In the wake of former Gov. Mike Easley’s felony plea, there’s been a good deal of discussion about The News & Observer’s role in the case.

Easley’s attorney, Joseph Cheshire V, took us on after Easley’s plea. N&O Executive Editor John Drescher responded in a column. Now comes D.G. Martin, a former political candidate, former UNC official and now a columnist for newspapers around North Carolina, with this column.

Martin is, of course, entitled to his own opinion. But he isn’t entitled to his own facts. And when he writes about our story about Easley’s free golf membership, he leaves a false impression about Easley’s membership and he makes an error about our coverage.

First, Martin writes that it’s customary for some clubs and organizations to give honorary non-dues paying memberships to high officials. (That may be so, although we’d be interested in that story as well.) But the fact, as J. Andrew Curliss laid out in his story in August 2009, is that Easley joined the ritzy Old Chatham Golf Club before he was governor and paid the $50,000 initiation fee.

After he was elected, he accepted the club’s offer of free dues, worth a minimum of $50,000 over eight years. And he didn’t report the gift, as his own executive order required. The same goes for the $137,000 discount Easley accepted when he bought a coastal lot in development that had gotten permits quickly from the Easley administration.

Second, the column asserts that the membership really might not have been worth much if Easley didn’t use the club often. (That seems beside the point, since all other members presumably were paying their dues regardless of the frequency of their appearances.) But then Mr. Martin errs, writing that “the Easley story did not tell whether he used the club daily, weekly, occasionally, rarely, or not at all.”

Not true. Curliss' story said, both in the body of the story and in a separate box, that Easley had used the club at least 22 times over eight years. Curliss had to piece those numbers together using records from the Highway Patrol, which provided security for the governor. Those records, by the way, are incomplete, given that many from 2005 were lost by the Patrol.

To his credit, when we notified Martin of the error, he says he notified the papers that carry his column and asked them to take out the incorrect information before publication. Those that had already published will publish a correction with his next column, he says.

-- Steve Riley

In the wake of former Gov. Mike Easley’s felony plea, there’s been a good deal of discussion about The News & Observer’s role in the case.

Easley’s attorney, Joseph Cheshire V, took us on after Easley’s plea. N&O Executive Editor John Drescher responded in a column. Now comes D.G. Martin, a former political candidate, former UNC official and now a columnist for newspapers around North Carolina, with this column.

Martin is, of course, entitled to his own opinion. But he isn’t entitled to his own facts. And when he writes about our story about Easley’s free golf membership, he leaves a false impression about Easley’s membership and he makes an error about our coverage.

First, Martin writes that it’s customary for some clubs and organizations to give honorary non-dues paying memberships to high officials. (That may be so, although we’d be interested in that story as well.) But the fact, as J. Andrew Curliss laid out in his story in August 2009, is that Easley joined the ritzy Old Chatham Golf Club before he was governor and paid the $50,000 initiation fee.

After he was elected, he accepted the club’s offer of free dues, worth a minimum of $50,000 over eight years. And he didn’t report the gift, as his own executive order required. The same goes for the $137,000 discount Easley accepted when he bought a coastal lot in development that had gotten permits quickly from the Easley administration.

Second, the column asserts that the membership really might not have been worth much if Easley didn’t use the club often. (That seems beside the point, since all other members presumably were paying their dues regardless of the frequency of their appearances.) But then Mr. Martin errs, writing that “the Easley story did not tell whether he used the club daily, weekly, occasionally, rarely, or not at all.”

Not true. Curliss' story said, both in the body of the story and in a separate box, that Easley had used the club at least 22 times over eight years. Curliss had to piece those numbers together using records from the Highway Patrol, which provided security for the governor. Those records, by the way, are incomplete, given that many from 2005 were lost by the Patrol.

To his credit, when we notified Martin of the error, he says he notified the papers that carry his column and asked them to take out the incorrect information before publication. Those that had already published will publish a correction with his next column, he says.

-- Steve Riley
 

Two former cabinet members in the administration of former Gov. Mike Easley arrived this morning at the Federal Building in Raleigh, where a federal grand jury is meeting.

Former Transportation Secretary Lyndo Tippett had little to say this morning as arrived. Tippett was the administrator of a contract with former  Southport Mayor Norman Holden, a friend of Easley. Holden appeared at the federal building last month when the grand jury met. Federal investigators have subpoenaed documents relating to Holden's contract.

Tippett was in the building for about three hours and left at 5 p.m. He declined to answer any questions about the grand jury proceedings.

Asked if he was going to talk with the grand jury, former Commerce Secretary Jim Fain replied, "I've got a little business here today."

Fain spent about two hours inside the federal building and left without commenting.

Easley tapped Fain to be Commerce Secretary, a post Fain held throughout Easley's two terms, from 2001 to 2009. Fain was a major fundraiser for Easley.

The grand jury has been meeting for more than a year and has issued a number of subpoenas seeking information on the Easley administration.

Easley, a Democrat, has said he is comfortable with the ongoing probes by state and federal authorities.

by staff writer J. Andrew Curliss

The UNC Board of Governors plans to take up the issue of paid leaves for administrators at its meetings Thursday and Friday, addressing concerns that the often six-figure payments to campus officials have gotten out of hand.

The leaves are intended to help administrators prepare for a return to teaching, but The News & Observer reported in August that paid leaves had been given to campus administrators who then retired, got jobs elsewhere or were shown the door. Some leave deals also violated UNC system policies.

Here's more from staff writer Eric Ferreri's Campus Notes blog. 

Documents:

Series of events leading to Governor Easley's purchase in Cannonsgate development.