Almost exactly a year ago, Pat McCrory, on camera, said he didn’t “see a need” to transfer the SBI from the Department of Justice to the Department of Public Safety. In fact, he said, nobody had “presented the argument” and that he had “enough on my plate.” What a difference a year makes!
Now, McCrory, with the added woes at the Department of Health and Human Services and the coal ash spill on his plate, McCrory is willing to support transferring the SBI and state crime lab. It’s not so much that McCrory wants the agencies. It’s that the senate quite clearly wants to force them on the governor in order to embarrass Attorney General Roy Cooper. And, as McCrory learned last session, who is he to say no?
The episode highlights a lot of McCrory’s problems as governor. First, McCrory has trouble telling the truth, or at least sticking to his positions. Second, it reminds us that the senate is trying to transfer two large and essential agencies to an executive branch already under fire for managerial incompetence and instability. Finally, the whole affair reminds us that the senate is driving and directing state government while McCrory is little more than a ribbon-cutter.
Remember when the two 24 year old political hacks were the most qualified for jobs that had no other applicants? Or when he said he would only sign tax reform that was revenue neutral and then signed a huge tax cut for the rich without replacing the revenue? Or the time he said he went to Moral Monday protests but really didn’t? In reality, we don’t know what the governor thinks or believes because he doesn’t, either.
And then there are the managerial problems. McCrory liked to tell us how government was broken and then went on to break it, over and over again. First, it was the Department of Health and Human Services, where Secretary Aldona Wos ran off all of the qualified help and replaced them with political hacks. Virtually every part of that agency has come under fire and McCrory has yet to hold anyone accountable. Then, while the senate was trying to transfer the SBI to the executive branch, McCrory’s cronies at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources were trying to transfer that agency to Duke Energy. Talk about privatization.
And then there’s the Department of Public Safety itself. The agency has been unstable since the quick and mysterious resignation of McCrory’s first secretary, Kieran Shanahan and his chief lieutenant Sonny Masso. The News & Observer today says that the SBI is investigating DPS right now. So how would that work out for the SBI to investigate it’s parent agency? And why would anybody give McCrory control of anything else?
Finally, the episode illustrates how little influence McCrory has in Raleigh. He was rolled throughout the last session and this time, he’s unwilling to get in front of much. Who could blame him? He made a big deal about a teacher pay plan and nobody from the legislature showed up to his press conference. Then the senate unveiled their own plan and didn’t mention the governor’s.
The whole episode illustrates the problems at the governor’s office. After a bruising long session in 2013, McCrory and his staff have still not figured out how to deal with the legislature, a requirement for a successful term as governor. The governor speaks in absolutes so when he changes his mind, he looks like a flip-flopper at best and liar at worst. Finally, in less than two years, McCrory’s appointees have shown how shallow the GOP talent field really is, so why would we put the agency responsible for solving serious crimes under the control of people so incompetent?
Instead of hurting Roy Cooper’s chances of becoming governor, the senate has reminded us why he’s running and why we need him.
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 >
Excellent article Thomas!
While the description of McCrory’s time as governor are correct, there is a missing piece here.
The office of governor in NC is inherently subservient to the legislature and is a weaker branch of government.
Of our recent governors, only Jim Hunt ***through his sheer work ethic*** had a meaningful impact on NC policy as it came out of the legislature.
Hunt was even the guy that got the legislature to give the NC governor veto power in the first place (back in the 1990s)!
McCrory surely deserves the treatment Thomas gives him here. But it should be remembered when looking for an effective future governor of NC, one should find and vote for someone with the work ethic of a Jim Hunt.
Thomas, your analysis is impressive. Keep up the good work.
Thanks, Ed.
McCrory is nothing more than a Duke puppet.
Nothing to add, Thomas. You’ve capture the McCrory weaknesses, failures, wafflings, and back-trackings, and made the well-written case that NC deserves better as chief executive.