Bonus Voterspeak: Questions for Bev Perdue
Lt. Gov. Bev Perdue and Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory remain locked in a tight race for the governor’s mansion. The two have traded leads in public polls and traded barbs through campaign ads.
We asked members of our Voterspeak panel for questions they would want to ask the pair, hoping to help people who might still be undecided in the race make up their minds.
Ruth Mary Weston, 54, Democrat:
“With tax revenues falling, how do you propose to balance the state’s budget?”
A: Perdue said she has helped balance state budgets before, including as a Senate budget chairman after Hurricane Floyd.
“I know how to do that, and we’re going to have a big shortfall to deal with,” she said. When asked for specifics, she said: “You do it the hard way; you make tough choices about what you invest in with limited funds.”
Perdue says the day after she is elected, she will begin assembling a team to examine the state budget and find cuts that can be made. She said she would protect budgets for education and she praised current Gov. Mike Easley’s move of ordering 3 percent budget cuts from state agencies.
Perdue said she would not advocate raising taxes, saying that would only frustrate the state’s current economic problems.
Jeff Bartolet, 38, Republican:
“What steps will you take to make state government more open and accountable to the people of this state?”
A: “The documents of North Carolina agencies and office holders belong to the people of the state,” Perdue said. She said she would make sure that as much as possible is posted online so the state would have a kind of “Google accountability.” That would include state contracts and bids so people could examine what the state is buying and how much it paid.
She added that anyone working in her administration would have to sign a form saying that if they were suspected of unethical conduct — even if cleared by the state ethics commission — they could be fired by the governor if their behavior “doesn’t pass the smell test.” Perdue added, “I intend to set a new standard for accountability.”
Finally, she said that she would work to establish public financing for statewide races so candidates for governor would not have to raise such large sums of money.
Kate Peeples, 27, unaffiliated:
“Why should I vote for either one of you?”
A: “This state must have someone who can build and protect the jobs we have,” Perdue said.
She pointed to her experience helping to keep military bases in the state and her efforts to invest in renewable fuels.
“I saw green before it was the cool thing to do,” Perdue said.
In general, Perdue said she had the right experience to manage the state’s budget through the economic downturn.
Compiled by staff writer Mark Binker
Comments (6)
To report abuse of the comment feature on this site, please use the feedback form at the bottom of any page.
The jaw dropping thing about Bev Perdue is that even though 2 Perdue fundraisers on the Dept. of Transportation board have resigned this year, the last one as recent as September, she still continues to take money from other DOT board members. She promised an office of "transparency" after the last guy had to resign but 4 days later she took more campaign contributions from another DOT board member. She accepted $17,000 from DOT board members in the last quarter of campaign finance reporting. Does that sound like transparency to you? Does that sound like she is going to clean up corruption in Raleigh or continue the corruption? Perdue still has the DOT board in her back pocket. It's time we stop the corruption in Raleigh and let Bev Perdue know that we want to clean up NC.
http://tinyurl.com/6932y8
Posted on November 3, 2008 7:19 AM
Dear Govener, Why is it taking so long to get our refund. I filled about 2 months ago. I heard that our state is broke. Well so am I. It's not much money but any money to me is good. I just came off of unemployement and went without a paycheck for 3 weeks. I need my money. please reply with an answer about a time fram. Thank You, broke as the state, Kimberly Janson
Posted on April 8, 2009 8:16 PM
Dear Govener, Why is it taking so long to get our refund. I filled about 2 months ago. I heard that our state is broke. Well so am I. It's not much money but any money to me is good. I just came off of unemployement and went without a paycheck for 3 weeks. I need my money. please reply with an answer about a time fram. Thank You, broke as the state, Kimberly Janson
Posted on April 8, 2009 8:16 PM
Dear Govener, Why is it taking so long to get our refund. I filled about 2 months ago. I heard that our state is broke. Well so am I. It's not much money but any money to me is good. I just came off of unemployement and went without a paycheck for 3 weeks. I need my money. please reply with an answer about a time fram. Thank You, broke as the state, Kimberly Janson
Posted on April 8, 2009 8:16 PM
Dear Govener, Why is it taking so long to get our refund. I filled about 2 months ago. I heard that our state is broke. Well so am I. It's not much money but any money to me is good. I just came off of unemployement and went without a paycheck for 3 weeks. I need my money. please reply with an answer about a time fram. Thank You, broke as the state, Kimberly Janson
Posted on April 8, 2009 8:16 PM
Dear Govener, Why is it taking so long to get our refund. I filled about 2 months ago. I heard that our state is broke. Well so am I. It's not much money but any money to me is good. I just came off of unemployement and went without a paycheck for 3 weeks. I need my money. please reply with an answer about a time fram. Thank You, broke as the state, Kimberly Janson
Posted on April 8, 2009 8:16 PM