Cruise's candid camera

The News and Observer

http://www.newsobserver.com/579/story/462231.html

Cruise's candid camera

Well, it just keeps getting better, if you're a bemused observer of Ferry-in-the-water-gate. But if you were one of the officials on the now-infamous Ship of Pols -- the ferry ride that escorted local and state government bigwigs 'round the tall ships near Beaufort on July 1 -- it keeps getting worse. Now there are pictures.

The state Department of Transportation, where officials made the trip possible with the loan of a state ferry, has released more than 300 photographs showing various guests having a big time.

There was Secretary of State Elaine Marshall and her husband posing happily on the boat, Board of Transportation Chairman Doug Galyon bellying up to the food bar. Why the photos? According to an internal e-mail message sent by state Ports Authority spokeswoman Karen Fox, sponsors of the cruise (which included the authority) wanted photos to "give to our legislative and other VIP guests as a souvenir of their once-in-a-lifetime experience."

There's one thing you can bet on. It will indeed be once in lifetime. When Governor Easley read the first articles by The News & Observer's J. Andrew Curliss, he ordered reports on the cruise, which cost a total of $31,143 and was hosted by the Ports Authority. The governor was not pleased with the expenditure of public funds and was equally unhappy with the fact that a state ferry was diverted for five days, counting preparation time.

Billed by some officials as a way to "honor" legislators, only a handful of lawmakers attended. The other guests were locals, a couple of the governor's Cabinet secretaries, and other bigwigs and relatives.

We are getting close to the punishment phase of this little adventure, and Easley shouldn't spare the rod -- at the top. If lower-level officials take the fall, that would be wrong. And let's have everybody on the cruise repay the cost of his or her attendance and those of guests. Finally, Easley just needs to declare that nothing like this should ever happen again, and that any official who tries to make it happen will walk the plank.