‘Purely on the basis of politics’: 3 GOP members on UNC board oppose move to Raleigh
Three former Republican North Carolina state legislators now on the UNC System Board of Governors voted against the first step of a plan to move the system headquarters from Chapel Hill to Raleigh.
Art Pope, Leo Daughtry and John Fraley are frustrated with the decision made by GOP leadership in the state legislature, saying it lacks transparency, was based on political motivations and is a waste of money. They each voted against the motion to authorize the system office to execute a lease to acquire office space in Raleigh.
The action was ultimately approved by the board at its meeting Thursday.
The decision to move was done “purely on the basis of politics,” Daughtry said at the meeting.
Kept secret from board members
The special provision was added to a more than 600-page budget document three days before it was passed. Daughtry said it never went through a committee, so people, including himself, didn’t know about it until after it was reported by the media.
The board never met or voted on the issue until now and they were not consulted about the decision, which Daughtry and Pope didn’t like.
“As a Board of Governors, most of us never even heard of it until we read it in the newspaper,” said Pope who first raised concerns at the meeting.
Pope faulted UNC Board Chairman Randy Ramsey for the initial secrecy because he didn’t share the legislature’s plan with other board members, The News & Observer previously reported.
The board members being kept in the dark about the legislature’s order to move the offices to Raleigh further shows the political power that lawmakers have over the state’s higher education system — an influence that has been criticized. Each of these board members was appointed by Republican leadership in the General Assembly.
Politics at play
At Thursday’s meeting, Daughtry described a conversation with Bill Friday, the revered UNC System president who died in 2012, about how other states used universities as a “dumping ground for maybe politicians who needed a job.”
Friday said that the UNC System Board of Governors is a “buffer” and “our wall to prevent, as much as possible, politics seeping into the university system,” according to Daughtry, who was a state representative at the time.
“Recently, it seems to me that politics is beginning to seep underneath our buffer,” Daughtry said.
He said that the UNC System has hired people from state government and tripled their salaries and has a “political operative” on a monthly retainer. Though he didn’t mention anyone by name, he seemed to be referring to Senate Leader Phil Berger’s former chief of staff Jim Blaine, who was hired by the system in 2019.
There are several other strong personal and political connections between the university system and the General Assembly.
“This particular issue is the most political thing that has happened,” Daughtry said.
What’s the deal?
Through the state budget, the legislature mandated that all staff and operations move to a new, undetermined space by the end of 2022.
Lawmakers allocated about $3.8 million for the UNC System to lease a space in Raleigh for three or four years, which was the issue at hand Thursday.
They also allocated an additional $11.4 million for the planning and design of a second and permanent move to a future downtown government complex in Raleigh with other departments. The state could spend up to $100 million for that relocation project.
Pope, who is also a former state budget director, and Fraley were more concerned with the finances of the decision.
The system is using the $15 million of “one-time money” for what could be a recurring expense, because the future availability of that complex is unknown, Pope said. And on a four-year basis, there may be big difference between what money is needed and what the state gives, creating a cash flow issue, he said.
Pope criticized the lack of accountability and transparency around the move. And he said it is unnecessary, because the UNC System has space in Chapel Hill that isn’t costing $15 million over the next four years.
“That’s $15 million not made available to meet the needs of the people of North Carolina in general, for education in particular,” he said.
Fraley, also a former Republican member of the North Carolina House of Representatives, said his trouble with the move is that it’s expensive and he does not see a reason for it.
“This move is going to cost us a lot of money that we really do not have to spend,” Fraley said.
This story was originally published May 26, 2022 at 6:44 PM with the headline "‘Purely on the basis of politics’: 3 GOP members on UNC board oppose move to Raleigh."
