Perdue Should Ask DOT Board Member to Step Aside

Berger Calls on Perdue to Enforce Executive Order

Raleigh, N.C. – As a result of testimony in this week’s Board of Elections’ hearings, Senate Republican Leader Phil Berger called on Governor Perdue to ask Board of Transportation Member Lanny Wilson to recuse himself from consideration of matters before the Board of Transportation during the course of the state and federal investigations into former Governor Mike Easley’s administration and campaigns.  From press reports of testimony presented on Tuesday, Wilson’s conduct may not have complied with an executive order signed earlier this year by Governor Perdue tightening ethics standards on Board of Transportation members.  (EO 2 Transportation Reform, 1/12/09)  Wilson served as a fundraiser for both the Easley and Perdue campaigns and was subsequently appointed to the Board of Transportation by both.

Senate Republican Leader Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) made the following statement:

“Governor Perdue promised to restore ethics and integrity to the Governor’s mansion; she needs to keep that promise.  Mike Easley appointed campaign fundraisers and high dollar donors to powerful state positions including the Board of Transportation; so has Governor Perdue.  In order to avoid the appearance that the Perdue administration’s approach to ethics is a continuation of Easley policies, Governor Perdue should ask Mr. Wilson to step aside until the legal issues surrounding his fundraising activities are resolved.  It is past time to break the cycle of corruption in state government.”

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