IN or OUT? : The curious case of Lyons Gray
We posted previously about state revenue secretary Lyons Gray serving on the national board of an environmental group currently suing the state of North Carolina. It’s a wee bit awkward, you might say, for a state cabinet secretary to be a leader in a group that is suing the same state government that cabinet secretary is also serving.
Here’s the initial reaction from Blount Street:
[…] McCrory said some members of the boards of both Defenders of Wildlife and the National Wildlife Refuge Association did not know their groups were parties to the lawsuit that a federal judge dismissed in September.
State Secretary of Revenue Lyons Gray, appointed by McCrory after his election in Nov. 2012, is a member of the board of directors of Defenders of Wildlife.
“He was not aware they were a plaintiff and he is going to try to get them to change their mind,” McCrory said. “If he can’t, he will resign from that board.” […]
THAT was in December 2013. We ran our story in March 2014, and Gray was STILL on the Defenders of Wildlife board. NOW, let’s fast forward to May 2014:
[…] “Anyone that is trying to hold up this bridge is doing harm to public safety, boaters, our economy, and I think long-term harm to our environment,” McCrory said.
Lyons Gray, appointed by McCrory to serve as state Secretary of Revenue, remains on the board of directors of Defenders of Wildlife as the North Carolina representative.
In December, McCrory said at a news conference when the Bonner Bridge was closed to traffic because of erosion around a set of pilings that he would ask Gray to resign his position on the board of the group that is a plaintiff in the bridge lawsuit.
But Thursday, McCrory said he would rather keep him “on the inside” of the board at Defenders of Wildlife so the state could “stay ahead of the game”. […]
O-kay. We checked The Defenders of Wildlife web site TODAY. Gray’s name is missing from the board of directors roster. We could not find any kind of information explaining the absence of Gray’s name. Did Gray’s term expire? Did he resign? If he did resign, why? McCrory told us he wanted to keep Gray “on the inside.”
This group is stacked with lefties. Which makes you wonder about Gray. Their ”wildlife” cover, like most of these groups is used to promote the agenda of the environmental extremists like the global warming ideology and the corrupt consumer ripoff of pushing renewable energy. And renewable energy, both solar and particularly wind, are huge threats to birds and bats. With ”defenders” like these leftie ideologues, wildlife, at least birds and bats, do not need any attackers. The very name of this organization is highly Orwellian.