SEPTEMBER 2, 2009 | THE MEREDITH HERALD | PAGE 3
I
FORMER GOVERNOR EASLEY ABUSES
POWER
Amy Hruby
Staff Writer
The story of Mike and Mary Easley has become the summer po
litical soap opera of choice for reporters across North Carolina. Full
of scandalous finances, a seemingly renewed spoils system, and ques
tionable salaries, the acts alleged against the Easleys have become a
hot topic among North Carolina press, politicians, and voters. But de
spite the emails, records, and interviews unearthed by a North Carolina
grand jury investigating the Easleys, the events still remained clouded
in enough mystery to make this a perfect political drama.
Mike Easley was the governor of North Carolina from 2001-2008.
Recent Investigations have alleged that during that time he engaged in
a series of questionable fmancial practices concerning campaign fund
management, travel financing and property purchases.
The investigation into Mike Easley’s finances began when a News
and Observer reporter found DMV records that showed that the cars
driven by Easley’s son and wife (a GMC Yukon and Honfa Accord,
respectively) were not owned by the Easley family but by car dealer
ships in Fayetteville and Charlotte, NC.
Further investigation by various reporters into Highway Patrol
records led to the discovery that Easley had received undocumented
free flights fi’om his Democratic supporters and that flights records for
the years 2003-2005 were missing from the Highway Patrol database.
A secretary working with the Highway Patrol’s governor security de
tail reported that in 2006, the head of the security detail, Captain Alan
Melvin, had asked her to place the records from 2003-2005 on a disk
and delete them from the computer to free up space. Melvin denies this
accusation but has been placed on leave awaiting ftirther investigation.
Federal investigators have since recovered the 2003 and 2004 records
from the Highway Patrol server, but the 2005 records remain missing.
In addition to the missing records. News and Observer reporters
have also found that many of the supporters who allowed Easley to
use their planes were later appointed to various high-level state posi
tions including, but not limited to, the North Carolina State University
(NCSU) Board of Trustees, the NC State Board of Transportation, Uni-
. versity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH) Board of Trustees
and the NC Aeronautics Council.
Because many of these flights were originally undisclosed, they
often fall into the category of illegal campaign contributions. North
Carolina state law allows individuals to contribute no more than $4000
to any individual during his political term in office, and the unreported
flights placed many of Easley’s supporters above the $4000 mark.
Mike Easley’s wife, Mary Easley, has also been under investiga
tion recently in relation to her position and salary as “executive in resi
dence” at NCSU. Mary Easley was originally hired by the university
in May of 2005 as a lecturer making a salary of $80,000 per year for a
nine month contract. Emails between Governor Easley’s office and the
office of various NCSU officials showed that Governor Easley aided
his wife in getting a job with the university, utilizing university con
nections such as McQueen Campbell whom Easley had appointed to
the NCSU Board of Trustees in 2001 and kept close political and busi
ness connections with during his term.
At this time, NCSU was also trying to replace its interim provost,
Larry Neilson, with a new, permanent provost. When hired, the interim
provost had been told specifically that he would not be a candidate for
the permanent position, but on June 3, 2005, a mere eight days after
Neilson had hired Mary Easley as a lecturer—an already bold act for
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PUBLIC SCHOOLS LACK FUNDS
Alelgha Page
Staff Writer
In North Carolina, teachers, and students are suffering. Numerous
teaching positions have been eliminated, leaving those teachers and
teacher assistants unemployed. According to Newsl4Carolina, the
state budget will decrease by $l billion this year, leading to 11,000-
15,000 job cuts. The News and Observer describes that in Wake Coun
ty 600 of 1,496 teachers were not asked to renew their contracts. 200
teachers were allowed to remain in Wake County but were forced to
transfer schools.
With setbacks in their paychecks, teachers have less supplies for
their classrooms and must learn how to make their resources stretch
further. For years before this, Anna Hollifield, a third grade teacher
of Morganton, NC was once able to purchase folders, paper, crayons,
and other classroom supplies with her own money, but with cuts to her
paycheck this was not possible.
The budget cuts in schools have led to an increase in the student
to teacher ratio. Currently, the NC Education Lottery supports an 18
to 1 student- teacher ratio, according to Bill Harrison, CEO of Public
Education. At a Q&A conference with Harrison, sponsored by WRAL,
citizens have demanded to know to where funding from the lottery
goes since it has not appeared to be a cushion for the current fiscal situ
ation.
Trilby McClammy, President of the PTA of Durham Public
Schools expresses her concerns with the increase in classroom size.
“History says when you fill up a classroom with kids, it’s kind of dif
ficult for the quality of the classroom to be maintained.”
Pno(o courtesyAsNay Uetihewa
The superintendent of Wake Country Schools announces that class
es will more than likely have 30 or more students. “Grading 34 papers
as opposed to grading 24 papers is a significant increase in work,” said
Speer, who taught for 15 years in Buncombe County Schools. “That’s
just the reality of teaching in the 2009-10 school year.”
Another adjustment to the school system is that Wake county schools
will be sending students home early on Wednesdays, with the early
release ranging from one hour to two and a half hours early. This
not only inconveniences parents, but also strains teachers who have
required objectives and goals to reach by the time of End of Grade
(EOG) testing.
In higher education, budgets are being cut as well. EARN, a schol-
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