Senate Probe of DOT Letter Continues | Eastern North Carolina Now

   Publisher's note: The author of this fine report is Barry Smith, who is a contributor for the Carolina Journal, John Hood Publisher.

Rules Committee will question DOT, Perdue officials

    RALEIGH     Today is the day that officials from the N.C. Department of Transportation are slated to give their story about how altered letters from the department's chief operating officer made into the hands of state legislators last week.

    On Thursday, representatives of Gov. Bev Perdue's office have been asked to shed light on the controversy as the Senate Rules Committee continues its inquiry.

    "We will go where the facts lead us," said Sen. Tom Apodaca, R-Henderson, chairman of the Senate Rules Committee.

    "We're not going to overreact to this situation," Apodaca said. "Nor are we not going to react."

    The firestorm arose after it came to light that letters sent to two lawmakers - Sen. Stan White, D-Dare, and Rep. Bill Current, R-Gaston - had been altered. In fact, the meaning had been changed. The letters were dated June 14.

    The letters were purportedly signed by Jim Trogdon, the DOT's chief operating officer. But he didn't sign them. Later that day, he sent letters to both Current and White saying that a copy of his signature was placed on them "without my review or consent."

    The lawmakers were addressing concerns about money not going to two toll projects, the Mid-Currituck Bridge in Dare County and the Garden Parkway in Gaston County.

    Trogdon had sent an earlier memo to legislative budget leaders suggesting that money for the two projects would not be needed during the 2012-13 fiscal year because of anticipated lawsuits.

    The original letters repeated an earlier assertion by Trogdon that money for the two toll projects would not be needed for a year because of anticipated lawsuits, according to a story in Tuesday's News & Observer. Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue's office did not accept Trogdon's letters, the N&O story says, and an aide altered the letters to say that the money would be needed for the upcoming 2012-12 budget cycle.

    The altered letters said that $28 million was needed for the Mid-Currituck Bridge and $35 million was needed for the Garden Parkway.

    The request for the upcoming budget cycle differed from a previous memo prepared by Trogdon. That memo said that anticipated delays in the two projects meant the money would not be needed until the 2013-14 fiscal year.

    The N&O story said that another Perdue aide, Pryor Gibson, took the altered letters over to the DOT office to get Trogdon's signature. Trogdon was in Charlotte at the time and, according to the story, did not authorize the signature.

    "This is simply an inquiry," Apodaca said. "We will go where the facts lead us."

    Apodaca made a point of noting that the inquiry was not intended to disparage Trogdon. Apodaca called Trogdon "one of the finest public servants we have in this state," adding that his integrity was not in question.

    Sen. Bill Rabon, R-Brunswick, told the committee that budget writers saw money set aside for the two toll projects that were not going to be used during the upcoming year. He said that Trogdon verified that the money wouldn't be needed.

    Rabon said that when he saw the altered letter bearing Trogdon's signature, he immediately said, "Jim Trogdon did not do this," adding that he would not have retracted what he said with out first notifying them.

    The governor's office issued a statement on the issue, but didn't specifically tackle the issue of Trogdon's signature appearing on the letters in question. Chris Mackey, Perdue's press secretary, said:

    "The governor, the North Carolina Department of Transportation (DOT), and a bipartisan group of legislators want to see progress on the Garden Parkway and the Mid-Currituck Bridge projects as quickly as possible. Moreover, progress on those projects is mandated by North Carolina law. The governor's office worked with DOT on a letter to send to legislators expressing the administration's support for these projects. A DOT official composed a draft letter, and members of the governor's staff suggested some edits. The governor's office and DOT will continue to work together--in coordination with members of the General Assembly--to ensure that these projects move forward as quickly as possible."

    Trogdon, in a statement, said that steps have been taken to make sure such an incident doesn't happen again. He said:

    "In an effort to respond quickly to inquiries from concerned members of the General Assembly, a letter was sent under my signature last week that was confusing. I was not available to review the final language of the letter before the time that it was needed. The governor's staff and DOT's deputy secretary for Intergovernmental affairs believed both that the changes were accurate and that I would have approved them. Therefore, the deputy secretary approved the revised language, and staff placed my signature on the letter. Steps have been taken to ensure that confusion like this does not happen in the future."

    Sen. Martin Nesbitt, D-Buncombe, the Senate's minority leader, said that while he thought some people would have "egg on their face," he felt that everyone was trying to act in good faith.

    Nesbitt said that the confusion resulted out the budget moving through too swiftly, with out Senate appropriations subcommittees getting a chance to review the document.

    Nesbitt said that lawmakers were working to make sure money would be in the budget for the two toll projects in later years.

    "Everybody's trying to perform on the fly," Nesbitt said. "When you do that, you're going to have problems."

    Apodaca said he doesn't know where the hearings will lead. Nor would he rule out the possibility of forwardingresults to the State Ethics Committee or the district attorney's office.

    "But we're getting way ahead of ourselves," Apodaca said.