Governor McCrory Announces Appointments, Part III | Eastern North Carolina Now

Press Release:

    Raleigh, NC     The Office of Governor Pat McCrory announced the following appointments today:

    State Property Tax Commission

   •  David A. Smith, MAI, SRA (Durham County) - Smith is the president of the real estate firm David A. Smith & Associates. He attended Duke University. Smith will hold an at-large seat on the board.

   •  Cal Morgan (New Hanover County) - Morgan is a real estate appraiser at JC Morgan Company. He attended the College of Charleston. Morgan will hold an at-large seat on the board.

    The commission is the trial court of record for questions of appraisal, listing and exemption arising under the property tax laws, and appeal from the commission is direct to the Court of Appeals. The term length is four years.

    North Carolina Board of Massage and Bodywork Therapy

   •  Holly Foster (Wilkes County) - Foster has been a self-employed licensed massage therapist for more than 10 years. Additionally, she is the therapeutic massage program coordinator at Wilkes Community College. In that role, she is responsible for the administration, curriculum development and instruction of the program at Wilkes Community College. Foster attended the Southeastern School of Neuromuscular and Massage Therapy in Charlotte.

   •  Edwin Preston (Orange County) - Dr. Preston is an orthopedic surgeon in Durham. He will fill the role of physician recommended by the North Carolina Medical Society and currently serves as chairman of the commission. He is a reappointment for this board.

   •  Dianne Layden (Perquimans County) - Layden is a retired quality assurance analyst from Albemarle Hospital. She is a member of Friends of the Tri-county Animal Shelter and the Hertford Small Town Economic Prosperity group. Layden attended College of the Albemarle, UNC-Greensboro and East Carolina University.

    The board safeguards the public health, safety and welfare against unqualified or incompetent practitioners. It evaluates qualifications of applicants for licensure; issues, renews, denies, suspends or revoke licenses, reprimands licensees, conducts investigations and hearings, establishes reasonable fees for examinations, certificates and services and adopts, amends or appeals any rules related to schools, continuing education providers, exams and advanced techniques. The term length is three years.

    Local Governmental Employees' Retirement System

   •  Kevin Gordon (Cleveland County) - Gordon is the chief training officer for the Charlotte Fire Department. He has been with the department since 1991, rising to captain in 1998, battalion chief in 2005 and his current position in 2007. In addition to his involvement to the field at work, he also serves on various local community boards related to the fire and rescue field.

   •  John Anaralla (Mecklenburg County) - Anarella is the founder and president of Bulldog Asset Management, a wealth management group. He graduated with an MBA from Hofstra University in 1986. He will serve as a voting member on both the Teachers and State Employees Retirement Board and Local Government Employee Retirement Board.

    The system administers retirement system laws for local government members of the retirement system. The term length is four years.

    North Carolina Health Insurance Risk Pool

    Austin Pittman (Forsyth County) - Pittman is president of UnitedHealthcare Networks and is responsible for managing UnitedHealthcare's nationwide network of more than 650,000 physicians and health care professionals and over 5,100 hospitals. He has worked in the health care industry for more than 18 years. Pittman received a M.S. in business and human relations from Amberton University in Dallas. He served in the United States Marine Corps and is now completing his master's degree of health care delivery science at Dartmouth College.

    The pool is to provide health insurance to individuals who do not have access to group health insurance and whose health or medical history prevents traditional insurance companies from covering them at all or from providing coverage at an affordable rate. The term length is three years.

    State Property Tax Commission

    David A. Smith, MAI, SRA (Durham County) - Smith is the president of the real estate firm David A. Smith & Associates. He attended Duke University. Smith will hold an at-large seat on the board.

    Cal Morgan (New Hanover County) - Morgan is a real estate appraiser at JC Morgan Company. He attended the College of Charleston. Morgan will hold an at-large seat on the board.

    The commission is the trial court of record for questions of appraisal, listing and exemption arising under the property tax laws, and appeal from the commission is direct to the Court of Appeals. The term length is four years.


    Contact: Crystal Feldman
      govpress@nc.gov