RALEIGH – For anyone prone to attribute everything in North Carolina politics to partisan conspiracy theories, the past several weeks of confrontation between Gov. Mike Easley and legislative leaders ought to serve as a refresher course in chaos and complexity. Differences in personal priorities and styles matter, too. And there’s little likelihood that the standoff over state-owned property in Mecklenburg and Currituck counties is going to end soon.
The latest maneuvers have been the governor’s. Last week, he convinced a reluctant Council of State to approve the sale of a Charlotte parcel to a private company for $5.25 million, rather than allow legislation take affect to convey the land to the Johnson & Wales cooking school for $1. Perhaps a little more time would have generated an even-better deal for North Carolina taxpayers, but Easley didn’t appear to have it.
Afterwards, the question remained what to do about the bill, enacted by large majorities in both chambers of the General Assembly. Half of it, the Johnson & Wales giveaway, was rendered moot by the Council of State action. The other half was the legislature’s latest attempt to settle a longstanding dispute with the Easley administration over the conveyance of more than 500 acres of land in and around the Currituck Airport. Last year’s budget bill required the governor to give the land to the county, which is expected to use it for economic development. Easley preferred to sell as much as possible, and interpreted the legislative language as vague enough to allow him to limit its import. State courts upheld his interpretation.
Of course, the General Assembly is within its rights to “clarify” its intentions via a new bill, which it did. But on Saturday, the governor vetoed it. His reasoning? The official story is that the Johnson & Wales component wasn’t just rendered moot by last week’s events – it had become a violation of law. “Since the property has been sold and deeded for $5.25 million, it is not available to be deeded to another party as per this legislation, and such a conveyance as contemplated in the bill would be illegal,” Easley said.
Legislative leaders weren’t inclined to agree, and seemed to believe (with good reason, I suspect) that the governor had taken an opportunity to again stake out a position against their land giveaways. He is within his rights to do so, as would the legislature be if it overruled him.
Actually, there was an interesting difference between the two leaders on this issue. House Speaker Jim Black said he was surprised that Easley had vetoed the bill. “I really thought it was over when he sold that building,” Black told The Charlotte Observer. “I’m not really sure why he vetoed it. There must be a crack in the door somewhere and if there is, I’m going to look through it.”
But Senate leader Marc Basnight said he had expected the veto all along. “We knew this was coming,” he said. “He wouldn’t have done this if he hadn’t sold the property.”
Here’s one prediction I feel fearless in offering: this dispute isn’t over yet. Not by a long shot.
Hood is president of the John Locke Foundation.