NEWS RELEASE
Thursday, January 07, 2010
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Frankie Bordeaux (252) 883-8664

STATE SENATE CANDIDATE CALLS FOR CLEAN UP OF STATE GOVERNMENT

GREENVILLE – Frankie Bordeaux, a Democratic candidate for North Carolina Senate District 3, says political corruption and cronyism in Raleigh is undermining the public's confidence in state government. “It's time to shake things up in Raleigh,” Bordeaux added.

“Every day, there seems to be a news story about some politician lining his pockets to help himself or his friends or an article about rampant waste, corruption or political cronyism. We need a complete overhaul of state government. We need to clean up state government because we are seeing too many cases of powerful insiders profiting and helping themselves when they should be working to help the people they were elected to serve,” Bordeaux said.

“The people need to know their government isn't corrupt, that their state government is fair and working for all the people. The public needs to know that our state government is not working for just a few political insiders who serve in office, or people who work in state government or people who give big dollar donations to those who do serve,” Bordeaux added.

“When state government wastes our tax dollars, it hurts all of us. This is money that could be used to create job training programs, hire reading and math teachers or improve our mental hospitals,” Bordeaux said.

“There is too much waste, abuse, corruption and cronyism and it is hurting working families. If I am elected, I am not afraid to tackle this problem. Our state government needs to be as good as its people and we need leaders who not only talk about accountability and transparency but embrace it,” Bordeaux said.

The Greenville businessman proposed a series of actions to make state government more accountable.

•  Stop sole source contracts to prohibit insider advantages, require competitive bidding and bid procedures to ensure citizens are getting a good deal when the state makes purchases of goods and services. Remove the authority from the Department of Health & Human Services to make sole-source, no-bid contracts.

•  Create Inspector General positions in all state government departments to monitor spending and program management. This would allow for real-time input and action. All program spending would require review and approval from the Inspector General. The Inspector General would also reconcile departmental budgets on a monthly basis to avoid spending overruns.

•  Require tougher state penalties for falsifying campaign finance and/or personal financial disclosure forms.

•  Require all contracting and purchasing officers for the state to fully disclose financial interests and have a continuing education program on value, competitive purchases and ethical behavior and professionalism.

•  Require disclosure of political contributions by all political appointees by the executive and legislative branch. Require disclosure of all political contributions by any state contractors. Require a year-long cooling off period before any elected legislator or top ranking official in the executive branch could register as an agent or lobbyist for any interest group or company. These bills have passed the House of Representatives and are now pending consideration in the State Senate.

“Senator Clark Jenkins is part of the problem, it's a go-along to get along system and that's why we are seeing a breakdown in service and the public's loss of confidence in state government. It's time to shake things up in Raleigh,” said Bordeaux.