Pat McCrory’s bad week last week just spilled over into this week. Last week, Pat McCrory was ridiculed by a host of legislators and sued by news organizations for failing to release long-requested public documents. This week, his Transportation Secretary, Tony Tata, walked off the job in the middle of the legislative session. McCrory’s top legislative priority, a road and infrastructure bond bill, seems headed nowhere and he needed Tata to try to push it through.
Tata announced he was leaving effective immediately. No warning, no two weeks notice. Something is really bad in the administration or Tata is both unreliable and irresponsible–and maybe highly ambitious.
Apparently, someone was polling a Tata-Ellmers primary last night. Ellmers has long been suspect among conservative Republicans and has already drawn one primary challenger. Maybe Tata figures he would be a better fit.
But maybe something else prompted his departure. McCrory has reputation as being thin-skinned and prickly. Maybe he was blaming Tata for the problems with his bond proposal.
Or maybe Tata’s speaking engagements and book deals really do take up too much time. If that’s the case, then it’s all about priorities and, quite clearly, serving as Secretary of Transportation was not one of Tata’s.
The whole episode brings up memories of two summers ago when McCrory’s Secretary of Public Safety, Kieran Shanahan abruptly left office for no apparent reason. Like Tata, Shanahan was doing business on the side. And like Tata, Shanahan gave little warning as he slid out the door.
We don’t know much about Shanahan’s departure because McCrory has refused to release public documents about the episode. Back then, Shanahan was under fire for moonlighting at his law firm and potential conflicts of interests because of his wife’s lobbying practice. Now, a group of news organization is suing the administration for failure to turn over those documents.
Tata’s departure is the latest of a series of blows to the McCrory administration. It also follows series of oddly-timed departures and shows a either a lack of respect for the governor or some problem that needs to go away. Regardless, Pat McCrory’s bad week continues.
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 >
….hmmmm “But maybe something else prompted his departure. McCrory has reputation as being thin-skinned and prickly. Maybe he was blaming Tata for the problems with his bond proposal.” HMMMM well, maybe someone should ask the CFO aka….” the Bond Buyer”… Truth has a Track Record…and this one crosses state lines from VA to NC
Is this like a bad hair day? Sorry, but I just can’t do anything but laugh over McCrory’s problems even though I also realize they are also NC’s problems. He deserves them; we don’t.
Shanahan left not long after a lawsuit his firm filed against the NCDP was thrown out of court. I have long suspected that had this lawsuit proceeded, that the sexual harassment allegations against NCDP and former Chair David Parker would have led back to the NC GOP (Shanahan was the pro-bono lawyer for plaintiff Adraidn Ortega). In addition to looking bad for Shanahan, it would have looked VERY BAD for all those Democratic consultants who urged Parker’s replacement/resignation who acted as witless accomplices for the NC GOP.
I’m glad he’s gone-he’s a jerk. His job as a superintendant of the public schools was a prime example of what his practices in education of what he was like.
Maybe it is about McCrory’s apparent personality gaps of not taking criticism well and often blaming people (friends and foes) when he doesn’t get his way. Maybe it’s because his poor people skills (funny that those “skills” were thought to be his strong suit) chafe when one has to report to him. Maybe it’s the gov’s willingness to retain incompetents (e.g., Wos, Skvarla) who were Tata’s agency-head peers within the executive branch. Maybe it’s because, having been in command-and-control power positions in the military, Tata grew to despise McCrory’s milk-toast stances, actions and reactions.
Or, then again, maybe it truly is only about Tata’s other ambitions.
We may never know why Tata left so abruptly, but we do know that McCrory’s appointment record (Tata, Skvarla, Wos, Shanahan, Foley, Gossage, the first poet laureate, etc) is littered with bad calls — very much working against the gov’s desire to be perceived as a good administrator and problem-solver.
Tata is also pretty prickly when anyone questions his authority. Love to know why he just bolted …