Perdue chooses new HHS leader

Gov.-elect Beverly Perdue today chose Lanier Cansler to be the next head of the state Department of Health and Human Services, creating potential conflicts of interest within one of the state’s largest agencies.

Cansler is a former DHHS deputy secretary who left his state job in 2005 after four years. He started a consulting and lobbying firm, Cansler Fuquay Solutions, and developed a client list that includes work for companies that do business with DHHS.

Until today, Cansler was the registered lobbyist for Computer Sciences Corporation, a Virginia company that won a $265.2 million contract a few weeks ago to build and run a Medicaid bill-paying system for the state.

Perdue said she carefully vetted Cansler.

"I really believe secretary Cansler understands that the mission of DHHS is to put our citizens first.

Cansler said his experience inside and outside the department will help him.

"My plan is to bring all this experience and background together," Cansler said.

Cansler told reporters that he registered as a lobbyist strictly out of caution. He did no real lobbying other than to introduce his clients to lawmakers.

Perdue said she talked about lobbying issues extensively and that Cansler will not participate in decisions that might present a conflict of interest.

As DHHS secretary, Cansler will be responsible for overseeing CSC's contract and considering whether the award was fair if CSC’s competitor challenges it.

Cansler also worked for the company that won the Medicaid claims contract in 2004 and had it taken away two years later. He was a registered lobbyist for Value Options, a company that evaluates mental health care for Medicaid patients. Legislators want to phase-out Value Options and return that job to local government mental health offices, while Value Options if fighting to keep the work.

Cansler also lobbies for the ARC of North Carolina, a private provider that does business with the state and helps shape policies on issues related to the developmentally disabled.

State law prevents lobbyists from being appointed to regulatory boards and commissions they lobby, said Bob Phillips, executive director of Common Cause North Carolina. While the law doesn’t address lobbyists taking charge of state agencies, Phillips said there should be a “cooling off period” of at least 12 months between lobbying for an agency and being appointed to run it.

Perdue completed her cabinet today with the appointment of Cansler as well as:

- Ken Lay, a marketing executive with Bank of America in Charlotte to head the Department of Revenue;

- Dee Freeman, former executive director of the Triangle J Council of Governments, to serve as secretary of environment and natural resources; and

- Britt Cobb, who will remain as secretary of administration, the only member of Gov. Mike Easley's cabinet to keep his job.