Truth set her free - of a job

On the day Debbie Crane was fired for doing her job, and doing it well, she called a friend and asked for help getting in to see a psychiatrist. Immediately.

"I needed to talk to someone," the deposed Department of Health and Human Services spokeswoman said. "I couldn't have made it home to Hillsborough."

She was raw that day, raging, injured. Besides being axed, she had been called "dishonest, untruthful and insubordinate" by Gov. Mike Easley through spokesman Seth Effron.

Crane and anyone who'd ever worked with her knew the allegations weren't true. Still, she found herself in the strange position of having been publicly maligned by the state's chief executive.

"My mother out in Brevard was hearing from old friends, saying, 'What is going on with Debbie?'" Crane said.

In truth, all Crane had done was follow the law. She'd provided public records to reporters. That those records led to damning stories about the administration's handling of mental health reforms was not her fault.

But when Crane alleged that the governor's office had ordered staff to delete e-mail, she made an enemy in the executive branch. Never mind that e-mail messages are covered under the state's open records law. Never mind that Crane was telling the truth - a fact confirmed last week.

See, Crane was a loyal state employee, but she never thought of herself as a hired gun protecting the governor, or the DHHS secretary, or even her department. A former TV reporter, she liked her job best when she was helping regular folk get information they wanted or needed. Public records, after all, belong to the public.

After almost 19 years in state government, Crane had built a solid reputation - and a growing retirement nest egg. The promise of that retirement is one reason many people remain in state government; Crane's retirement was stunted by the firing.

The money that she contributed is still there, of course. But to begin rebuilding those benefits, Crane would need to be hired again by the state.

In the months following her dismissal, she applied for lots of jobs - to no avail. Even for a woman as dynamic as Crane, selling yourself after the governor calls you a liar is no easy feat. One attorney she contacted told her point blank: You're damaged goods. She toyed with the idea of suing.

Finally, Crane landed a great position for a great organization - the Nature Conservancy of North Carolina. She is happy.

With last week's revelation that indeed there was a directive from the Easley administration to destroy e-mail, Crane is also, finally, publicly, vindicated. She has printed copies of the press reports to attach to her résumé, she said.

The former chancellor and provost at N.C. State, who lied to cover their butts in the hiring and promotion of Mary Easley, are still on the state payroll. Yet Crane was fired. Silly her: She told the truth.