#ncga: Great BIG ONES. (Yessirree.)
THAT is exactly what it takes to to go toe-to-toe or nose-to-nose with an appropriations chairman when you are an agency head. THAT is apparently what has happened this week inside our fair capital city.
The story started with the legislature’s elimination of the Department of Public Safety’s commissioner of the law enforcement division position held by former FBI agent Greg Baker. DPS Secretary Frank Perry — from what sources close to the situation tell me — was not thrilled with that move.
In response, Perry reportedly made some personnel moves. Sources tell me he’s handed walking papers to Bill Crews, commissi
oner for the department’s administrative division, and to Lorrie Dollar, the department’s chief operating officer. My sources tell me their job responsibilities have been handed over to Baker.
For those who don’t know — Lorrie Dollar is the wife of state Rep.. Nelson Dollar (R-Wake), chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. He’s also one of the closest allies to House Speaker Tim Moore.
As you’d expect, House leadership is not pleased with Perry’s move. There has reportedly been a flurry of communication about this matter between certain offices on Jones Street and the governor’s office. Says one of my sources:
“You have to give McCrory credit. Frank [Perry] told the legislators ‘you might be able to fund my agency and set rules for running it, but you’re not going to tell me who I run it with.’ And Pat has stood by him on it. He’s told those guys that personnel matters are in the purview of the secretary.”
This is for you Mr. Frank Perry Sir.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJ3tqIukBKg
Leadership
Frank Perry.. We need a few more like him.
Well done Secretary Perry!
I see a selectively tight rain in the future for the Secretary in crucial areas. On the other hand I admit he shows leadership. Moxy.
It would be interesting to know why the legislature took such a bizarre action as removing one of this department’s key policy level administrators, and one who unlike so many in this administration was actually a Republican. Retaliation against a legislator’s spouse should have been expected.
One of the big problems with this administration is that instead of the governor’s office riding herd on appointments to key policy level positions, as the previous GOP governors had done, McCrory turned personnel entirely over to the respective cabinet secretaries, half of whom were not even Republicans. That has led to very few policy oriented Republicans holding those key policy slots, and in turn caused a policy drift in this administration. A poster on another site who went by Old Elephant used to keep up with these bad appointments and he/she had some eye opened details on the party registration and political contribution history of many of McCrory administration appointees to upper level policy positions. Often it was easy to connect the dots between bad appointments and bad policy decisions.