Rowboat is named in Poole indictment

Published 8:36 pm Thursday, February 4, 2010

By By JONATHAN CLAYBORNE
Staff Writer

The 64-page indictment of Ruffin Poole, former Gov. Mike Easley’s onetime special counsel and personal assistant, repeatedly references a company involved in a marina development on the Washington waterfront.
Poole has been indicted on 51 charges, including charges of extortion, bribery, use of the mail in aid of racketeering, money laundering and monetary transactions in criminally derived property. Poole recently had his first appearance in court. He was released by U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle on a $50,000 unsecured bond pending trial, The Associated Press reported.
The locally tied company to which the indictment papers refer is Rowboat Dock &Dredge-The Rowboat Co. of Mooresville. Rowboat built The Marina at Moss Landing, which rests astride a publicly owned, created wetland on the Pamlico River.
The indictment papers do not directly name Bob Wilson, president of Rowboat, but they do mention the owner of the company, presumably Wilson. Rowboat’s Web site lists Wilson as founder and president of the company. Wilson also is a member of the Coastal Resources Commission.
The N.C. Division of Coastal Management’s Web site says the CRC “establishes policies for the N.C. Coastal Management Program and adopts implementing rules for both (the Coastal Area Management Act) and the N.C. Dredge and Fill Act.”
The (Wilmington) StarNews has reported that Wilson is being pressured to resign from the CRC because of the Poole matter.
Tom Fetzer, chairman of the N.C. Republican Party, indicated that Wilson should resign from the regulatory body.
“The fact that much of this scandal revolves around the projects Bob Wilson is involved with, including those requiring CAMA permits, makes his appointment to the CAMA board and his continued holding of the post one of the most egregious aspects of this entire episode,” Fetzer is quoted as saying in a GOP news release.
Focusing first on the resignation of Lanny Wilson (no relation to Bob Wilson) from the N.C. Turnpike Authority, the news release turns to Bob Wilson in its final two paragraphs.
Bob Wilson was a contributor to the campaign of Democratic Gov. Beverly Perdue, “and was recommended for the CAMA board by Lanny Wilson in 2002 and was appointed by Easley that same year,” the release reads. “He (Bob Wilson) figures prominently into the 64-page indictment against Ruffin Poole and is emerging as a central figure in many aspects of the Easley scandal.”
Asked Wednesday whether he should resign from the CRC, Wilson told the Daily News: “Absolutely not. We haven’t done anything improper, no conflict of interest. We certainly haven’t broken any laws. We haven’t done anything wrong.”
Wilson said he was questioned by federal authorities working on the Poole investigation. He said that, to his knowledge, none of Rowboat’s clients had received preferential treatment as a result of his CRC service.
“We were questioned as a matter of information involving the circumstances surrounding certain permits that were issued for projects in eastern North Carolina,” he said, “but we did not pull those permits.”
According to Wilson, “pulling permits” refers to processing permits through state agencies.
Wilson said he couldn’t recall when he last spoke to Poole.
“I don’t think I’ve spoken to Mr. Poole but one time in eight years, and I have not spoken to him in many years,” he said. “I really don’t know the man. I met him one time.”
He said he hasn’t retained an attorney in relation to these issues.
“There’s no reason to engage counsel,” Wilson stated. “We haven’t done anything wrong.”
Local ties
The naming of Rowboat in the Poole indictment doesn’t indicate the Washington marina project is being called into question, people close the project said.
Permits for the marina were obtained perhaps three to four years before Wilson and Rowboat came on board, according to Stan Friedman, a partner in the development.
A brochure mailed out to advertise the marina says, “Good marinas don’t happen by chance. As the designer and builder of the Marina at Moss Landing, as well as one of the largest builders of marinas and docks in the Southeast, The Rowboat Company has built a solid reputation since the 1970s based on quality service and superior craftsmanship.”
Indictment papers
Rowboat “was the contractor being used by the Oyster Harbour Developer to work on the Oyster Harbour waterway park,” the federal indictment papers read.
Oyster Harbour is a development near Holden Beach, the StarNews said.
The Oyster Harbour development has drawn scrutiny partly because of the federal probe into Poole and his relationships with developers while Easley was in office.
“Any allegations regarding the Ruffin Poole indictment are directly related to those transactions that were required in order to stay in full compliance with the rules and regulations of the state agencies, the local agencies and the CAMA,” Wilson said.
The indictment papers depict Poole as making inquiries about the status of permits related to Oyster Harbour, in which Lanny Wilson reportedly was a key figure.
Lanny Wilson, identified as “the Wilmington Financier” in the papers, “made the maximum legal campaign contribution to the Governor (Easley) and also raised funds from others.”
The theme of political money runs throughout these documents.
On page 17, the papers note that, on Aug. 27, 2003, the head of the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ Permits and Consistency Unit “provided a written response to Poole’s questions and telefaxed the memorandum to Poole. On October 31, 2003, the CAMA permit was issued on the Oyster Harbour project. The Oyster Harbour CAMA permit was modified in 2004, based on an agreement reached by the CAMA Commissioner (Wilson) who owns Rowboat Company and the District Manager of Coastal Management.”
Asked about page 17, Bob Wilson said the design that Rowboat prepared for Oyster Harbour amenities was submitted to another company that was dealing directly with state agencies on permitting.
He said Rowboat “checked with the (state) agencies and found out how the agencies could approve what design the agencies would approve in order to allow the project to continue.”
Wilson said, “All of the state agencies had an opportunity to review that design and either approve or reject it. And the design was obviously approved by the agencies, and then CAMA issued the permit to go forward.”
What’s next?
Issues surrounding Poole and Easley have been scrutinized by Don Carrington, executive editor of the Carolina Journal.
Carolina Journal is a publication of the John Locke Foundation, a conservative think-tank in Raleigh. The Journal has been credited with doing much of the early investigative journalism that preceded the Poole indictment.
Contacted by the Daily News, Carrington said he had followed the Easley-Poole issues for years, but he didn’t know who Bob Wilson was prior to the release of the Poole indictment.
“None of us knew about that,” Carrington said. “I don’t think that there’s a reporter that knew anything about him.”
He added, “They have him in there for a reason. He’s just not a fringe player.”
Asked if he had any projections about possible outward-rippling effects of Poole’s legal travails, Carrington said, “Even though Poole was the first one to be indicted, bad things have happened to lots of people.”