By now America is familiar with the epidemic of troubling
behavior that’s swept the nation’s governorships, in recent years
with John Rowland in Connecticut and George Ryan in Illinois for
the Republicans; Don Siegelman in Alabama, Eliot Spitzer in New
York and Rod Blagojevich in Illinois for the Democrats.
It may be time to add to that list.
Here in North Carolina recently replaced (thanks to term limits)
Gov. Mike Easley, a Democrat, is under
investigation by federal authorities, and by the
State Board of Elections. The number of charges against him
could surpass those of his above-mentioned colleagues, and the
issues under investigation stress the word-limit of your average
opinion column. Local media have focused on four major areas:
Land
The revelations began with stories
published in 2006 by Carolina Journal, the
monthly publication of the conservative/libertarian John Locke Foundation. Reporter
(and my former co-worker) Don
Carrington discovered that Easley
purchased one of the most attractive properties in a proposed
525-lot luxury coastal community called Cannonsgate, in North
Carolina’s Carteret County. Land records show the former governor
paid $549,880, or 3 percent above the assessed tax value, in
December 2005. Other lots in the development sold anywhere from
17 percent to 37 percent above the tax-assessed value, and a year
after Easley’s purchase his tax assessors
appraised the value of his land at $1.2 million. Was it
a
half-price special?
Belying the simple “sweet deal” nature of the transaction was
that four of the governor’s campaign contributors (who are also
major donors to the state Democrat Party) nursed
the sale along. Of those four, Easley appointed three of them
to key state board appointments.
Air
During his tenure both Carolina Journal and The News & Observer of
Raleigh published occasional
reports about Easley’s weekend use of state-owned aircraft to
shuttle him from Raleigh to his coastal home in Southport, N.C.,
usually with a ribbon-cutting or jobs announcement stop in
between so as to write the flights off as part of his public
duties. But it turns out those weren’t the only aviation freebies
he received.
On May 9 and 10 The N&O produced
a two-part
series about the former governor’s dependence on a few
influential state businessmen for “his own private air service.”
The newspaper detailed how a handful of Easley pals — also
campaign donors and appointees to various state boards or
positions – provided him with free jaunts around the state and to
places like Atlanta and Florida. Some of the trips were not
reported, as required by state ethics disclosure requirements or
campaign finance laws. Many of the campaign-related air travel
gifts would have exceeded the individual contribution limits of
$4,000 per election cycle had they been reported.
In addition many records of Easley’s travel –- especially those
under the custody of his security detail, the N.C. Highway Patrol
— are
missing. This fits with the practice of the former governor’s
eight years in office, in which his staff routinely destroyed
email communications in violation of state law. Several news
organizations sued
Easley last year over the missing records.
Auto
Last month The N&O also reported how both Easley’s
wife, Mary, and his son, Michael Jr., received free use of
vehicles owned by prominent auto dealers in the state. One,
NASCAR kingpin Rick Hendrick, allowed Mrs. Easley for weeks
to
drive a 2009 Honda Accord that his dealership had purchased
during the last week of the governor’s administration. Another
dealer in the Fayetteville area has
owned a 2000 GMC Yukon that the junior Easley has operated
for some time.
The governor originally explained that the Honda was “a loaner”
until Mrs. Easley’s “car came in,” but documents obtained by
The N&O show that the car she ended up with –
another Accord not purchased until after the paper started asking
questions – was anything but a custom model built to her specs.
Instead it was
found at a dealership in nearby Anderson, S.C., where it had
sat since October 2008. As for the Yukon, Easley originally
explained that it was being leased, but DMV records showed
otherwise. A few weeks after the story he filed
revised reports with the State Board of Elections, claiming
the SUV was a “campaign vehicle” from 2003 through part of 2005,
after which it was converted to personal use. But neither Easley
nor his campaign paid anything for the Yukon until last
month.
Job
Last under suspicion is a job created at N.C. State University
for Mrs. Easley, in which she would manage a speaker series and
teach a few classes. The position was developed by Larry Nielson,
who was to serve only on an interim basis as University Provost
and was about to be replaced. But he lasted long enough to employ
the governor’s wife, who eventually ended up with a
five-year, $850,000 contract. Under odd circumstances Nielson’s
position then became permanent, after Mrs. Easley’s hire.
A common thread through three of the areas under investigation is
an Easley friend: McQueen
Campbell. This real estate broker and private pilot helped
the governor with his coastal land deal; piloted
several of his free flights; and, as an Easley appointee
(twice) to the N.C. State University Board of Trustees,
apparently influenced Nielson into hiring Mrs. Easley. Both
Campbell and Nielson originally denied any special treatment for
the governor’s wife but now Campbell has changed
his story. Nielson resigned
under pressure last week and UNC system President Erskine
Bowles has asked Campbell to resign his position on the N.C.
State board, which he did on
Friday.
One of the auto dealers and a broker of Easley’s land deal
have
acknowledged to The N&O that they
were questioned by federal authorities. The U.S. Attorney and
the State Board of Elections have
launched investigations into the governor’s campaign reports
and has requested all travel records from the Highway Patrol.
It’s hard to imagine that the U.S. Attorney won’t be able to
harvest indictments out of this rich soil of patronage Easley has
seeded.
