Oct 31 2008
Perdue Says She’ll Keep the Corruption in Road Funding
This is how road funding is handled in North Carolina
The next governor will help figure out how to pay for the state’s growing burden of clogged roads and how to change the way decisions are made on road spending.
The 19-member state Board of Transportation, whose members represent districts, oversees spending all the way down to approving stoplights. Money is parceled out through a formula that doesn’t consider factors such as traffic congestion.
“The board has evolved into a shadow legislature,” said David Hartgen, a transportation analyst at UNC-Charlotte who also writes for the conservative John Locke Foundation. “They see their job as bringing home projects to those counties. That’s wrong.”
One board member recently resigned after The News & Observer reported he steered road work near commercial property he owned. The member, Louis W. Sewell Jr. of Jacksonville, raised money for both Perdue and Gov. Mike Easley. Another board member and Perdue fundraiser resigned in January after trying to raise money from country singer Randy Parton and others building a theater in Roanoke Rapids.
This is how Pat McCrory will handle road funding as governor:
McCrory, a Republican, said he would not appoint someone to the board who raised money for him, though contributors could serve. He wants a smaller board appointed based on expertise.
“It should be a statewide plan that they’re approving, with interconnectivity,” McCrory said, “not ward politics with everyone trying to get their share of the pie.”
Bev Perdue would like to keep things just the way they are:
Perdue would not commit to banning fundraisers from the board. She said any ban would extend to all boards, but she first wants to create an endowment funded by nonprofits that would fund candidates in the governor’s race. That would eliminate the need for fundraisers, she said.
Any questions?
