OP-ED: We need honest and competent leadership for North Carolina

(Editor’s Note: Jim Duncan is the COO of the Dan Forest for Governor campaign. He entered politics after a successful 30-year career in the tech industry, becoming chairman of the Chatham County GOP and a founding member of the nonpartisan Coalition for American Principles, a grassroots citizens group dedicated to fiscal responsibility and individual liberty. He writes here on the need for proven leadership in the governor’s office.)

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by Jim Duncan

I spent a lifetime in the business world solving problems. But nowhere have I seen a management problem like the one we face right now in North Carolina.

Under Gov. Roy Cooper’s administration, core areas of government are struggling to function — putting North Carolinians in unnecessary pain.

To name a few recent examples:

Investigators found that Gov. Cooper improperly used his authority and influence to secure a slush fund of cash from Duke Energy in exchange for a permit for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline.

Besides the fact that this is unethical behavior, it is bad for business. It hurts all of our efforts to bring jobs to North Carolina.

Business executives talk to each other, and word gets around if the Governor is going to shake you down for cash when you try to invest in North Carolina.

Even 500 days after hurricanes hit eastern North Carolina, the state had spent just 7% of the money allocated to it for storm recovery. A nonpartisan legislative inquiry cited “administrative missteps and lack of expertise” as the reason why families hadn’t been able to rebuild their homes.

The N.C. Department of Transportation laid off hundreds of workers and then needed a bailout after mismanaging its finances, delaying some 900 projects. The bailout was needed even after Cooper’s administration raided more than $1 billion from the Highway Trust Fund, an act the State Treasurer said circumvented the law.

Of course, this is nothing new.

On his way to the Executive Mansion, Gov. Cooper left behind a Department of Justice in disarray. As state attorney general, untested rape kits piled up, leaving victims without justice. And Cooper’s State Crime Lab tainted at least 230 cases with faulty forensic evidence practices.

It’s a shame he got a promotion.

In the business world, accountability starts at the top. The same is true in government.

North Carolina needs a new governor.

We need a governor with the business experience to get state government working for the people who pay for it.

A governor who understands what it means to make payroll.

A governor who values living within our means.

A governor with a vision.

A Governor Dan Forest.

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Jim Duncan is the COO of the Dan Forest for Governor campaign. He entered politics after a successful 30-year career in the tech industry, becoming chairman of the Chatham County GOP and a founding member of the nonpartisan Coalition for American Principles, a grassroots citizens group dedicated to fiscal responsibility and individual liberty.