By James Romoser.
Journal Raleigh Bureau
RALEIGH, N.C. — More than $6 billion is about to come gushing into North Carolina – and with it, about 6 billion bureaucratic headaches.
Dempsey Benton knows how to deal with bureaucratic headaches.
Benton, who was tapped by Gov. Bev Perdue last week to handle the distribution of federal stimulus money in
North Carolina, has spent his entire career managing money and supervising government programs.
“I looked at three or four resumes, quite frankly, and I think he brings the best overall skill set,” Perdue, a Democrat, said Tuesday as she announced her appointment of Benton to run the newly created Office of Economic Recovery & Investment.
“He’s been a manager. So he understands meeting the demands of the bureaucracy and of getting projects out there quickly.”
Benton, 63, served for 17 years as the city manager of Raleigh, overseeing rapid growth in the city and working well with both Democratic-controlled city councils and Republican-controlled ones.
After leaving that post in 2000, he moved from local to state government. He served as the chief deputy of the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and then became the secretary of the state Department of Health and Human Services. In the latter role, former Gov. Mike Easley assigned Benton the herculean (and still largely unfulfilled) task of repairing the crisis in the state’s public mental-health-care system.
Never a politician, always an administrator, Benton is known as a steely hard worker who does what it takes to see that his marching orders are executed. He once joked that his management style is similar to that of Attila the Hun.
“He’s very bright, he’s tireless and works hard, and he’s got a strong sense of control,” said Harvey Schmitt, the president and CEO of the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce. “The city of Raleigh profited from his stewardship because he ran a tight ship and built a great reputation in the community.”
Benton’s new role as the state’s so-called stimulus czar may be his toughest challenge yet. For the next two years, an unprecedented amount of federal money that will flow into various North Carolina agencies, programs and jurisdictions.
And the legislation that authorizes and directs the spending is so complicated that few people fully understand it – including Benton himself. He said last week that his first task in his new job will be to figure out exactly what the job will entail.
“We’re going to start by trying to make sure we fully understand the order and magnitude of this legislation and funding,” he said. “It’s a rather significant package, and the first order of business is scoping out the full range of opportunities for North Carolina – to bring it down from the national level to the North Carolina level.”
Much of the money in the stimulus package comes with legal strings attached. Much of it must be spent in particular ways or over specific schedules. Benton’s task is to track all of the spending to ensure that it complies with the legal requirements – and also to ensure that it is being spent in ways that stimulate the economy most effectively.
“The governor has tasked him with making sure this federal stimulus money is put to work for North Carolina as quickly as possible and with as much accountability as possible,” said Chrissy Pearson, Perdue’s press secretary.
Linda Daves, the chairwoman of the N.C. Republican Party, criticized Perdue’s appointment of Benton, saying that Perdue is breaking a hiring freeze in state government in order to create a job for a political crony.
Benton will make $98,500 a year in what has been described as a temporary position.
Indeed, some observers have questioned the need for a new government office to handle the stimulus money when North Carolina already has a budget office that keeps track of government spending.
John Quinterno, a research associate at the N.C. Budget & Tax Center, a left-leaning research group in
Raleigh, said that it may be beneficial to have one person overseeing the big picture as the stimulus money gets distributed across the state.
For instance, Quinterno said, Benton should take steps to ensure that the infrastructure projects that win money benefit North Carolina workers, rather than firms bringing in out-of-state contractors. Benton might do that, for example, by coordinating such projects with the state’s community-college system, Quinterno said.
“That might be the sort of cross-agency or cross-department thinking that any kind of recovery czar really should do,” he said.
Benton is under a lot of pressure. The White House has predicted that the stimulus package will create or save 105,000 jobs in North Carolina. Now, much of the burden of fulfilling that promise falls on Benton’s shoulders.
Asked last week about that target, Benton seemed hesitant at first. Then, he said, “I think it’s probably realistic, but a challenge.”
