August 22, 2008

Big boats group hires controversial lobbyist

Posted at 11:32 AM by Rob Schofield

As Chris pointed out in yesterday's Fitzsimon File, the General Assembly appears to be bent on heading down a pretty ridiculous path next week. According to multiple reports, House and Senate leaders are planning to go to the trouble of calling a special session (with all of its associated expenses) to allow them to attempt to override the Governor's eminently reasonable veto of a bill that amounted to little more than a special gift to a segment of the boating industry.

As noted in the piece, perhaps the most interesting confirmation that something serious is afoot is the industry's recent decision to hire one of the North Carolina's more colorful and controversial lobbyists to plead their case. According to the website of the Secretary of State's Lobbying Division (click on the PDF icon to see the actual registration form), the National Marine Manufacturers Association hired Joe McClees and his wife, Henri, on Monday of this week.  

McClees, you may recall, has represented a number of gun and hunting groups (including the NRA and the firearms dealers), check cashers, high-cost lenders, smokeless tobacco interests and and the "wastewater industry." He and his wife resigned from their NRA gig in 2006, however, because they saw the group's endorsement of ending the state's ban on Sunday hunting as violative of one of the Ten Commandments.   

According to the McClees' website:

Joe McClees is comfortable with change and accustomed to controversy."

It will be interesting to see if he finds himself immersed in more of it — controversy, that is — come next week.

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2 Comments

2 Comments Add yours »

R. Hughes 25 Aug 2008 9:53 am

One can only hope that the ‘public,’ if not their legislative representatives, can see the falacy of allowing vehicles wider than thet nominal 102inch tractor trailer to be towed without restriction on roads with lanes often not as wide as the vehicle being towed, day or night, by individuals having no specific training and often little or no experience in handing such a large vehicle. Do we have to have five years of crash data to confirm the obvious? One would hope not. The owner of one of our coastal marinas would not allow an oversized boat to dock in his facility if it endangered his facility or the safety and property of other users; neither would we allow a commercial airliner to land at a general aviation airstrip. It’s time that those who manufacture and use these (oversized marine) vehicles, either in commerce or for recreation, devise ways to transport them that respect the design limitations of our roadways and the impacts of violating those limitations on public safety. One would think that this would be a self-imposed restriction based upon common sense and one that had to be legislated. I personally find it difficult to see how the benefit of another coastal fishing tournament offsets the cost of lives lost on the highway.

Rob Schofield 25 Aug 2008 11:09 am

Well said. Of course, these folks DO have a way to transport their boats now — they just need to get a permit.

Also on the McClees angle, a friend reminds us of this story from a few years’ back entitled “Lobbyists Gone Wild”

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