Former North Carolina Transportation Secretary GarlandGarrett was scheduled to testify Thursday. He was just replaced by formerCommerce Secretary Norris Tolson at the DOT.
The NC House Personnel Committee has been reviewing the ongoing scandalsurrounding Toomer and his settlement for about 10 months. Theinvestigation centers around the settlement Toomer received from the stateafter he alleged harassment at the hands of his superiors at the DMV.Garrett was expected to testify about his role as Toomer's supervisor.
The committee has a problem. Last week, Toomer refused to honor asubpoena to appear, and was held in contempt. Thursday, two otherwitnesses refused to appear. Committee members say they will appeal to asuperior court judge to determine what action they can take to ensure thattheir subpoenas are legally sound.
It was expected that Garrett would be questioned about allegations thathe refused to sign off on that $100,000 check, but that he ordered anotherstaffer to do so. He testified to that before this committee once before,but some testimony from others has conflicted with his.
The committee is also trying to establish a means to avoid this kind ofsituation in the future.
Photographer:Joe Frieda
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