They are employees who have committed crimes on the job, won their positions through political connections or have received big salaries and plum positions over the years.
They work, or worked, in state and local public jobs. Taxpayers paid their salaries, but they aren't entitled to know the details of these employees' hiring, compensation over the years, or performance. North Carolina's personnel law virtually shuts down that information.
On Sunday, The News & Observer began a three-part series, Keeping Secrets, that looks at the personnel law, what it hides and how its secrecy compares with other states. Day One looked at employees who behave badly, while Day Two looked at patronage and cronyism. The series includes a survey of state lawmakers on the issue, as well as comments from top legislative leaders. The series concludes Tuesday with a look at compensation and employment histories.
Dan Kane has covered local and state government and N.C. State University at The News & Observer since joining our staff in 1997. Most recently, he and J. Andrew Curliss teamed to report “The Missing Money,” a three-part series that explored the state's growing number of tax breaks and the related rising revenue loss. Kane's reporting also exposed one of the worst academic fraud cases in U.S. higher education history at UNC-Chapel Hill. Contact him at