Just weeks ago, we learned, Georgia’s budget was so tight that eliminating one of the remaining employees at the State Ethics Commission and cutting the salary of the commission’s director nearly 30 percent was the only way to save money. That director Stacey Kalberman had prepared subpoenas to investigate ethics complaints against Gov. Nathan Deal was just an unfortunate coincidence.
Today, Georgia is flush with cash again. The AJC reported last week that a scheduler for former Gov. Sonny Perdue, Corinna Magelund, has been promoted to the state’s mental health ombudsman, doubling her salary from $53,000 to $107,000. The governor’s office is adamant that her relationship with Deal’s deputy chief of staff, Brian Robinson, had no part in her promotion — despite the fact that Magelund has no background in mental health. The AJC story said that Robinson and Magelund are dating.
Magelund has a bachelor’s degree in communications from Valdosta State. Kalberman, who Deal’s supporters argued was living above the wages of average Georgians, has an Emory law degree and 10 years of corporate law experience.
While Kalberman was told to accept a pay cut from $120,000 to $85,000 or resign, Magelund’s new salary is $25,000 higher than that of the person who last held the job, Jewel Norman. Norman holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in psychology.
The Deal leadership team continues to demonstrate political tone deafness when it comes to public perception. At the root of this problem are trust issues, but ones not originating from the public.
Long time observers of Deal note that he has a very small inner circle of those he trusts. Those within that circle have their own slightly larger trust circles. Those within the first few rings are trusted implicitly. Those outside the circles are not. Within the Deal organization, trust is currency, and loyalty is rewarded.
Deal’s decision to remain loyal to presidential candidate Newt Gingrich is but one example of his loyalty. “Newt Gingrich is my friend and I support his campaign for the presidency,” Deal declared in his first statement on Gingrich, as others were abandoning ship. “When the going gets rough, I don’t cut and run on my friends.” Gingrich campaigned for Deal during last year’s Republican primary.
Deal’s loyalty is reciprocated by the over protectiveness of his top staff. Chief of Staff Chris Riley, who held the same title when Deal served in Congress, told Congressional investigators he “rarely allows Representative Deal to go anywhere without him, unless it’s a family matter.”
The result appears to be a protective bubble where those on the inside are thin skinned to any criticism from the outside. The insiders only place authority with those who they feel have earned their loyalty, and can’t seem to comprehend how that looks to outsiders, thus producing more criticism. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.
The Republican Party of Georgia held a “Victory Dinner” just after the end of the bitter gubernatorial primary last year, featuring Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal. Jindal spoke of the challenges he had in post-Katrina Louisiana attracting industry to his state. To his surprise, the perception of his state’s government was the biggest obstacle.
Jindal said that business leaders told him that to do business in Louisiana it appeared to be more important “who you knew, than what you could do.” Jindal told the crowd that outsiders would not want to bring jobs to Louisiana until he could change the perception that connections trumped merit.
Deal was in the audience. Let’s hope he was listening.
Charlie Harper is the editor of Peach Pundit and a columnist for the Courier Herald newspapers, based in Dublin.
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