It’s worthwhile to note that N.C. State went to bat for Mary Easley in response to former auditor Les Merritt’s preliminary report (a PDF download of that, made available by current auditor Beth Wood this morning, is available here).
In response to the auditor’s findings that Mary’s salary was excessive and should be reduced from $170,000 to $79,000 per year, NCSU responded:
The valuations placed on the various responsibilities of Ms. Easley’s appointment in your management letter are inappropriate and fail to recognize both the nature of the work and the appropriate levels of compensation … This outcome of the audit report analysis casts additional doubt on the methodologies used to value the position responsibilities and the validity of the findings of the report.
Then, NCSU also defended Mary’s five-year contract, which the audit report had criticized.
Simply more evidence that the brass at NCSU was more than willing to stand by Mary through thick and thin — or at least until the Feds started calling and public records emerged indicating political patronage.
