Candidates debate pensions -

The two candidates for state treasurer might come from diverse backgrounds, but they do have one goal in common: to give their opponent a run for his money on Election Day.

Richard Moore, the Democratic incumbent who was elected in 2000, has a tough Republican competitor in Ed Meyer.

The state treasurer is responsible for ensuring the fiscal health of the state and serves as the state's banker and chief investment official.

The treasurer also is responsible for more than $70 billion in public monies and state investments and the pension funds for more than 700,000 state employees.

Moore said he deserves to be re-elected because his record shows that he has managed the taxpayers' money in a prudent and efficient way.

"During my tenure as state treasurer, I have done an excellent job of managing the $71 billion of public funds entrusted to this office," Moore said in a prepared statement.

"I will continue to invest the public employees pension funds in a fiscally conservative manner."

Julie White, spokeswoman for the Moore campaign, said that under Moore's leadership, North Carolina had the second best pension funds in the United States.

But Meyer disagrees, saying that the value of the public pension fund has declined by almost $10 billion under Moore's leadership.

"If I were state treasurer, I would have advocated this so strongly that this would not have happened," Meyer said.

Meyer also voices concern about how Moore funds his campaign. Meyer argues that there is a major problem with the way campaigns are funded, and that Moore has not advocated this issue during his tenure as state treasurer.

"He is taking campaign money from the same companies that fund public pension," Moore said. "It's a conflict of interest."

But Meyer chooses to fund his campaign through the generosity of friends, family and other supporters.

While Moore was unavailable to comment on this issue, White said funding from those companies helps the candidates reveal to voters exactly what they stand for so they can make a well-informed choice Nov. 2.

"The treasurer wishes we had a better system," White said. "But until we do, we have to raise the money to get the message out."

The candidates' backgrounds differ as widely as their platforms.

Richard Moore is a born-and-bred North Carolinian who grew up in Granville County.

He attended Wake Forest University and graduated from Wake Forest Law School.

He also earned a degree in accounting and finance from the London School of Economics.

On the other end is Ed Meyer, a California native of Mexican descent.

He graduated from Stanford University with a degree in international studies and then attended graduate school at Georgetown University.

But both men have extensive experience that qualifies them for the position of state treasurer.

Moore has served as a federal prosecutor, a member of the N.C. House of Representatives and as the secretary of the N.C. Department of Crime Control and Public Safety.

Meyer is a former member of the Reagan administration and the Social Security Administration and helped pass the Tax Reform Act of 1986.

Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.

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Candidates debate pensions

Meyer, Moore run for treasury spot