Our Informer

Robert Drake, Republican activist from Rutherford County, was found dead last week with two other men in what police report as a murder-suicide in Orlando, Florida. Persons who knew Drake have speculated that the motive was a gay love triangle that went wrong.

According to officials Drake was the gunman who killed Ralph Gonzalez, former head of the Georgia Republican Party and owner of a political consulting firm. Also dead is David Abrami who lived with Gonzalez and who also was active in Republican politics. Drake was identified as an associate of U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry of the N.C. 10th District.

Bloggers have also speculated that Drake was involved with a gay escort service in Virginia Beach whose owners are facing charges of murdering the owner of a competing company catering to the gay community. Drake may have been trying to get money from Gonzalez to defend one of those charged. Reportedly Drake threatened to reveal the Republican client list of the gay escort business. Details of the incident were reported in the North Carolina Conservative online newsletter.

Former Rep. Coy Privette, who headed the Christian Coalition, has refused to resign his seat as a Cabarrus County Commissioner after pleading guilty to six charges of engaging in sex with a prostitute. Privette is a Republican who has run as a “family values” candidate.

HAPPY, BUT…During a recent legislative breakfast sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce, GOP legislators from Catawba County said they are “happy” that the engineering center in Hickory received recurring appropriations for operations. But they did not say they voted against the $500,000 a year when the budget came to a floor vote. Actually, it was Rep. Ray Warren who negotiated with the House and Senate leadership to assure the appropriation.

The Catawba County delegation also were sideline players in the bill to tighten controls on interbasin water transfers. It was Sen. Dan Clodfelter of Charlotte who carried water for this successful initiative.

CANDIDATES SEARCH: Both political parties are lining up local and state candidates for the 2008 elections. Republicans have the edge because incumbents are expected to seek reelection in a region that has followed a one-party mentality for three decades.

Democrats have been working to recruit candidates, believing that recent trends and the sex escapades in Washington and Raleigh involving GOP lawmakers should open doors for change. Popular businessman Clem Geitner of Hickory is being encouraged to retry a bid for office on the Democratic ticket. Democratic leaders also are hoping Lyndon Helton will be involved in 2008.

BEASON CHARGED: Former lobbyist Don Beason has been charged with assault in a July incident that involved a motorist. Beason is charged with pointing a gun at another motorist. He has a permit to carry a concealed weapon. He represented Hickory and Catawba County during the previous two sessions of the General Assembly.

SPECIAL SESSION LIKELY: A special session of the General Assembly may be called in mid-September to override Gov. Easley’s veto of a bill that would have given $40 million to Goodyear Tire and Rubber for the upgrading of facilities in Fayetteville. Goodyear employs 2,700 but the bill requires the company to maintain 2,000 employees. Easley argued that the state should not reward a company for laying off 700 employees and he has proposed a more encompassing program that would affect more businesses.

The bill passed in the waning hours of the General Assembly with overwhelming support of both political parties. The sponsor was Sen. Tony Rand, majority leader and close ally to the governor. A three-fifths majority is required to override a veto.

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Don Beason, who for the past five years has been the lobbyist for the City of Hickory and Catawba County, has closed down his operations. Beason is under investigation because of a $500,000 loan he made to former House Speaker Jim Black during the 2001 Legislative session.

Beason’s clients began severing ties, including BB&T, after Beason was identified as the person who provided the money to Black. The City of Hickory hired Beason on the recommendation of Mayor Rudy Wright and Republican consultant Paul Shumaker who had managed Wright’s first campaign in 2001 against former Council member Pat Moss. Beason’s first assignment was to help Hickory obtain state help in resolving the first sink hole problem.

Wright was the first candidate to inject partisan politics in Hickory municipal elections with his “Dear Fellow Republican” letter.

GUBERNATORIAL RACES: Labor Day is almost here and look for the races for governor to heat up. Democrats seeking to replace Gov. Easley are Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue and State Treasurer Richard Moore. Catawba County Democrats reportedly are trying to bring both together this fall at the annual Century Club banquet. Moore has gained attention recently with his push for the state to move aggressively toward renewable energy. Polls show him slightly behind Perdue but both have raised over $8 million for the 2008 race.

State Senator Fred Smith of Johnson County and former Supreme Court Justice Bob Orr lead the field for Republicans. Smith wants small state government, but has proposed borrowing $3 billion to improve roads. Orr’s campaign centers on his opposition to incentives to recruit businesses. Again, the next governor will come from the eastern half of the state.

