N.C. Commerce Chief Recuses Himself From Megasite Discussions | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's note: The author of this post is Don Carrington, who is the associate publisher for the Carolina Journal, John Hood Publisher.

By law, Skvarla must be on N.C. Railroad board, but role with economic incentives causes possible conflict

    RALEIGH     Even though by law N.C. Secretary of Commerce John Skvarla (or someone he chooses) must be appointed to the 13-member North Carolina Railroad Company board of directors, the selection places Skvarla in an unusual position. As commerce chief, he would play a significant role in crafting any incentive package offered to a large company considering the Greensboro-Randolph Megasite or North Carolina's other two megasites, located in Chatham and Edgecombe counties.

    Because the NCRR board has become a partner in the Greensboro-Randolph Megasite, and agreed to spend $13 million to buy 862 of the 1,400 acres designated for the site, Skvarla faces a potential conflict of interest.

    This possible conflict should be no surprise, given the composition of the NCRR board. Legislative leaders appoint six board members and the governor appoints the other seven. By law, one of the governor's appointments "shall be be the secretary of commerce or the secretary's designee." Skvarla, who became commerce secretary in January 2015, joined the NCRR board in November.

    Skvarla apparently has acknowledged the potential conflict. In an email, commerce spokeswoman Kim Genardo wrote, "The secretary has made it clear to fellow NCRR board members that he will recuse himself from any vote or discussion on this topic."

    Skvarla's appointment was not announced until late March, several months after he joined the board. In a March 21 press release by Gov. Pat McCrory regarding appointments, Skvarla, Jake Alexander of Rowan County, and Douglas Stafford of Stanly County were named to the NCRR board, even though Skvarla had been listed as early as January as a board member on the NCRR website.

    Genardo said she had "confirmed with NCRR that Secretary Skvarla was appointed in November 2015 and attended his first NCRR meeting that month. He attended NCRR's board meeting in January as well. So he has attended two board meetings, November 2015 and January 2016." On Jan. 5, the board announced its intention of buying land for the Greensboro-Randolph Megasite.