Several months after former Gov. Mike Easley took office in 2001, a Raleigh lobbyist told a Winston-Salem Journal writer a story that confirmed how political insiders thought of the new governor at the time.
The lobbyist had long supported Easley, raising campaign contributions from his employers, and now, he felt, it was time for some payback. He wanted Easley to speak at his annual convention and allow him a strong say in who got a key state regulatory post.
The lobbyist got none of it, not even a private meeting to discuss the appointment. He was given time with an aide who said the governor would make this key appointment without consideration of past campaign support.
That story supported two major impressions of Easley: He was scrupulously honest but a bit of a political oddity in that he was reclusive.
Since 2007, the good part of that reputation has slowly eroded. One conservative think tank has long been questioning what it calls a sweet deal that Easley got on a piece of land. The state’s newspapers have focused on expensive foreign trips that he, his wife and some key staffers made to Europe, having a grand time for themselves while providing little of value to the state.
But the most surprising story involves Mary Easley, the former first lady, who is being paid $185,000 a year on a private contract to work at N.C. State University. Many North Carolinians question her taking such a lucrative position while her husband was still governor, and they wonder about the political influence it is perceived was used in her getting it.
We will withhold judgment on whether Easley did anything illegal. That’s for the courts to determine. But we’re not so sure about his ability to ever clear his name. It is very unlikely that Mike Easley will be remembered as a governor who was as scrupulous and independent of political influence as that one lobbyist considered him back in 2001. The former governor, through a series of key mistakes, has forever damaged his political and personal legacy.
The old saying is that politicians are like Caesar’s wife: They must be more virtuous than their constituents. The public is tired of politicians who milk the system for all they can get for themselves.
Whether it was illegal or not, it’s clear that the Easley family milked the system for nice trips and loaner cars. The land deal smells of preferential treatment, too.
Easley won’t be remembered in history as the governor who reduced class sizes, expanded preschool opportunities for poor children, or originated a combination high-school and community college curriculum. He’ll be remembered as the governor who disappeared on the weekends so he could fly off for vacations with his rich buddies, at their expense.
Only the U.S. attorney knows whether he has a strong case against either Easley. But right now there is enough evidence for us all to be greatly disappointed in a former first family that, only eight years ago, appeared to be models of proper behavior for public officials.
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