David T. McCoy

David Timothy McCoy (born August 27, 1952) is an American Indian attorney and state politician. McCoy is a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians and was the first American Indian to serve in several roles in North Carolina state government, including State Controller, State Budget Director, and Secretary of Transportation.

Early life and education

McCoy was born in 1952 in Tacoma, Washington, the third of seven children. McCoy's stepfather served in the U.S. Army and McCoy consequently spent much of his childhood in California, North Carolina, Georgia, and Germany.

McCoy attended the University of Georgia, graduating with a Bachelors of Science in Education in 1976 and a Master of Education in Educational Psychology in 1979. He then attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he earned a Master of Public Health in 1982. In 1983, he attended the Pre-Law Summer Institute for American Indians at the University of New Mexico School of Law before returning to Chapel Hill to earn a Juris Doctorate at the University of North Carolina School of Law. McCoy was the first member of a federally recognized tribe to graduate from the University of North Carolina School of Law and was the founder of the UNC School of Law Native American Law Students Association. He is also a graduate of the Program for Senior Managers at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.

He has held an appointment as an Adjunct Associate Professor in the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health since 1986 and has served on the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Board of Visitors.

Political career

Commission of Indian Affairs

As Deputy Director of the Commission of Indian Affairs under A. Bruce Jones, McCoy worked to "improve the economy, the schools, and the quality of life for [North Carolina's] Native American citizens."^[1] In 1988, citizens were taken hostage at The Robesonian newspaper offices; McCoy was the initial negotiator with hostage takers Eddie Hatcher and Timothy Jacobs and worked to de-escalate the hostage crisis. Following this incident, he worked to establish the Robeson County Dispute Resolution Center, a tai-racial initiative, in Lumberton, North Carolina.

In response to the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians' request to engage in gaming activities in North Carolina under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, he was initially appointed by Governor James G. Martin and subsequently by Governor James B. Hunt, Jr. as the State's Lead Liaison and Chief Negotiator for the gaming compact with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. Following the adoption of the Compact, he served on the Cherokee Preservation Foundation Board of Directors from 2000 to 2013.

Office of the Governor

McCoy served as Governor James B. Hunt, Jr.'s Deputy Chief of Staff from 1997 to 1999 where he served as primary liaison to the Governor's Cabinet and was involved in all activities related to the development and implementation of the Governor's policy and program agenda. He led the reorganization of the Governor's Office and oversaw the implementation of information technology automation of the Governor's Office.

Department of Transportation

McCoy was appointed Secretary of Transportation by Governor James B. Hunt, Jr. in 1999. As Secretary, he served as the Chief Executive and Chairman of the Board of Transportation and was responsible for strategic planning and management of the Department with its 14,500 employees and annual budget in excess of two billion dollars.^[2] McCoy oversaw the nation's second largest highway system as well as ferry service, mass transit, rail, aviation, and the Division of Motor Vehicles. His accomplishments included establishing the use of SAP SE's enterprise resource planning software, the publication of a Transportation Disaster Recovery Operations manual, the creation of an emergency operations center within the Department, and the development of partnerships with the NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the United States Army Corps of Engineers, and other state and federal regulatory agencies. McCoy managed the state's transportation response to several major disasters including Hurricane Floyd, where he worked closely with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and state and local agencies to ensure safe evacuations and reentry for the thousands of North Carolina residents affected by the storm.^[3] During his tenure, he supported the creation of environmental and safety initiatives including Safe Roads for Safe Schools,^[4][5] Keep NC Clean and Beautiful, and ClickIt or Ticket.

He served as President of the Southern Association of Highway and Transportation Officials and was on the Board of Directors of the American Association of Highway and Transportation Officials. He also served as the Chair of the NC Center for Transportation and the Environment.

North Carolina Office of State Budget and Management

Governor Michael F. Easley appointed McCoy as State Budget Director where he served from January 2001 to September 1, 2008.^[6] In this role, McCoy was a member of the Governor's Cabinet and represented the Governor on all budgetary matters, ensuring that the Governor's constitutional duties to prepare, recommend, and execute the state's budget (approximately $40B) were satisfied. He managed the Office of State Budget and Management (OSBM) with its staff of 69 and its operating budget of approximately $6.9 million. McCoy led OSBM in the development and implementation of a strategic plan to balance the state's budget despite historic revenue shortfalls in fiscal years 2000-2001 ($820 million), 2001-2002 ($1.550 billion), and 2002-2003 ($228 million). In doing so, McCoy initiated the use of performance management "Results Based Budgeting" into the statewide Executive Budget process.

McCoy served on various committees, including the North Carolina Federal Tax Reform Allocation Committee, the North Carolina Economic Investment Committee, the Information Resource Management Commission, and the Executive Committee of the National Association of State Budget Officers.

During this time, McCoy also served as Secretary to the Council of State and was responsible both for ensuring that the Council fulfilled its statutory responsibilities and for maintaining the official Council Journal for presentation to the General Assembly.

North Carolina Office of the State Controller

McCoy served as North Carolina's State Controller from 2008 through 2014. He was appointed by Governor Michael F. Easley on August 29, 2008, was confirmed by the North Carolina General Assembly, and took the oath of office on September 2, 2008.^[7] While serving as State Controller, McCoy implemented a number of reforms within the Controller's Office and State Government.^[8] He worked with SAS Institute as an IT vendor partner to develop the award-winning Criminal Justice Law Enforcement Automated Data Services (CJLEADS) program.^[9][10] In addition, he oversaw the installation of a $100 million HR/Payroll system, including a data migration project that made available more than thirty years of position and employee human resources data previously located in the state's legacy human resources system.^[11]

McCoy served on the North Carolina Debt Affordability Advisory Committee; the National Association of State Auditors, Comptrollers, and Treasurers; the National Association of State Comptrollers; and the Government Finance Officials Association. He also served as the Chair of the Statewide Business Infrastructure Program, Chair of the Information Technology Dispute Resolution Committee, and Chair of the Council of Internal Auditing.

McCoy oversaw the Office of the State Controller during a time of significant political shift in the state of North Carolina. He held this position under two Democratic and one Republican governor. McCoy retired in 2014 from this position after twenty-seven years of service to North Carolina State government.^[12]

Awards, honors, and memberships

• Order of the Long Leaf Pine
• The Old North State Award
• Commissioned a Kentucky Colonel by Governor Ernie Fletcher
• Chapel Hill Graduate School Distinguished Graduate Alumni
• Order of the Golden Fleece, University of North Carolina
• Delta Omega Community Service Award, School of Public Health, University of North Carolina
• Pi Alpha Alpha National Honor Society for Public Administration
• Toll Fellow, Henry Toll Fellowship Program, Council of State Governments
• The Raleigh News and Observer's Tar Heel of the Week, June 13, 1999
• Felix S. Cohen Hornbook Award for best paper, Federal Indian Law, American Indian Law Center
• The American Legion School Award

Personal life

McCoy is an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians. He is married to Robin Bruce McCoy and has two children, Meredith Leigh McCoy and Melissa Susan McCoy Anders.

References