RIDING HIGH: The State Department of Transportation says $122 billion will be required to maintain the highway system over the next 25 years. Some $65 billion will have to come from new money, but don’t look for any tax increase over the next two years. Right now, that money will have to come from wishful thinking or toll roads. Proposals to increase the limit on vehicle sales taxes died in committee this year.

SAME DAY REGISTRATION: Last week Gov. Easley signed into law a new Legislative bill that provides same day registration and voting and this will affect municipal elections this fall. Voters can register and vote at the same time.

To register, voters must have proof of their residence, i.e. bank statement, utility bill, or government document, such as a tax bill. The new law will affect the Oct. 9 municipal elections and new voters can register and vote between September 20 and October 6.

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Hickory’s connections to former House Speaker Jim Black are known. His brother-in-law and family live in Hickory. And Black is a 1959 graduate of Lenoir-Rhyne College and former trustee.

But the lobbyist who “loaned” Black a half million dollars in 2000 also has Hickory connections. Don Beason was hired by Hickory Mayor Rudy Wright who was determined to sweep away all influences of former Mayor Bill McDonald and City Manager Gary McGee. McGee was forced to resign under pressure and the departure of assistant City Manager Tom Carr marks the end of McGee’s top staff.

Beason was hired on the advice of Republican consultant Paul Shumaker. Wright thought Beason could solve the problem of the sink hole by bringing in the N.C. Department of Transportation to underwrite the repairs to damage cause by the first incident. The sinkhole continues to be on the city agenda.

During testimony Tuesday, Black acknowledge that Beason was the mysterious lobbyist who gave him a check which was put in his campaign account “by error.” Beason may be subject to criminal charges because the check was written while the Legislature was in session and the transaction took place in Black’s Raleigh office. News reports from Raleigh suggest that Beason, one of the state’s wealthiest lobbyist, is facing the end of his career.

Beason also has represented Catawba County in the legislature. He is a registered Republican and served as Transportation Secretary under Gov. Jim Martin.

ARIA ON THURSDAY: The fat lady was clearing her throat for the closing on the 2007 General Assembly on Thursday. After adopting a budget on Monday, the House and Senate went into overdrive to address hundreds of bills, including new restrictions on interbasin water transfers, removal of industrial machinery from the state building code, and giving young offenders a second chance by having their records expunged for good behavior. Many of the bills were local i.e. local hospitality taxes, annexations, and extra territorial jurisdiction. But major bills dealing with requiring utilities to derive more power from renewal resources (animal waste, solar, etc.) and controlling growth of landfills provoked major debates. A bill that was not debated or opposed was one that raised mileage rates paid to state employees including legislators. One bill requires benchmarks for local governments wishing to operate cable systems for constituents.

AND THE BUDGET…Rep. Ray Warren returns to his Hickory/Alexander County District a happy man. As a Democrat, he was able to work with the House leadership. Consider these accomplishments during his first year: $600,000 a year for two years to operate the Hickory-based engineering center which offers graduate level education for those specializing in technology and engineering; $100,000 for the first installment of a seamless testing and research laboratory in the Hosiery Technology Center; $13.2 million for a new 252-bed minimum security prison dormitory (and 60 new jobs) to Alexander Correctional Institute; $300,000 for the Catawba Science Center during 2007-09. Warren, Sen. Steve Goss whose district includes Alexander, and Rep. Walter Church of Valdese were the legislators from the Unifour area voting for the budget. Others, including Sens. Austin Allran and Jimmy Jacumin, and Reps. Mark Hilton and Edgar Starnes joined most other Republicans to oppose the $20 billion state budget.

LET THE RHETORIC BEGIN: Hickory Metro area people can expect to hear a lot of opposition to the budget. “The 9.5 per cent increase is more than inflation…tax and spend Democrats gone wild…they added more taxes to an over-taxed public…” But in reality there is no new tax and the tax rate for the highest income people dropped a quarter of a percent. The budget does maintain a quarter-cent sales tax that was set to expire this year in order to relieve counties of the Medicaid burden. Property owners should be relieved. And the budget gives voters in each county the opportunity to determine if that want to adopt a half-cent sales tax or fourth-tenths of 1 per cent land transfer tax to relieve the pressure on property taxes.

Because of the budget, school kids will have classrooms and teachers, grandma will not have to leave her nursing home, there will be more facilities for lock up violent street gangs, and more open land in North Carolina preserved.

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