chancellor and the provost have communicated publicly and independently that the hiring process of Mary Easley was free from any improper influence."
So why are you resigning?
DOMINOES, ANYONE?
At 2:34 p.m., the N&O posted news that the State Board of Elections has opened a criminal probe of former Gov. Easley's campaign reporting.
And the F.B.I. is also probing ... Easley's glomming onto all that free private air travel, which involves none other than ... McQueen Campbell, jet owner and pilot.
Labels: Erskine Bowles, Mary Easley, McQueen Campbell, Mike Easley
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Yes, Just Do It ... Investigate Mike Easley
For a cascading series of recent stories that former Governor No-Show exercised an arrogant disregard for political ethics and was as prone to cronyism as Boss Hogg, Phil Berger, the Republican leader in the N.C. Senate is calling for a special prosecutor.
Unfortunate that it took a Republican leader, rather than a Democratic one, to drop that boot.
The full panoply of N&O investigations of the former governor can be accessed here.
Unfortunate that it took a Republican leader, rather than a Democratic one, to drop that boot.
The full panoply of N&O investigations of the former governor can be accessed here.
Labels: Mike Easley, Phil Berger
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Applause for Gov. Perdue
Guv Bev is off to a bold start -- signing executive orders to remove political patronage from the road-building process, among other things -- and thereby setting up a massive confrontation with the grandees in the state's General Assembly (we're talking Democrats here) who kinda basically like their patronage and their money-raising powers and will likely not take kindly to the Guv messing in their sandbox. But she needs to mess with 'em.
And we've glad that on his way out the door, Mike Easley signed an executive order that e-mails sent by state employees are properly part of the public record and should be saved. The governor's office was being sued by a number of newspapers for deleting e-mails. It's sooo Mike Easley to wait until he's almost out of office to tacitly acknowledge that the newspapers were right about this issue all along.
And we've glad that on his way out the door, Mike Easley signed an executive order that e-mails sent by state employees are properly part of the public record and should be saved. The governor's office was being sued by a number of newspapers for deleting e-mails. It's sooo Mike Easley to wait until he's almost out of office to tacitly acknowledge that the newspapers were right about this issue all along.
Labels: Beverly Perdue, Mike Easley, North Carolina DOT
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Dear Governor Easley...
Going to war with the news media for reporting the news ... not the most graceful exit we've seen.
Sincerely,
A Citizen
Sincerely,
A Citizen
Labels: Mike Easley
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Easley Steps Up
Not ONLY does The Guv show up in Denver, he actually seems to be enjoying himself! According to the N&O, he's given more than 20 media interviews. He's also had the temerity to stand up against the hoax of off-shore oil drilling:
Easley expressed skepticism about the value of drilling for oil off North Carolina's coast.
He said the oil companies already have 38 million acres off the Gulf Coast where they are not drilling. He said drilling off the North Carolina coast had the potential to provide six months' worth of oil for the U.S.
"This is not a solution," Easley said. "This is a slogan."
Labels: Mike Easley, oil industry
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Swings, Misses
1. Poor Pat McCrory. The Republican candidate for NC Gov. criticized Democratic candidate Beverly Perdue for an opinion she doesn't have. In fact, Perdue agrees with McCrory on state policies regarding illegal immigrants admitted to community colleges.2. Poor Gov. Easley. He's submitted his budget to the short session of the legislature, and because it calls for increased "sin taxes" on beer and cigarettes, the N&O judges it dead-on-arrival.
3. Poor little Patty McHenry. The 10th Dist. congressman attacks Democratic candidate and decorated war hero Daniel Johnson as a Nancy Pelosi recruit and a (gack!) liberal. Dear Patrick, you're going to have to do better than that, like, starting with something that's factually accurate.
Labels: Beverly Perdue, Daniel Johnson, Mike Easley, Pat McCrory, Patrick McHenry
Monday, May 05, 2008
A Bridge Too Far?
"If it goes all the way to Denver, I don't think it would be bad for the party."
- Gov. Mike Easley, on CNN's "Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer" (quoted in Under the Dome -- scroll to the bottom)
Spoken like a man who endorsed the woman who apparently intends to restage The Siege of Corinth, with plenty of blood.
- Gov. Mike Easley, on CNN's "Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer" (quoted in Under the Dome -- scroll to the bottom)
Spoken like a man who endorsed the woman who apparently intends to restage The Siege of Corinth, with plenty of blood.
Labels: Hillary Clinton, Mike Easley
