Guest Columnist
With the beginning of a new year, North Carolina approaches the end of Gov. Bev Perdue's first year in office. True to form, "inside the beltline" pundits are offering up their reviews and grades of her performance so far.
I believe Gov. Perdue has shown remarkable leadership during the toughest economic times our state has faced in generations. The day she was inaugurated as the state's first woman governor, she inherited the fourth-highest unemployment rate and one of the largest budget shortfalls in the country.
From the first day of Gov. Perdue's administration, when she signed six "First Day of Change" executive orders, she has worked to confront our challenges directly. She has gone to great lengths to repair Raleigh's relationship with all areas of our state. As governor, she truly understands that we are all in this recovery together -- from Murphy to Manteo. She has not shied away from visiting those down on their luck, out of jobs or in disaster situations. She has shown she understands we need jobs, and she's going the extra mile to create work opportunities in every area of North Carolina. And it is working.
Gov. Perdue's leadership is transforming the way state government works, incorporating transparency, ethics and accountability. The executive orders she signed on her first day in office eliminated political slush funds at the Department of Transportation, put state grants and contracts on the Web and launched a review of all state government programs to eliminate waste and inefficiency. She's continued that trend by taking steps to require more state employees and appointees be covered by North Carolina's ethics laws and restrictions.
Gov. Perdue has repeatedly demonstrated that she will not allow things to be done the same old way.
Her JobsNOW initiative is aggressively creating jobs in North Carolina, growing our green and defense/aerospace economies and creating the innovative "12 in 6" initiative at our community colleges that trains displaced workers for 12 different careers in six months or less.
Gov. Perdue fought to protect North Carolina's teachers and classrooms even while dealing with a budget shortfall of more than 20 percent. And she is taking steps to ensure that all students in every part of the state get the skills they need to be college- and career-ready. For example, under her leadership North Carolina has one of the fastest-growing virtual schools in the nation, making more classes available to all students regardless of their schools' size, location or resources.
Throughout 2009 Gov. Perdue's priorities have been in exactly the right place -- creating jobs, fixing our schools and setting government straight. She has forcefully faced the economic crisis that North Carolina, like the rest of the country, faces -- knowing that some of her tough choices might not be popular. And she did it while maintaining our state's AAA bond rating and our ranking as the No. 1 state in the country to do business.
On these and so many other issues, Gov. Perdue is showing strong leadership in the most challenging times. So while her actions might not sit well with some, we're all fortunate to have a leader like Bev Perdue as governor.
While scrutiny and good honest debate are healthy, I believe we ought to pledge our energy and ideas to support Gov. Perdue and our other leaders so they can continue to lead us out of our current economic downturn.
E. Norris Tolson is president and CEO of North Carolina Biotechnology Center.
