From The Charlotte Observer, Sept. 13

If then-Gov. Mike Easley had been an ordinary private citizen, you might express considerable admiration for his shopping and bargaining skills. A real estate closing document that reporters for The News & Observer dug up shows that Easley got a $137,000 discount — a hefty 25 percent off — on the purchase of a $550,000 lot at a new marina just off Bogue Sound as his second term was beginning.

Trouble was, Mike Easley wasn’t an ordinary private citizen. He was governor of North Carolina, leader of more than 8 million people, many of whom believed in the bedrock integrity of the former crime-busting prosecutor from southeastern North Carolina. Easley’s allies insisted at the time that he paid the full list price for the lot, but the closing statement shows the governor and his wife got $135,000 from the arrangement.

This smells. Here’s why:

n By 2005, when Easley made the deal on an attractive lot at the new Cannonsgate marina, he was already enjoying free flights from friends and political appointees that he never reported on ethics disclosure forms. He got the Cannonsgate deal with the help of McQueen Campbell, who had flown him a number of places and whom Easley had named to the N.C. State University Board of Trustees. It was Campbell who helped Mary Easley get a now-defunct job at N.C. State running a speakers program.

n Cannonsgate’s key officers are Randy and Gary Allen. On June 8, 2005, the Easley administration’s Department of Environment and Natural Resources granted a crucial wastewater treatment permit to Randy Allen. Cannonsgate got the permit faster than a number of other applicants for similar permits. On June 9, Easley appointed Randy Allen to the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission. On June 20, the Easleys wrote a $5,000 deposit check for the lot. On Nov. 30, the governor signed a $549,880 purchase contract. On Dec. 22 a deed was filed showing the purchase price of $549,880, but the settlement document recently unearthed shows the governor got a $137,000 “seller’s discount” that gave the Easleys $135,000 after the closing.

n Those close to the governor told a different story. His administration press secretary, Cari Boyce, told the Charlotte Observer in 2006: “The governor paid the listed asking price for the lot. The price was set and non-negotiable.” Campbell said: “There was no negotiating.”

None of that was true. This is why so many people wonder about the judgment of a governor who is so willing to put at risk the integrity of the university system, a principal environmental regulatory agency and some key officials just so he and his wife could make some beneficial financial arrangements.

We don’t know whether any of this is illegal. But we do know this for a certainty: It stinks with the aroma of cronyism and corruption, with which North Carolinians lately have become all too familiar.