On July 24, Governor Bev Perdue issued Executive Order No. 20, which among other ways to restrict government spending, instructed the Office of State Budget and Management (OSBM) to:
“OSBM shall restrict agencies from filing vacant permanent or temporary positions, except for those for which commitments have been made prior to the date of this Order.”
So how then, is the Governor able to hire a new senior communications and policy adviser for $136,000?
And if this Governor is so committed to “saving education” how can she with a straight face hire another spinmeister for the same amount that it would cost to put 4 teachers back to work in the classroom?
Now is anyone really surprised as to why her poll numbers are suffering?
From the story – “Perdue’s office budget was cut this year along with other agencies.” Obviously not enough if there was money to hire someone at $136,000 plus benefits and keep the other 2 employees drawing:
Kochman $115,200
Pearson $81,000
When you add in benefits and expenses the governor has a communications staff coming in at over $400,000 a year. And this does not include all of the flacks, I mean communications personnel out in the various departments.