MORE ON THAT “UNLICENSED ENGINEER” SCANDAL AT THE NORTH CAROLINA DOT: North Carolina Transporation Secretary Doubles Down:

Bryant said Lacy was trying to intimidate Cox and his neighbors and suppress their rights to petition government officials.

“No one signed it as an engineer,” Bryant said. “They simply put together their feelings and their information. When we can’t do that without fear of potential criminal prosecution, that takes away our rights.”

A spokesman for Perdue said the governor, a Democrat, had pledged to take politics out of transportation planning. . . .

Transportation Secretary Gene Conti, a Perdue appointee, said the DOT has used residents’ feedback to change the Falls of Neuse project. He endorsed Lacy’s request for an investigation.

Disgraceful.

UPDATE: Reader Steven Lantz — a Professional Engineer — emails:

Suggest the NCDOT “investigation” also look into the technical credentials of a State Transportation Secretary with the following academic resume:

Ph.D., Anthropology, Duke University, 1978
M.A., Policy Sciences and Public Affairs, Duke University, 1978
B.A., Sociology/Anthropology, Eastern Michigan University, 1971

Not much in that there regarding engineering & transportation unless he happens to use the anthro degree to analyze road rage on the Carolina Byways.

Heh.