"BOG to launch search process" - Herald-Sun

My thoughts on all this as I expressed them to a "BOG" member over the weekend:

"As I understand it, he will leave UNC at the end of 2010 or whenever y’all select a successor.

In France, where you may recall I spend a great deal of time, we are constantly debating how many roles government officials can play. In Nice, where we have our home, our Mayor is an extraordinary guy, having grown up in the public housing of Nice and having become one of the most astute and articulate politicians whom I know in either country.

But, he serves concurrently as Minister of Industry in the SARKOZY government AND as Mayor of Nice. Yes, there are advantages for Nice, but I have told him on a number of occasions that it’s a little like thinking you can drive an automobile and talk on the phone without being distracted from your driving. It’s impossible.

Likewise, one cannot be the fulltime Mayor of Nice and French Minister of Industry without devoting less than 100% - a lot less – to one job or the other.

Having watched BOWLES’ interview this evening on the NewsHour with Jim LEHRER, I am fully convinced that you and the other governors face the same quandary with the two roles he is now playing.

To be fair to the people of North Carolina, he should either resign immediately as UNC system president or you should tell him he gets to choose between that and the co-chairmanship of the commission….or he accepts at least a 50% cut in his compensation as UNC president until a successor can be found.

Sure, it’s nice to see him appointed to this important post, and I am sure he and Alan SIMPSON, with whom I worked on a number of issues when in DC, will do great things. But once past that good news piece of this, there is the bad news that the UNC system will, without question receive less of his attention than he was engaged to give it.

Either he needs to step down entirely, accept reduced compensation, or you need to find a successor immediately, interim or otherwise.

I am not sure yet how hard I will press this point publicly, and I wanted to share it with you directly before I take any other action to advance this position."