Petty GOP leader puts Democrat in the NC House basement | Opinion
North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore is a real cutup.
The jovial Kings Mountain Republican is busy ushering the state budget bill through the House, but he still has time for hijinks.
His latest knee-slapper is moving the office of a Democratic state representative who called for an investigation of the House speaker. Rep. Terence Everitt’s new office is a former supply room in the Legislative Building’s basement.
Everitt said the move reflected the Republicans’ autocratic approach to controlling the legislature.
“The idea that someone would even question them sends them into a kind of tizzy,” he said. “They want to stifle any kind of dissent.”
Moore announced the move Thursday in a sarcastic letter to Everitt saying the relocation was necessary for his security. A social media post by a Carolina Journal reporter revealed a loud dispute occurred Wednesday in Everitt’s office between Everitt and Democratic Sen. Paul Lowe.
Everitt had posted on social media that Lowe was the only Senate Democrat to withhold his signature from a letter protesting Republican plans to tie passage of the state budget to expanding casino gambling. It was a mixup. Lowe is on board and Everitt deleted the post.
But that didn’t stop Moore from having fun with the situation. In his letter, Moore suggested Everitt was afraid of Lowe and “I want you to know that I take the safety and security of you and every member of the legislature very seriously, and have determined it appropriate to elevate your security.”
It’s clear what the real reason is behind Moore’s action. The speaker, who is divorced, was accused in a recent alienation of affection lawsuit of having a relationship with another man’s wife, though Moore said he thought the couple had separated. The offended husband said his wife feared ending the relationship because it might affect her job as a lobbyist for the North Carolina Conference of Clerks of Superior Court. She also got hefty pay hikes during what Moore called their casual relationship, though Moore didn’t have control over her salary.
After reaching an undisclosed agreement, the husband dropped the lawsuit, but Everitt sent a letter to Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman calling for an investigation of the matter. Freeman declined to investigate.
Moore, however, did not decline to retaliate.
Everitt, a three-term House member representing northwest Wake County, takes a passionate approach to his job, sometimes at the expense of members of his own party. Democrats could use more of what he has.
“Ultimately, we are going to need people more interested in doing the job than keeping the job,” he said.
Or keeping their office.
Associate opinion editor Ned Barnett can be reached at 919-404-7583, or nbarnett@ newsobserver.com
