Allen on Poole

At the state Board of Elections hearing in October, developer Gary Allen was asked about Ruffin Poole. Here is a transcript of the exchange, which touched on contacts made by Allen and his partner Lanny Wilson as well as former Gov. Mike Easley's chief fundraiser, Michael Hayden.

Q     Do you know Ruffin Poole?

A     I do.

Q     How do you know Mr. Poole?

A     I believe Lanny Wilson introduced him to me, I don't know, sometime maybe early 2000, 2001 or '2 or somewhere along in there.

Q     Did you ever have any business relationship with him?

A     No.  I don't have any business relationship with him.

Q     Was he trying to assist you at all with the Oyster Harbour project?

A     Yes.  Yeah, he tried.  I think Lanny contacted him to ask him if he could help to get someone to look at the fact I was complaining about the delay.  And so--it just seemed unreasonably long to me, so I think he asked--asked Ruffin if he, you know, could get somebody to take a look at that that maybe would have enough knowledge, detailed knowledge, in the staff and---

Q     Detail knowledge in the staff of---

A     Detailed knowledge in terms of looking at the issue that was involved about the grass or the--and how we might--we needed to talk to somebody that could give us a little guidance on what we needed to do to meet the concerns of the staff, so I think he--we asked him to--I asked Lanny and Lanny got him.

And then I asked him to--you know, if he would, you know, see if he could get someone to take a look at it.  As it turned out, though, I don't know that much came of that.  It was really the outside experts that re‑engineered the bridge and the boat ramp that moved the thing forward with the staff.

Q     So did you meet or have a conversation with Ruffin Poole about it?

A     I don't recall whether I met with him or not, but we talked about it.

Q     You talked with him directly about it?

A     Either we talked about it or--you know, I talked to him about it or wrote him a letter, communicated with him somehow.

Q     Do you think you wrote him a letter?

A     Possible.  I think I communicated with him about it.  I just remember that Lanny--Lanny knew him a lot better than I did.  I didn't know him very well, but--at that point in time.  And so we talked about it, and I don't recall specifically if it was a phone or a letter.  But I talked to him about it and--I talked to Lanny and then he set up something where I think--it may have been a phone and a letter.  I don't know.

Q     What was your understanding of Mr. Poole's position within the government?

A     I believe Lanny said he was, you know, counsel to Governor Easley.  Specifically his job description I don't know beyond that.

Q     And you thought he would have some insight into how the Division of Water Quality functioned?

A     Well, yeah, I assume.  Lanny must have thought so or he wouldn't have got him, you know, to communicate with me about it.

Q     Now, was Lanny's request to him before or after Lanny had asked you for money for the Easley campaign or for the Democrat Party?

A     You know, I don't really recall.  I don't--to me those things were not really tied together in any way anyway.  And I don't recall the dates of it all.

Q     In your discussions with Lanny Wilson were you talking about other matters, or how often did you talk with Lanny Wilson?

A     With, you know, some degree of frequency in those days because he was a partner in the project, so--I don't know whether it was once a month or, you know, once every two months or three months, but, you know, some degree of frequency, I guess.

Q     Would you have contributed the money in any event?

A     Yes.  I--when Lanny asked me to do--make a

contribution, I made a decision based upon his request at the time, and it really had nothing to do with anything else.

Q     Do you have any thoughts on why Ruffin Poole would brief Michael Hayden about Oyster Harbour?

A     I don't particularly, no.