Contrary to what many, if not most voters believe, most people enter elected office with the intention of doing good. They genuinely want to make a difference in how government works and serves the citizens. And most never change. They serve their terms and then return to private life.
However, a few go into public life for power or profit. Or if they don’t start out that way, they follow the lure of money and influence. In North Carolina, we’ve had our share. Jim Black wanted to be House Speaker just a little too much. People in the Easley administration got too cozy with people offering good deals with little risk for little money.
Unfortunately, our current governor falls into the latter category. He may have entered politics with good intentions, but he quickly fell in love with the perks and potential for personal profit. Since his time as mayor of Charlotte, Pat McCrory has taken advantage of as many perks as possible and done the bidding of his benefactors. His latest ethics disclosure shows he’s still taking free trips and even receiving income from his brother’s company.
McCrory was a mid-level manager at Duke Energy who now draws hundreds of thousands of dollars from sitting on corporate boards and landing government contracts, not for what he knows but who he knows. McCrory says that the money from his brother’s company is for commission fees from more than three years ago. Maybe it’s true but it sure smells funny. This guy is a sitting governor who keeps receiving money from people or companies either doing business with the government or being regulated by the executive branch.
And his relationship with Duke Energy stinks as well. He held and then sold Duke stock before the coal ash spill was disclosed. Now, Duke Energy has given $3 million to the Republican Governor’s Association in the run up to McCrory’s re-election campaign. The RGA paid more than $13,000 in McCrory’s travel expenses, according the ethics filing.
By all appearances, Pat McCrory is a greedy man. His salary and perks should easily cover a comfortable lifestyle for a guy with no kids, but he keeps taking shady cash. Public service should be for the public good, but for McCrory, it’s a for-profit venture.
Thomas Mills is the founder and publisher of PoliticsNC.com. Before beginning PoliticsNC, Thomas spent twenty years as a political and public affairs consultant. Learn more >
If you lived in or around Charlotte when he was Mayor… and looked past his looks and spin… you know his priorites and hidden agendas. So sad that Corporate money can so easily influence uninformed voters with wedge issues and hot button semantics.
Naomi, I’d also add “…and no experience in actually governing.” McCrory was mayor of Charlotte, the government of which is operated by a city manager and overseen by a city council: the mayor sits on the council, but only votes when there is a tie. McCrory touted himself as an “ambassador” for Charlotte, but I suspect much of his travel involved preparing for his run for the governorship, including cozying up to wealthy out-of-state donors. I suggested to the NC Democratic party that they run against McCrory using the slogan “More than just a pretty face”: now I’d put it “More than just a pretty face–and an itching palm”.
I can only hope that people are paying attention so that in 2016 they know how to vote and don’t fall for the old ‘middle-of-the-political-road nice guy’ card he played in 2012. We now know he has NO political back bone and a liking for easy money.
Disgusted: I agree with you whole-heartedly. Your tax return disclosure notion would not only give voters insight into who incumbents are truly “serving,” but also perhaps dissuade the greedier and more self-serving from running for office in the first place.
“His salary and perks should easily cover a comfortable lifestyle for a guy with no kids…”
WRONG! $130,000 should easily cover a comfortable lifestyle for a guy WITH children. Ol’ McCheezay is an old-school huckster–Small talent, big greed, insider connections and low, low ethics. Yee-hah!