Thread: State, Local Officials Take Tax-Backed Cruise

State, Local Officials Take Tax-Backed Cruise

POSTED: 8:47 am EDT July 12, 2006
UPDATED: 8:51 am EDT July 12, 2006

RALEIGH, N.C. -- About 160,000 visitors visited Beaufort recently for the tall ships festival, waiting in long lines amid sweltering heat.
But some local officials had a different experience.
About 200 state and local officials dined on seafood, sipped beer and wine, and listened to a steel-drum band on a waterfront cruise.
The News and Observer of Raleigh reported Wednesday that the two-hour event used a state ferry diverted from its regular route.
The total bill isn't in yet, but fuel alone will cost taxpayers about $2,800. The band cost about $1,200.
The beer and wine was provided by economic development groups.
Looking back, state Rep. Pricey Harrison said the cruise doesn't appear to have been appropriate.
She's now advocating stiffer rules for gifts and ethics for members of the Legislature.
http://www.wxii12.com/news/9503400/deta ... 22006&ts=H


Can't work to do something about these illegals, but they can take cruises on our tax dollars

Tax dollars hard at work eh?

What a joke.

These clowns do not have the right to use public funds for their entertainment and greed! Throw the bums out!!!

Here it is before the AP rewrite protected the "innocent."

Published: Jul 12, 2006 12:30 AM
Modified: Jul 12, 2006 05:34 AM


Officials cruised on public dime
Ferry tour featured food, booze, music

Tall ships like Alliance, left, and Serenity lured thousands of people to the coast. Some of them went home in a surly mood.
Staff File Photo by Chuck Liddy


J. Andrew Curliss, Staff Writer
While thousands of visitors strained to see a festival of tall ships at Beaufort this month, more than 200 state and local officials enjoyed the views from a cruise aboard a state-owned ferry that was paid for partly by taxpayers.
The invited-only guests got a catered meal of shrimp, scallops, sandwich wraps, fruit, pasta salad and desserts while a steel drum band performed.

Beer and wine was provided, courtesy of one of the state's regional economic development partnerships and a Carteret County economic development group.

"I did not know it was going to be that lavish, with all the food and drink, when I got on," said state Rep. Pricey Harrison, a Greensboro Democrat who was one of at least a dozen state legislators who went on the cruise. "It was really nice."

Harrison, who has advocated for stronger ethics and gifts rules for legislators this year, said Tuesday that the cruise doesn't appear in hindsight to be appropriate.

"I guess it's making me nervous to be a part of a state-financed boondoggle like this," she said. "I thought it was private funds paying for it."

The cruise was aboard a river class ferry, the Floyd Lupton, which was diverted to the outing from its regular run between Cherry Branch and Minnesott Beach. A backup ferry was used to keep the regular route open.

The cruise was organized by the state Ports Authority, which invited every state legislator, plus numerous other top federal, state and local officials to join ports officials on the cruise.

"The purpose was to bring folks to Carteret County to see the tall ships and to see what a resource the ports are," said Karen Fox, a ports spokeswoman. "We are constantly working on bringing awareness of the value of the ports to the state."

DOT officials agreed to supply the Lupton. A DOT spokesman, Ernie Seneca, said the cruise cost taxpayers about $2,800 in fuel and staffing -- costs that DOT will absorb.

Private individuals cannot rent out a state ferry, though DOT has used the ships for tourism or other governmental outings, Seneca said. Alcohol is permitted on the ferries only during private events, he said.

The steel drum band cost $1,200, Fox said. But ports officials said they don't know how much the catering cost because they haven't gotten a bill. Fox would not say how much was budgeted for the catering.

The Ports Authority produces its own revenue for operations but receives state money for capital improvements.

The two-hour cruise began about 11:15 a.m. on July 1 and took guests near some of the big ships that were part of the Pepsi Americas' Sail 2006 festival.

An estimated 160,000 people attended the five-day event, and some have grumbled that lines were too long, events were overbooked and some ship tours were cancelled. The festival has offered refunds for missed ship tours.

The state ferry cruise outing also took guests along the Beaufort waterfront and past state ports areas, according to guests and state officials.

"It was a good time," said Rep. Marian McLawhorn, a Pitt County Democrat who took her husband and five other family members. "I don't know why they invited us. I guess it was to show us about the cultural resources of the state."

There is no authoritative list of who attended, according to the Ports Authority. The authority compiled a list of officials who accepted the offer, but many did not show on the day of the outing.

Among those on the ship were state Commerce Secretary Jim Fain and Secretary of Administration Britt Cobb, as well as numerous ports officials and mayors and county officials from the Morehead City area.

One who didn't show was Rep. Pryor Gibson, an Anson County Democrat who said his schedule kept him away.

"You know, I do try to avoid the kinds of trips and things that might smell a little," he said. "If I had gone, I would have paid for it somehow. I always do."

Staff writer J. Andrew Curliss can be reached at 829-4840 or acurliss@newsobserver.com.

http://www.newsobserver.com/102/story/459760.html