#ncga: More evidence of special treatment for Steinburg in Currituck deal?
If you’ve been following this site, you know that state Rep. Bob Steinburg, who represents Currituck County in the NC House and is running to represent them in the Senate, got $50,000 in county funds with no votes or public discussion on the matter. The money was payment to Steinburg for promotion a basketball tournament IN ASHEVILLE but named after Currituck County. Steinburg’s BFF is the Currituck County board of commissioners chairman. Steinburg got the money without debate or votes even though he had no prior experience promoting basketball tournaments.
I don’t know HOW I missed this gem from late August:
[…] In a Sentinel interview, Hanig also made it clear that he thought the criticism of the Steinburg contract was “absolutely” politically motivated.
“Had Steinburg lost the primary, there wouldn’t have even been a conversation,” said Hanig, who defeated Beverly Boswell in the GOP primary for the N.C. District 6 House seat and now faces Democrat Tess Judge in November. (Steinburg defeated Clark Twiddy in the GOP primary for the N.C. Senate seat.)
Asked to comment on the commissioners’ vote, Steinburg told the Sentinel that, “I’m fine with it. No problem at all. We followed the protocols to the letter of the law. They have new protocols now, and we’ll follow those protocols.”
Steinburg added that he brought the idea for marketing at the basketball tournament
to Dare County a day before he approached Currituck County with the idea — and that Currituck County committed first. He called the attention to his contract a “nothing burger” and asserted that “without question,” the controversy was fueled by political rivals. […]
“Political rivals” ??? You know this man is about to burst a blood vessel in his head trying to stifle his desire to scream the name “Clark Twiddy” and a bunch of profanities. (Trust me. Mr. “Christian, Compassionate, Conservative” is quite skilled at laying a cussing on someone. )
But hold on. It gets better:
[…] Last month, in a story that exposed the divisions on the board, the Daily Advance reported that four of the county’s seven commissioners said they were largely in the dark about the Steinburg contract. Several of them also indicated that they had misgivings about such an agreement.
One of those commissioners was Mike Hall, who told the Sentinel that, “Without knowing the particulars…I felt we should treat Mr. Steinburg’s [contract] the way we approve our own contract [for] any county official or county employee.” In those cases, the contracts require board approval. They also have a limit of $40,000.
Asked if he thought the scrutiny of the Steinburg contract was political, Hall said, “I’m not sure if it is or isn’t.” But he added that, “Had we handled it the same way [as county employee contracts] from the start, we wouldn’t be where we are today.”[…]
So there WAS a policy in place for elected officials trying to do business with the county. Steinburg, who represents the county, should have been treated no differently than a county commissioner or other county official seeking to do business with Currituck County.
In reviewing the video of the Commissioners meeting where the County’s contract process was discussed, two glaring examples of BS treatment were obvious; the first where the County reviews a supplier’s experience (BS had none) before issuing a contract and where performance occurs before payment is made (BS got his $50,000 before producing anything). Relative to Dare County, I thought they declined? I get it any questioning of BS is politically motivated. Anyone asked the Commisioners that were in the dark whether Twiddy winning the primary would have made a difference?
The problem is that Steinburg is trading off of his legislative office both in soliciting Dare County and Currituck County because both are in the 1st Senate District that he is running for. That is just not kosher. And Hanig seems to be involved in this up to his / her mascara.
If Steinburg had solicited a county outside of his district like Carteret or New Hanover or Onslow, it would be different, but soliciting Dare stinks almost as much as soliciting Currituck. And the fact that he did not solicit any county outside the district he is running in stinks most of all.