McCrory exempts more state workers from civil service protections

[hue]

http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/08/30/3151648/politics-at-play-in-more-state.html

Hundreds of state workers received notice this summer that they are in patronage jobs and no longer have the right to protest being fired.

It’s not only Cabinet leaders, their deputies and division leaders who are exempt from civil service protections. Gov. Pat McCrory expanded the employees who work without protections to local transportation managers who pave roads and build bridges, and regional environmental regulators who approve permits and fine polluters.

Months after former Gov. Bev Perdue left office, at-will government jobs nearly tripled under McCrory, and he’s allowed to add hundreds more before the year ends. In two waves, the Republican-controlled legislature opened up state law to give McCrory 1,500 positions exempt from civil service protections. McCrory has assigned 974 jobs to at-will status so far.

During the Perdue administration, about 400 exempt positions were allowed, and she designated about 330 at-will jobs.

Proponents say the new positions give McCrory the flexibility to shape government to match his vision, while critics contend that it improperly exposes former rank-and-file employees to political pressure.

[Doctor_J]

1. And yet many at DU claim that the Repukes are weak and dying off

that attitude is why we continue to lose.

[blkmusclmachine]

2. GOPee "Bipartisanship."

What's it like? I've never experienced it!

[SharonAnn]

3. Regional Environmental Regulators are not at-will jobs. Anyone see a problem with that?