A top state public information officer says that he was directed by close staff of former Gov. Mike Easley to shred a letter that had been sent in 2007 to Easley from the mayor of Southport.
Ernie Seneca, who worked in several high public information positions for Easley and now oversees communications for statewide crime control agencies, said the directive came from Easley's press office. He said he was not certain who in that office told him the letter should be shredded but thinks it was Sherri Johnson, then the governor's press secretary.
Seneca routed the letter, dated Nov. 29, 2007, to a deputy secretary at the state Department of Transportation with the instruction to "shred this after reading." Seneca said it was a copy of the letter, not the original.
Destruction of records has been an issue for the Easley administration. In 2008 The News & Observer sued Easley over destruction ofe-mail; the suit is pending.
As part of that lawsuit Johnson has testified that the former governor wantede-mail messages to and from his office deleted so they would not become public. The lawsuit focuses on destruction of e-mail messages and not the possible shredding of other documents, such as the letter that was marked for shredding.
Johnson said Friday that because of the pending litigation, she could not comment about whether she advised that the letter be shredded.
Seneca has previously acknowledged deleting e-mail messages on a daily basis that were public records.
Documents in the possession of state agencies are public records in North Carolina, and state law prohibits their destruction unless specific guidelines are followed.
Gov. Bev Perdue, a Democrat, has issued an executive order that says no e-mail can be deleted within 24 hours and that requires agencies to back up e-mail messages daily.
The Easley letter came from his friend Norman Holden, then the mayor of Southport. At the time, Holden held a $19,800-a-year contract as a liaison for the DOT, and he was winding down his duties as mayor in Easley's hometown. Holden appeared this week at the federal courthouse in Raleigh, where a federal grand jury continued its probe into Easley.
Updating Easley
In the letter, Holden updated Easley, a Democrat, on several matters. He wrote that Republicans were behind the new mayor and some new members of the town board of aldermen - and that the newly elected officials would rely on then-Rep. Bonner Stiller, a Republican, for "contacts, legislative issues, and grants." Holden wrote that Stiller, who has resigned from the House, "speaks only to serve himself and republicans," a charge Stiller denied.
Holden also relayed to the governor that developers at Bald Head Island, the private and exclusive development across the Cape Fear River from Southport, were having difficulty with the DOT on an issue. It related to getting permission for a driveway.
"I think the problem is mainly coming from our Brunswick County Engineer," Holden wrote. "We have had several problems with her."
Records show Seneca routed the letter to Dan DeVane, DOT's deputy secretary, the overseer of Holden's contract.
DeVane's secretary put a note on the letter for DeVane.
"From Ernie - advises that you shred this after reading."
DeVane, who could not be reached, did not follow the advice.
No memory, at first
In an interview, Seneca said at first that he had no recollection of the circumstances or what happened. "I just don't remember any of that," he said. He repeated that answer in response to several questions, such as whether he had done that before or since.
After a report on the letter was posted Thursday on newsobserver.com, Seneca called a reporter to offer more information. He then said he recalled receiving the letter from Easley's press office with explicit instructions that it should be destroyed after reading. He said he wouldn't have ordered the document shredded "unless I was told by someone else."
Seneca said his advice to shred would have been unusual. "It would not have been a typical thing," he said.
Records retention schedules require documents to be stored for five years or more. Some can be destroyed when their "reference value" has passed, according to state policies.
Mike Tadych, a media lawyer who represents the N.C. Press Association and has handled cases for The N&O, said a public information officer should not advise destroying a record as soon as it is read.
