Category Archives: Bev Perdue

Senators Trade Barbs As Altered DOT Letter Probed

Posted on by

Carolina Journal News Reports

Officials claim letter reversing department funding position was a mistake

Jun. 28th, 2012

 
RALEIGH – Sparks flew during a Wednesday Senate committee meeting after a top aide to Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue said that he never intended to alter the opinion of a top Department of Transportation official when he changed a letter about the timing for money on two toll projects.Democratic Sens. Dan Blue of Wake County and Martin Nesbitt of Buncombe County objected to what they called “one-sided cross-examination” of two DOT employees who spoke before the Senate Rules Committee.“That’s outrageous,” Nesbitt said. “I don’t think anything justifies what I had to sit here and watch this morning.”“OK, you had your say, and I’ll have mine,” Sen. Tom Apodaca, R-Henderson, responded. Apodaca is the Senate Rules Committee chairman.

Apodaca said that in the 10 years he’s been in the Senate, he’d never seen the type of events as those that occurred this year. He was referring to instances in which electronic signatures of the DOT’s chief operating officer, Jim Trogdon, was placed on two altered letters. The alterations said the opposite of what Trogdon had written earlier.

“That doesn’t work in my world,” Apodaca said. “And I certainly hope it doesn’t work in y’all’s world.”

Before the senators’ remarks, Kevin McLaughlin, Perdue’s deputy chief of staff, and two DOT employees, Susan Coward, a deputy secretary, and Vicki Stanley, Trogdon’s executive assistant, gave their account of what happened June 14, when Trogdon’s letters were altered and the digital signature was applied. Trogdon was in Charlotte that morning and was participating at an event that made him unavailable to discuss revisions to his letters.

Trogdon had said that money for the two toll projects — the Mid-Currituck Bridge on the Outer Banks and the Garden Parkway in Gaston and Mecklenburg counties – would not be needed in the 2012-13 budget because anticipated litigation over the projects would prevent construction from beginning until the following fiscal year.

McLaughlin told committee members that he felt that Trogdon’s letter needed to be altered so that money would be available for the projects in case the litigation did not occur or in case the disputes were settled early.

Sen. Buck Newton, R-Wilson, questioned McLaughlin about the changes.

“Is it customary for you guys in the governor’s office to send someone over to an agency to alter positions when you don’t agree with what they’ve already written?” Newton asked.

“I would hope you are not saying that this process was altering someone’s position,” McLaughlin said. He said he was seeking a clarification.

“It seems quite clear to me that’s exactly what happened,” Newton said.

McLaughlin said he did not discuss the changes in the letters with Perdue until after news reports brought the controversy to light.

Coward and Stanley detailed their roles in making the changes in Trogdon’s letters. They said they were made after Pryor Gibson, a former Anson County Democratic representative and currently Perdue’s top legislative aide, requested the change.

Both said the changes were a mistake and apologized for them. Neither said that they were pressured to make changes, but did say that they felt an urgency to get the letter out.

“In haste, a mistake was made,” Coward said.

Apodaca said he expects the committee to take up the issue again Thursday, as it decides its next course of action. He said he expected a “spirited debate” at that meeting.

Barry Smith is an associate editor of Carolina Journal.

White: Politics Driving Probe

Posted on by

White: Politics driving probe

By Cindy Beamon

The Daily Advance

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

“Fraudulent” letters sent to the state Senate last week about the proposed Currituck Mid-County Bridge project may not be that inaccurate, say two local state lawmakers.

The News & Observer reported Tuesday that several members of Gov. Bev Perdue’s staff had changed letters from a transportation official about how soon the bridge project may need state funding.

In his original letter, Jim Trogdon, chief operating officer of the N.C. Department of Transportation, said $28 million for the proposed mid-county bridge and $35 million for the proposed Garden Parkway west of Charlotte was not needed next year.

The governor’s office later altered Trogdon’s letters to say funding is needed next year, the News & Observer reported.

After seeing the change, Trogdon, who had been out of town, retracted the letters as inaccurate.

Trogdon’s retraction of the letters has sparked a call by the Senate Rules Committee for an investigation to determine how the letter about the bridge project was changed.

But state Sen. Stan White, D-Dare, said a Senate probe on how the change came about is more “political fodder” than anything else.

He said the mistake has already been explained. Apparently, another transportation official had signed off on the change in Trogdon’s absence withoutknowing he would object, he said. The governor’s office followed proper procedure in seeking the change, he said.

White said he did not think the altered letter made any difference in the Senate’s debate of the topic.

White said he received the altered letter on June 14 just as he was headed upstairs to the Senate floor. He said he didn’t open the letter until after presenting a budget amendment on the Senate floor last week to restore funding for the bridge.

During his presentation, White referred to Trogdon’s original letter — initially agreeing to a possible delay in funding next year. White said he was more concerned at the time that funding not be cut in future years.

White said a year’s delay in funding could send the wrong message to bond companies needed to finance the project.

Companies may not want to support the project if the state keeps changing its funding plan for the $660 million project, he said. The state of Georgia has had that problem after lawmakers withdrew funding for projects, he noted.

White’s proposal failed, and the Senate’s version of the budget still includes cuts to bridge funding. In the House budget, funds for the bridge remain intact. A committee comprised of House and Senate members are expected to negotiate their differences before a final state budget is adopted.

Another area lawmaker believes the Senate is making more of Trogdon’s retracted letters than is warranted.

State Rep. Bill Owens, D-Pasquotank, said the DOT official should have consulted with other state officials before saying funds for the bridge were not needed next year.

“He talked to nobody above him and nobody below him,” said Owens.

Trogdon’s timetable for the project is based on the assumption that the project will face a lawsuit before construction begins, Owens said. But a lawsuit is more likely to be filed after construction begins, he said. Waiting for a lawsuit to be filed beforehand will only delay the project another year, he said.

Owens also questioned the motives of lawmakers seeking to delay funding for a year. Some lawmakers want to divert bridge funds to projects they want funded, he said.

The delay in funding is just one cut being proposed by the Senate. Another would slice annual installments of gap funds — needed to subsidize construction costs for the toll bridge — from $28 million to $15 million. Both Owens and White say a cut that big would be a death knell for the project.

Despite the talk about big cuts to funding, Owens said he’s not too concerned. House Speaker Thom Tillis has assured him proposed cuts will not hold as the General Assembly hammers out its final budget, Owens said.