N&O: Perdue falls short on ethics vow

A News & Observer report says that the steps Bev Perdue promised to take to clean up state government and her actions as Governor have not been the same.  It’s just another promise that Governor Perdue has failed to keep.

On the night she was elected governor, Bev Perdue vowed to reporters that she would “hold everybody in this administration to the highest possible ethical conduct.”

The consequences would be serious, she said, if important concerns arose about appointees – the people who oversee the state’s university system, its transportation networks, its beauty salons, even the auctioneers who sell family treasures.

“I promise you what will happen,” the Democrat said that night. “I’m not going to put up with any kind of mess. And that if there is the least whiff, hint, of something that doesn’t pass the sniff test, then they need to resign. … We’re going to clean it up.”

It’s a promise Perdue hasn’t kept.

Over the past year, Perdue took no public action against a number of prominent appointees across state government as controversies developed around them. Some, such as developer Randy Allen and coastal resources commissioner Bob Wilson, remain in their positions. Others, such as Ruffin Poole and McQueen Campbell, resigned amid scrutiny and public pressure from outsiders.

An example not as well known: Records show a Perdue appointee to the auctioneer licensing board – a man who had piloted Perdue three times during her 2008 campaign – has been sanctioned in the past.

The appointee, auctioneer Lloyd “Mickey” Meekins Jr. of Lumberton, was disciplined by the auctioneer board in 2002 after being cited for “substantial evidence” of “bad faith or dishonesty” in the sale of a truck. Before that, in the 1980s, he was charged with multiple felonies related to vote-buying that federal authorities said corrupted two elections in South Carolina. Meekins pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges.

Meekins said his auction infraction is the equivalent of running a red light, and it’s the only blemish out of millions of dollars in auction sales over four decades. Also, he said it’s good for people with different experiences to serve.

Perdue said in an interview she was unaware of Meekins’ past but would check on it.

A spokeswoman, Chrissy Pearson, later said there was a distinction in that the federal case against Meekins ended up with misdemeanor convictions, not felonies. She said people who have been disciplined by boards can still serve on them.

That position underscores the stand Perdue has now formally adopted, one that is much different from her election-night pledge.

Appointees should resign, the governor now says, if they are indicted on felony charges or if they fail to cooperate in any investigation. She said she can’t be a judge and jury who removes people over suspicions or accusations. She adopted the standard in an executive order she issued late last year.

“My litmus test is the same for everybody,” Perdue told reporters in December. “Somebody refuses to answer, he or she gets fired. An indictment is an automatic dismissal. … You have to have some kind of marker as to why you do things.”

The attention on appointees comes as Perdue says a priority of this year is to “set government straight.”

She is preparing to lead efforts that would enact reforms to bring more confidence to state government, including forcing more disclosures about campaign activities and dealings of appointees to major boards and commissions.

Critics wonder whether Perdue will be able to follow through, saying she has had ample opportunity to take action on appointees but hasn’t.

“She wasn’t in there cleaning up the mess,” said state Republican Party chairman Tom Fetzer. “She has allowed it to continue to fester. It’s been talk, not action.”

Fetzer said that Perdue’s standard for removal now is about as minimal as it could get and that North Carolinians expect better.

Click here to read the full article from the News & Observer…

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