#ncga: Speaker Timmy making his move at UNC ???
The dust still hasn’t settled on UNC President Margaret Spellings’s decision to step down from the top job at the state’s university system. Word is spreading hot-and-heavy that House speaker Tim Moore is seeking to slide his old classmate, pal, chief of staff, and fellow UNC alum Clayton Somers into the spot Spellings currently holds.
Somers, then a registered Democrat, was hired by Moore as his chief of staff in 2015. (Voting records indicate he became a Republican in 2016.) Somers went above-and-beyond defending Moore against allegations of impropriety — regularly citing recently obtained “informal ethics opinions.” (No paper trail. And WHO on the legislative payroll is going to tell the speaker NO?)
A new high-paying job — Vice Chancellor for Public Affairs and Secretary of the University — was created for Somers in early 2017. In that role, Somers has developed a reputation as the eyes and ears of House leadership regarding UNC business.
Here’s the scenario some insiders have pitched to me: Somers gets an interim role filling in for Spellings while a candidate search ostensibly takes place. After the mid-terms are done, we would hear something along these 
lines: “Ol’ Clayton has done such a bang-up job of filling in. And he already knows this place inside and out. And, of course, they love him over on Jones Street where the system gets all its money. Let’s just take the word ‘interim’ off of his title and make this thing permanent.”
Remember THIS as well: A lot of those UNC board members owe their seats to the political maneuvering of our little speaker and his team.
Our little speaker–I love it.
Somers would be a disaster.
Mr Moore and his daddy have done more for Nc then most elected officials! He has helped the sweepstakes industry run on our own by pushing back into committee some silly law regulating our games and amount of machines. He knows the sweepstakes industry is totally credible and we don’t need no legislation or oversight. I’m sure his insight into running unc is just as sharp!
I will assume this post is 100% satire. H577 passed the House without a single “no” vote. It did not get pushed back into committee. It was originally a background check bill. It was PCSd in the Senate, completely changing the intent of the bill, then sent back to the House, where they did not concur with the changes.
If i have anything to say about the selection of the new head of our university system we are NOT “sliding ” anyone into that position. I have never had any issues with Clayton as he served Speaker Moore but then again I have never had the chance to vet him for this particular job. If he passes the conservative test that’s fine but let’s wait and do this the right way.
As for the issue that waits us come next year – the selection of new members of the UNC Board of Governors – this will be a matter that I will get deeply involved. Political reality goes that these positions are given as rewards to high dollar donors but this next year I am going to buck the trend for at least two. The reason, because we desperately need some conservative spine on this body. We need to put the adults back in control of our university system that can handle the angry mod, the political correctness preachers and the biased professors that want to indoctrinate instead of create critical thinkers.
Some high dollar donors may qualify so I will not discount them but I am going to start circulating a couple of names that I believe match the character attributes needed in that body: Chris Millis and Jim Womack. Whether they would accept the nomination is up to them but people like these to are what is needed to make a difference between how a university should be run and the current ultra-liberal administrations we now have.
We don’t disagree about the PC issues, the the biased instructors. I do disagree with the comments about positions only going to big donors. I have certainly read some BOG comments with which I disagree, but there are a lot of folks on that board that I respect….and some have a ton of chutzpah. I don’t think we should be confused because we may not hear fire and brimstone comments publicly. We did just see Margaret decide to leave….
Very reasonable of you to acknowledge that giving donations does not equate to being unqualified. The cause needs to have more people under the tend. Election years are especially tough on cash. Some folks have not paid their caucus dues, and that money helps the cause.
The school is already a disaster and there is no way on earth it will ever get any better. No need to sacrifice a “real” conservative in that den of leftist lunacy. Appoint Anita Earls and every other far left stooge and get them out of elected offices. The school can’t get any worse. Just keep the legislature as long as possible and try and keep a leash on the beast as much as possible.
Know when you have lost and try to contain the damage.
I strongly second what Mark Brody has said. The GOP legislature has largely made disastrous appointments to the UNC Board of Governors with just a few exceptions. Living in Chapel Hill and closely watching the BOG in action, I have watched this train wreck in disbelief and wonder how some of these people got appointed to the BOG in the first place. From what I have observed there are a few members who really understand what needs to be done with the UNC system: Bill Webb, Marty Kotis, Tom Fetzer and Tom Goolsby really stand out to me. I have also been impressed with newcomer Wendy Murphy. Michael Williford seems to have good instincts from what I have observed as well. The verdict is still out on the new BOG chairman based on what I have seen so far. Many of the BOG members sit through the meetings like potted plants. Too many other BOG members seem to think their role is to defend the liberal Democrat UNC establishment and oppose any reform efforts put forward by the reformers on the BOG. Needless to say, Margaret Spellings has been a deer-in-the-headlights disaster. Her leaving now gives the BOG a golden opportunity to finally get things right. I worked at UNC for years and I can assure you it is is a liberal disaster area. The destruction of Silent Sam by Antifa and campus leftists defines the current situation in Chapel Hill.
Better Candidate than Clayton Sommers should be found and Recommended!
I seriously doubt the RINOs in control of the BOG have any desire to reform UNC or challenge Carol Folt and her leftist-loving administration. A GOP tragedy continues.