Legislators learn from cruise flap

BY PAUL B. JOHNSON
ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER

HIGH POINT – Freshman state Rep. Laura Wiley said she’s learned a lesson from a contro*versy this summer that en*snared politicians of both par*t ies.
Wiley, R-Guilford and the lone High Point resident among 170 members of the N.C. General Assembly, joined other digni*taries on a cruise along the North Carolina coast during the Fourth of July holiday weekend. The trip became con*troversial because taxpayer dollars were used through the North Carolina Ports Authority during the tall ships festival in Beaufor t.
Wiley is one of about a dozen politicians listed as repaying the Ports Authority for the cruise in a report last week in the News & Observer. The Raleigh newspaper reports that Wiley paid a reimbursement of $365.
The cruise, which involved taking a ferry out of commis*sion for the day that delayed commuters and other travelers, cost more than $30,000.
Wiley said she is among the politicians who went on the cruise not realizing at the time it was taxpayer funded.
“We receive a lot of invita*tions. And it is our trust that these things are being funded properly,” she said.
“When you find out that something has not been funded properly, I wanted to make sure that was repaid.”
Wiley sent her reimburse*ment shortly after she realized in July that the cruise involved taxpayer money.
The former High Point City Council member said the expe*rience has changed her per*spective on invitations to events.
“I’ve learned that it’s incum*bent on me to inquire how these events are going to be paid for and be careful that they are be*ing funded properly,” she said.
Another Guilford County leg*islator who repaid money, Rep. Pricey Harrison of Greensboro, also called the incident unfor*tunate. Harrison, D-Guilford, reimbursed the Ports Authority $273.75, the News & Observer reports.
Harrison said she’s asked her legislative staff to make sure when taxpayer money is in*volved with events.
“For sure, I’ll be way more careful,” said Harrison, who’s in her first term. “And I always reimburse anyway – that’s al*ways my policy.”
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