In this morning’s N&R, Elon University professor David Noer confirms the Wray affair is a political issue:

What we don’t need is a protracted search process. If Assistant Chief Bellamy continues to do a good job, why not end the agony and begin the healing? I doubt if we could find anyone better who would want to contine her or his career path with a voyage across the current political swamp.

I wasn’t so sure if this was a political issue or if it was a case of employee discipline gone wrong on all sides. Other than their “background paranoia over the leaks,” the City Council does its best to avoid the issue.

But when you’re talking politics, who needs the city council when you’ve got the Simkins PAC, according to Bledsoe:

Critics of the Simkins PAC believe that the power of the board to determine the outcome of elections makes it easy for its members to get what they want from elected and appointed officials and to receive less scrutiny for their actions.

Government bureaucracies are happy to give it away, too. This is brought out by the fact that Wray, no matter what he was up to, even met with Joe Williams. I realize Wray thought he was diffusing a potentially explosuve situation and saving the city future legal troubles when he agreed to meet with Williams. But If Williams wasn’t officially representing James Hinson, then Wray, technically speaking, didn’t have to give him the time of day.

So yes, this is a political issue. It helps to know who’s playing politics. If we at least learn that it’s interests of politcal correctness that really have the city’s ear, then Wray won’t have gone down for nothing.