Wood back in the political game
An alert reader who wishes to remain nameless pointed me to this item:
Former Rep. Steve Wood, formerly of High Point, is running for the Tobaccoville village council. Yes, the Steve Wood who was close enough to the Speaker Black scandal to be called to testify but not so close as to face prosecution himself. From this story in the Winston-Salem Journal:
Wood, 59, a singer, songwriter, minister and actor, is a newcomer to Tobaccoville government, but served for 16 years as a member of the N.C. House of Representatives.Wood said he is running for a council seat because he and his family have a history with the village.
"I played Little League and Pony League baseball here as a kid, and the heritage of this community, with its strong family ties, vigorous work ethic, and vibrant faith culture, is a tradition and small-town culture I want to help maintain," he said.
Wood said he plans to support keeping property taxes low, oppose changes to the village charter that would force annexation and work to maintain and establish good relationships with neighboring towns and communities.
This is not Steve Wood's first run for municipal office since serving in the state legislature. In 2005, he ran against High Point Mayor Becky Smothers. Smothers took 72 percent of the vote in that election.
Those in the Raleigh orbit will remember that Wood, a Republican, was one of two GOP legislators for whom former Democratic Speaker Jim Black gathered some campaign donations following the 2002 election. Wood never got those checks. The other legislator, Republican Mike Decker, did. But four years later, Decker said he ended up having an attack of guilt and helped prosecutors to bring down the former Speaker.
According to his testimony before the State Board of Elections in 2006, Wood said that he and Black discussed some sort of power-sharing arrangement following the 2002 election but it never came to fruition.
From a story I wrote during that hearing:
Wood, who served eight terms off and on from the mid-1980s until 2005, was called to testify."Were you aware that there was any fund-raising activity or efforts going on on your behalf by Speaker Black or any individuals associated with him in January 2003?" Leake asked.
"No sir, I did not," Wood said.
"Did you have any idea that same (fund-raising activity) had occurred prior to being contacted by our staff and myself in recent weeks," Leake asked.
"No sir, I did not," Wood said.
Wood said he had talked with Black after the November 2002 election in an effort to craft a cooperative agreement to run the closely divided House. He said those talks broke off when Decker made his switch. But Wood said Black never made an offer of a fund-raising support if he would switch parties.
After his testimony, Wood pointed out to a group of reporters that he voted against the power-sharing arrangement between Black and Morgan in 2003. Other than that, he only offered that he had come to answer the board's questions and had done so.
When pressed outside the hearing room as to why Black might have thought he was a potential ally, Wood repeated that he had answered the board's questions. He was then ushered into an elevator by someone who described himself as a "family friend" and advised Wood to say nothing more.
Wood and Black do have a history.
In 1999, Wood angered his fellow Republicans by backing Black for speaker. Black won the post, the first of a record-tying four-term run. That year, Wood was appointed to several powerful committees, including the House Rules Committee.
In 2000, Republicans recruited John Blust of Guilford County, then a former state senator, to run against Wood in the hotly contested primary.
Wood's campaign finance reports show he was an inconsistent fund-raiser, in some years gathering no money for his election bids.
But as the primary campaign heated up, Wood did receive several larger-than-typical donations, including $1,450 from chiropractors and their association's political action committee. Among those chiropractors who gave in 2001, was Willen, who testified Wednesday that he did not know Wood or even know if he lived in Wood's district.
Blust went on to win that election, but not before facing Wood a second time. The High Point legislator switched his party affiliation to the Reform Party and ran against Blust in the general election.
One would imagine there is much less potential for intrigue on the Tobaccoville Town Council.