Release:
February 4, 2008
Following
up news stories about the political influence of appointees
to the NC Board of Transportation, here are few facts and
observations from Democracy North Carolina, the election
watchdog organization based in Durham:
**
Campaign reports reveal how the Board acts like an ATM machine
for the governor and other state politicians. Looking at
the DOT secretary and the 19 Board members on January 15,
2008 (before Thomas Betts’ resignation), Democracy
North Carolina found that these individuals and their immediate
families donated more than $1 million in campaign contributions
to state candidates and parties from 1999 through 2006.
(Because of incomplete disclosure reports, it is impossible
to tell how much money the members raised for candidates.)
**
The $1 million-plus amounts to $50,000 in campaign contributions
from each of the 20 families represented on the Board of
Transportation.
**
The top recipient of all this money is Gov. Michael Easley,
whose campaign committee received $320,000 from these donors
for his 2000 and 2004 elections.
**
CLICK HERE for a chart of the contributions
made from 1999 through 2006.
**
Other major recipients during this period (1999-2006) include
State Senate President Pro Temp Marc Basnight ($113,300),
Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue ($94,400), Attorney General Roy
Cooper ($67,700), and Treasurer Richard Moore ($38,150).
Donations continue to flow at a rapid pace, as new reports
for 2007 activity demonstrate.
**
The Board of Transportation is the closest thing to feudalism
we have in NC: Big pots of money are essentially sent to
the king (governor or governor-to-be) and the appointee-lords
get enormous authority over their respective territories.
**
A report by Democracy North Carolina when Easley named his
first Board of Transportation in 2001 found that of his
14 appointments to the 14 district seats, 9 of the appointees
(64%) were related to the families who ranked as the first,
second or third top donor-families in each of those districts
to Easley’s 2000 campaign. See http://www.democracy-nc.org/moneyresearch/2008/BOTsumm.pdf
**
Many Board members have distinguished records of public
service, but the close connection between political donations
and appointments creates an appearance of favoritism and
taints their good works in the eyes of a suspicious public.
**
As recommended a decade ago during the last scandal, we
need transportation reforms that reduce the power of Board
members over DOT policy/projects AND we need campaign finance
reforms that reduce the power of major donors in political
campaigns. Disclosure and bans won’t do the job. For
example, the proposal to bar large donors and fundraisers
from serving as Board members has little chance of success
without a corresponding carrot - i.e., an incentive for
candidates to not depend so heavily on big donors because
they have a public financing alternative.
**
A few other reports about the Board of Transportation scandals
in the late 1990s are available by looking at the October
and November 1997 reports on the list of reports at: http://www.democracy-nc.org/Research.shtml
Bob
Hall
Executive Director
Democracy North Carolina
Direct line: 919-489-1931
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