Thanks for a job well done

Representatives Rick Glazier, Paul Stam, Marvin Lucas, William McGee, Edith Warren and Laura Wylie should be getting thank you notes from people all over the state. As members of the House Select  Committee to Investigate Alleged Misconduct/Other Matters Included in Indictments Re: Rep Wright With Representative Glazier as chair and Representative Stam as co-chair, and backed by an outstanding staff, they took on the unpleasant, unwanted and unrewarding job of reviewing the evidence against Representative Thomas Wright and then judging him.  They cared out this unpalatable task with a professionalism, objectivity, judiciousness and seriousness that are to be admired, commended and remembered.  Rep. Glazier set the standard with his calm, unbiased demeanor.  From the start of the proceedings when the committee began to review evidence to decide what to pursue, Glazier and Stam have led the committee in a slow, careful, purposeful way.  The same attention to the “right” way to do things has been an integral part of the Committee’s proceedings all the time. It was all out in the open for anyone who wanted to attend, listen to it on the computer or read the newspaper.  Unlike similar occasions in the last two hundred years, it happened in an open committee room and not behind a closed door. It is this transparency and openness in government for which our coalition has been and will continue to fight.   Regardless of whether you like the Committee’s decision to recommend that Rep. Wright be expelled or not, we all need to commend the committee members and staff for taking on this tough and unpleasant task and completing it in an exemplary manner. They have gone a long way towards restoring our faith in the democratic process and deserve our thanks.  

Jane Pinsky

Director

North Carolina Coalition for Lobbying and Government Reform.