House speaker's chief of staff takes $280K job with UNC system

Bart Goodson is the latest General Assembly staffer to land a lucrative job with the UNC system.

Posted 10:23 p.m. Nov 18, 2020 — Updated 11:15 p.m. Nov 18, 2020

Travis Fain

, WRAL statehouse reporter

RALEIGH, N.C. — House Speaker Tim Moore's chief of staff will travel a well-worn path from the General Assembly to Chapel Hill, where he'll oversee the University of North Carolina system's lobbying operation.

Bart Goodson's new title will be senior vice president for government affairs, and his salary $280,000 a year, according to UNC system spokesman Josh Ellis.

Moore's general counsel, Neal Inman, will move up as chief of staff for the North Carolina House leader. A former member of Gov. Pat McCrory's administration, Inman has held a variety of jobs advising House Republican leadership.

Goodson was Moore's chief of staff since 2017, and he was the speaker's general counsel for two years before that.

He'll be joining a government affairs staff that already features two state-level lobbyists for the UNC system and two others at the federal level, along with government liaisons for each of the system's 17 campuses and its health system.

Goodson's new job has been vacant since Kevin Howell left the UNC system for a position at North Carolina State University in 2018. When Howell had the job, it was a newly created one, The News & Observer reported at the time.

Goodson is the second chief of staff for Moore, R-Cleveland, to make a move to the university system. His predecessor, Clayton Somers, moved to UNC-Chapel Hill in 2017 for a newly created vice chancellorship there.

The speaker's office announced a couple of other position changes Wednesday, saying senior policy adviser Dan Gurley will be deputy chief of staff and also oversee transportation policy for the office.

Trafton Dinwiddie will take on a new role as policy adviser. He has been an intern and research assistant.

The UNC system's leadership is tied closely to General Assembly leadership. Lawmakers hold appointment power over every seat on the system's Board of Governors.

Suggest A Correction