Two lobbying powerhouses in the N.C. General Assembly — the League of Municipalities and the Association of County Commissioners — claim that they aren’t governmental entities and thus aren’t subject to the state’s public records law. The News & Observer‘s Dan Kane throws some doubt on that in this article from Sunday’s newspaper that focuses on fat pension payouts for retired government employees.
The top brass at both “entities” initially declined to release their salaries, but finally did so. Kane reports on the N&O‘s investigations blog:
Ellis Hankins, executive director of the N.C. League of Municipalities, is paid $207,874, while David Thompson, executive director of the N.C. Association of County Commissioners, earns $204,081.
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Their pay is slightly lower than the leaders of Wake County’s two biggest municipalities. Wake County Manager David Cooke and Raleigh City Manager Russell Allen each make roughly $220,000 a year.
The league has more than 90 employees and the county association has 36. Both organizations lobby state lawmakers, run self-insurance pools for their member municipalities and provide training for municipal officials. Much of the associations’ funding comes from taxpayers through the dues that municipalities or counties pay.
