On Friday The Fayetteville Observer detailed just how the Down East kleptocracy continues kicking even without Jim Black. The basic formula involves members of the General Assembly getting rich while claiming to do work for the public good.

Like Rep. Mary McAllister, a nine-term Fayetteville Democrat.

McAllister heads Operation Sickle Cell, a non-profit that spent $115,000 of its $523,000 budget on Mary McAllister’s salary.

The Observer continues:

In a recent interview with The Fayetteville Observer, McAllister said most of her salary came from private sources, and that Operation Sickle Cell receives only one contract from the state Department of Health and Human Services.

But public records tell a different story about the nine-term Fayetteville Democrat, who has a history of incomplete or questionable financial disclosures.

Last week, McAllister defended her nonprofit salary, which is $6,000 less than the governor’s.

“Two-thirds of my salary comes from private sources,” she said, declining to identify the sources.

When informed that records showed almost all of Operation Sickle Cell’s money came from public grants, McAllister replied, “We get $250,000 from Health and Human Services a year, and that’s it, and we have for the last 10 years.”

…

According to federal income tax returns, Operation Sickle Cell received $523,190 in total income for 2005-06, which included $459,994 in government grants and public support. Other income included about $5,800 in Medicare and Medicaid payments, $17,000 from investment income and $40,000 from rental income.

There was no listing of a private source of income.

The state Auditor’s Office reported Operation Sickle Cell received four grants last year from the state Department of Health and Human Services, totaling $343,683.

The contract to which McAllister referred, for $250,858, shows a $55,000 expense described as half of the executive director’s annual salary.

Charlotte’s local sickle cell group has an unpaid executive director.

McAllister’s campaign reporting has also drawn the attention of the State Board of Elections. On the face of it, her campaign filings show McAllister has overpaid herself for previous loans to her campaign by thousands of dollars.

The BOE wants answers, but not answers if you know what I mean. The numbers and boxes on the campaign filings are a small part of the problem. The basic fact is that some — many? most? no one knows — members of the General Assembly have very little to no income aside from the income routed to them by state-supported non-profits or via various partnerships with outsiders seeking to influence legislation.

The latter is harder to pin down, but involves the kind of sweetheart real estate deals Gov. Mike Whatshisname has somehow found himself in over the years.

This is why only continued investigation of those in power in Raleigh can begin to return control of state government to the people.