Tom Fetzer's closet

When people in glass houses throw stones, the ricochet effects can be interesting. Such is the case with Tom Fetzer and his new-found passion for integrity in government. Could it be that he was an early arrival in the line of greedy politicians?

[Fetzer] was in the news again today, chastising Gov. Bev Perdue for not forcing Democratic fundraiser Lanny Wilson off the NC Board of Transportation and NC Turnpike Board as soon as it became known that he used his insider influence to get environment permits for the coastal developments of Gary and Randy Allen.

Fetzer may want to be careful where he points. One of those developments, Cannonsgate, is becoming well known because of the waterfront lot purchased by former Democratic Gov. Mike Easley and because of its central role in the indictment of Ruffin Poole.

Now Jack Betts of the McClatchy chain has a column that traces the Cannonsgate mischief back to the days when Republican Gov. Jim Martin was in charge and the original developer of the Cannonsgate property, GOP fundraiser E. Steve Stroud of Raleigh, was using his influence to gain favored treatment from Martin's environment officials. Betts' column names the secretary of Gov. Martin's environment agency, Tommy Rhodes, but he doesn't name one of the department assistant secretaries: Tom Fetzer.

Fetzer was later a chief deputy secretary in Gov. Martin's Department of Transportation, which provided so many favors to GOP political patrons that it merited an investigative series by ace reporter Barry Yeoman in the NC Independent called Highway Robbery (pdf). Political corruption is buy-partisan."

Hat tip to Rob Schofield for connecting the dots in The Myth of Liberal Corruption. Rob's closing comment is right as rain:

Let's hope that in addition to boosting new and tougher state ethics laws, the Easley and Edwards episodes can also be used as a part of a general effort to push back against the influence of the "greed is good" ideology in our culture. Perhaps more people will come to see that while conservatives may be leading the charge in attacking the misdeeds of Easley and Edwards, in many ways they're just reaping what they themselves have helped sow.

Additional hat tip to ">Democracy NC who always have an ear to the ground on ethics.

For a full history of Republican transportation corruption, and a look at the launching pad for Tom Fetzer's career, see Barry Yeoman's full series, Highway Robbery, on his website.