It was evening and the Fayetteville coordinator was sitting near the front windows in the Barnes & Noble bookstore near Cross Creek Mall, a fifteen minute drive from his office in the Systel building in downtown Fayetteville, and a ten minute drive from his family's home in the Vanstory neighborhood.
He considered the busy bookstore as the best place to reflect on the so-called mediation meeting with Director Overcash, Human Resources, and other agency officials at the Parker-Lincoln building in Raleigh.
He reread the typed memo from Director Overcash. It gave the couple only one day to decide who would leave Fayetteville. However, a handwritten sentence at the very bottom of the letter, initialed by Director Overcash, indicated the couple would have five days to make the decision. It seemed likely that Human Resources had pushed for the additional days. Apparently, Human Resources was doing all they could to try and help. However, it appeared they were not allowed to explain to Tom and Sally what was happening and why. There had been no honest communication or explanations. It was baffling.
Something was very wrong. It reeked of state government misconduct. Tom was beginning to consider scheduling a meeting with Bill Ross to make him aware of what happening in the agency. William Ross, a prominent environmental attorney, had been appointed several years ago by Governor Mike Easley to head up North Carolina's environmental agency.
The entire situation was very strange. Director Overcash threatened him with insubordination for simply doing his job, while at the same time openly trying to undermine Bill Ross, head of the agency. And why was Sally dragged into this? Was it part of a strategy to intimidate?
"Things do not add up at all," he kept thinking to himself.
He walked over and took his place at the end of the busy drink line. Women with very young children were ahead of him in line and also sitting at most of the tables. He asked the woman in front of him the names and ages of her two young children. Clearly, she enjoyed talking about her children. Her husband was deployed in Iraq.
Fayetteville is the home of Fort Bragg and Pope Air Force Base. Many of the soldiers living in Fayetteville and the surrounding area were overseas fighting in either the War in Iraq or the War in Afghanistan. The bookstore's cafe area and drink line were often crowded with Moms and their young children.
He returned to the table with his coffee and opened his laptop. Curiously, the North Carolina Board of Elections (BOE) website sometimes allowed searches on specific voters. Other times it appeared to be blocked. In any event, from a search in the BOE website he had determined that Keith Undercash was registered in Cabarrus County as a Republican. He wondered if Director Overcash was trying to undermine the Democratic governor and his agency management team? He had seen that sort of thing in Louisiana.
But if that were the case, why would Keith be so brazen about it? Why would he openly say in a meeting that agency employees do not actually work for the agency? Why did he say the Division of Air Quality is not part of the agency? He was not trying to hide his defiant attitude." Why did he have so much unchallenged power in state government?
Since Governor Easley won re-election in November of last year there had been news stories suggesting him as a future presidential or vice-presidential candidate. The governor seemed to be getting some national attention. He might feel he needs to be very careful. While reflecting on this an amusing thought came to mind. Maybe Keith Overcash has photos of Governor Easley cheating on his wife, he wondered. Or maybe DuPont had photos of Director Overcash cheating on his wife. The momentary opportunity to chuckle about the disturbing situation was somehow calming.
He reflected on how Director Overcash had spoken angrily in the meeting about the agency Honor Code, recently implemented by Bill Ross and his deputy Dempsey Benton. Director Overcash, a long-time public employee, seemed to view himself as running his own private company rather than directing a division of a North Carolina public agency. Had he developed that attitude during his years as the supervisor of the Mooresville field office north of Charlotte, far from the gazing eyes of Raleigh bosses? Of course, some members of the General Assembly argued for the public agency to be "run like a business." Was Director Keith Undercash another example of a person who was more than happy to run a public agency office like it was his own private business?
He stared out the bookstore window deep in thought. He was still confidant that someone in a position of authority in North Carolina would step up and address the situation, much like how top officials in Baton Rouge had stepped up to manage a similar situation he faced in Louisiana. There were too many Red flags for it to be ignored. He kept staring out the window as if something in the Barnes & Noble parking lot would somehow help unlock the mystery. It was just a crowded parking lot in Fayetteville, Cumberland County, North Carolina, with lots of women and young children, probably military families, walking to and from their vehicles. The ongoing Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were certainly the central focus of attention in Fayetteville, Cumberland County, and the surrounding counties.
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