Gov. Bev Perdue cautioned state officials Tuesday to expect "a big announcement in early November about merging, eliminating, consolidating pieces of state government," according to an update on the governor's Facebook page.
The governor made her comments at the end of a Council of State meeting and did not offer details.
But Chrissy Pearson, her spokeswoman, noted that the state faces a projected $3.5 billion to $4 billion budget shortfall for the fiscal year beginning in July, when federal money from the stimulus package runs out.
"You've heard her say for some time that this bad economy we are suffering from is also an opportunity, if we choose, to transform state government," Pearson said. "That includes consolidating pieces of state government, from programs to potentially agencies."
Pearson said the recommendations will likely come in early- to mid-November. Some may require legislative action. Perdue believes that her ideas for consolidating government would likely find support in the legislature from Democrats and Republicans, Pearson said.
NYC to Ellmers: Butt out
Mind your own business. That was the message of a member of New York's state assembly, who wrote Renee Ellmers a scorching letter on Sept. 27.
The letter, from New York Democrat Deborah Glick, urged Ellmers, the Republican challenger in North Carolina's 2nd Congressional District, to stick to issues here instead of meddling in the debate over Park51, the Muslim community center planned for a site a couple of blocks from ground zero in New York City.
Ellmers got national attention last month after unveiling a TV ad that called the community center a "victory mosque," linked it with terrorists and erroneously showed three mosques it said were built to commemorate victories in Istanbul, Jerusalem and Cordoba, Spain. Incumbent Democrat Bob Etheridge, Ellmers' ad said, won't take a stand on the center.
Etheridge's campaign replied that he didn't think the site was a smart place to build the center but that he had stayed out of the issue because it was a New York issue.
Glick, whose district includes ground zero, wrote Ellmers that the community center site does not border the location of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. There are several bars and strip clubs in the neighborhood, "which hardly constitutes 'sacred ground,'" Glick wrote.
"If you seek to be one more Congressional demagogue," Glick wrote, "please do it by focusing on issues in your own district and stay out of mine."
Ellmers has said that voters in the 2nd District are concerned about the proposed community center.
Glover's Long Leaf
Randy Glover has beengiven the state's highest honor - the Order of the Long Leaf Pine.
Reuben Young, the secretary for Crime Control and Public Safety, presented Glover, the former commander of the N.C. Highway Patrol, with the honor at a big retirement party held last week.
"There is no man more committed and passionate about the State Highway Patrol than Randy Glover," Young said, according to the New Bern Sun Journal.
Glover commanded the patrol for 10 months before his resignation in July. His tenure in the top job was marked by embarrassing disclosures about misconduct by troopers under his command.
Glover is an old friend of Perdue. The governor decides who receives the Order of the Long Leaf Pine.
A Perdue spokeswoman said it's routine for state employees who retire after 30 years of service to receive the award. A copy of the form nominating Glover simply gives "dedicated state employee" as the reason for the award.
Recipients include such famous Tar Heels as Maya Angelou, Billy Graham, Michael Jordan, Bob Timberlake and Rick Hendrick, along with longtime state employees, prominent business executives and noted politicians, athletes, musicians, actors and advocates.
By staff writers Rob Christensen, Jay Price and Michael Biesecker
