And since Dan Forest will have a vote on who wins the contract, the conflict of interest is glaringly obvious:
John Bryan has contributed about $600,000 to legislative candidates in North Carolina, most of them Republicans, and GOP political committees from 2011 to 2016. Included is a $100,000 contribution to a group supporting GOP candidates for the state Supreme Court. He contributed $50,000 to a political action committee called Truth & Prosperity, set up to support Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Forest. Forest is a member of the State Board of Education, which will help select which companies are chosen.
Forest said in an interview earlier this year that he did not know why Bryan contributed to the PAC.
Whether you know or don't know why is beside the point; at minimum, you should recuse yourself from any actions dealing with the Innovative School District. But the best way to handle this would be to resign your seat on the State Board of Education entirely. Because make no mistake, this story is not going to "fade away" like you're hoping it will.
Comments
I think if I had only one wish
that would be granted to me, it would be to see this bible-thumping egotistical bastard burn out in the flames of a corruption scandal. I despise everything about him, from his anti-LGBTQ leanings to his narcissistic acceptance of his role as a cult icon.
All that being said, we do have time to deal with this idiot. He is being groomed for either the Governor's mansion or the U.S. Senate, and neither office will be in play until 2020. We need to be sharply focused on 2018, to (at least) get rid of the Veto-proof majorities in the Legislature. And I've had several conversations recently that have led me to conclude we could actually *retake* the General Assembly, and not just whittle down those majorities.
The anti-Trump wave could be a fricking tsunami, and we don't want to miss that opportunity. 170 races, 170 Democrats.