Candidate McCrory had it right

by Francis DeLuca, Civitas Review Online, September 10, 2013.

As a candidate, Pat McCrory promised to change the culture of cronyism and insider dealing in Raleigh. As governor, however, he is getting awfully cozy with some of the groups that have pigged out for years at the government trough.

Has the governor forgotten why voters backed his candidacy? Wasn't part of it to bring change to state government? If so, then why this item from his schedule:

Last week, the governor attended the “Inaugural Minority Enterprise Development Celebration.” It sounds innocuous, but research turns up some interesting revelations: The event featured not one but two speakers from the NC Institute of Minority Economic Development (NCIMED). Why is this organization significant? NCIMED is one of the “coalition partners” of Historic Thousands on Jones Street, the group led by William Barber that coordinated protests this summer at the General Assembly.

NCIMED received over $17.5 million in direct state funding from 2007-2012, until the General Assembly cut it out of the budget. NCIMED was also a beneficiary ofRural Center money – it collected almost $80,000 in two years from pass-through state funds. Incredibly, the Rural Center was not the only dubious organization tied in to the Institute of Minority Economic Development: NCIMED was housed at the Raleigh Business and Technology Center, the government-funded “business incubator” that made headlines for rampant cronyism and possible fraud.

The NCIMED officers who spoke at the “celebration” are also worthy of mention: Andrea Harris, the president, collects about $124,000 in annual pay and benefits, and Farad Ali, the vice president (and a former Durham city councilman), makes over $110,000. Given that over 80 percent of the organization’s annual funding comes from government grants, a good portion of their generous salaries is paid by taxpayers.

Now, why was McCrory at this illustrious event? Why would he attend a function featuring speakers from groups that were the beneficiaries of government largess and helped to organize protests in Raleigh?

At this point, it is probably worth mentioning that the event was hosted by the NC Women and Business Enterprise Coordinators’ Network (NC MWBE). And that organization just happens to be a client of Capitol Access, a lobbying firm headed by Yolanda Stith. Three out of four of Capitol Access’ other clients are partner organizations of Historic Thousands on Jones Street, the organization that staged weekly disruptions this summer. By the way, Yolanda Stith is married to Thomas Stith – the governor’s chief of staff and a former Durham City Councilman.

To be clear, both Yolanda and Thomas Stith have filed the proper disclosure reports: Yolanda Stith is registered as a lobbyist with the NC Secretary of State. Additionally, Thomas Stith’s statement of economic interest reveals that his wife is a lobbyist and the Governor's staff has previously stated they "…have taken steps to avoid conflicts." (Note: Thomas Stith is a former vice president of the Civitas Institute)

Still, it may be that Thursday was not the first time that Ms. Stith’s clients benefited from a cooperative governor. Governor McCrory’s proposed budget, released in March 2013, made only small cuts to the appropriations for the Institute for Minority Economic Development. His budget would have reduced NCIMED’s takings fromover $2 million to about $1.8 million. McCrory’s budget also would have left generous funding for other HKonJ groups: the Support Center, for example, would have had its $2.5 million only cut to about $2.25 million. Despite the governor’s efforts, the budget passed by the General Assembly (and signed into law) zeroed out funding for all these groups, except for a one-year funding extension for the Support Center.

In 2008, then-Mayor McCrory promised to “change the culture” if he became governor:

I wanted to change the culture of an arrogant government in our state capital: a government that’s been inaccessible, a government that’s been corrupt, a government that’s lacked vision in preparing this entire state for the future and a government that’s actually made a lot of decisions based on politics as opposed to need.

Candidate McCrory was right to criticize the effect that political influence and lobbying has on government. Maybe Governor McCrory should go back and read some of his campaign material.