By By JONATHAN CLAYBORNE
Staff Writer
A Washington native is settling into his role as deputy chief of staff to Gov. Beverly Perdue.
Kevin McLaughlin, former chief operating officer and general counsel in the N.C. Department of Administration, said he began his new duties March 9.
“There’s no doubt my main responsibility is seen as making sure the trains are running on time, that (Perdue’s) staff is all heading in the right direction — in the same direction — and that they’re able to implement her agenda,” McLaughlin told the Washington Daily News in a telephone interview.
McLaughlin said he and his immediate boss — Perdue’s new chief of staff, Britt Cobb — are meeting with cabinet members to discuss his deputy-chief responsibilities in greater detail.
Once the meetings are complete, he said, he and Cobb will sit down with the governor to segment the tasks before him.
Cobb served as secretary of administration before moving into the chief-of-staff role.
Asked why the governor tapped him along with his former Department of Administration boss, McLaughlin replied, “I would like to think it’s because Britt and I made a very good team, and (Perdue) wanted a very good team to join her office and assist her.”
McLaughlin, 39, received his bachelor-of-arts degree from the University of North Carolina and obtained his law degree from Wake Forest University, reads a news release from the governor’s office.
McLaughlin said he left Washington in 1989 after graduating from high school, but he returned every summer while in college to work with the Mid-East Commission, a planning-and-development organization serving Pitt, Bertie, Martin, Hertford and Beaufort counties.
He went on to manage a Mid-East program that steered dislocated workers into college educations. A large majority of the program participants were placed in new jobs that offered better wages than their original positions, according to McLaughlin.
“It’s probably one of the highlights of my professional career so far,” he said of the program.
McLaughlin said he joined the Department of Administration in June 2006, functioning solely as general counsel through January 2009, when he took on additional tasks.
He worked as an ethics liaison to internal auditors working on performance and management issues within the department, he related.
That experience ties into his latest job because the governor’s chief deputy also serves as her chief ethics officer, he shared.
“I hope to complement what the governor’s already doing there,” he said. “The governor is not looking to me to be the only person. Her entire team addresses (ethics) issues.”
McLaughlin was asked if he had identified future opportunities to insulate himself against the vagaries of serving under a political figure.
“I make it a habit never to close any doors,” he said. “And I’ve been very fortunate in that doors always open for me, and this particular role that we’re talking about today is one of those.”
He said he’s been told his new office is the space that was occupied by former Gov. Jim Holshouser.
“For a fellow from Washington, born and bred, to be where I am right now — it is awe-inspiring, and makes me realize how fortunate I am and the amount of responsibility I have,” McLaughlin said.
McLaughlin’s Washington roots run deep.
He is married to Janis McLaughlin, whose father, Randy Varni, is a retired plant manager of Stanadyne Corp. in Washington.
His grandfather, C.B. Cutler, was Washington’s chief of police and owned the Mecca grill for a time.
His mother, Lois, is a retired Beaufort County Schools teacher who still helps students seeking GED training at Beaufort County Community College.
His father, Bill, is the owner of Paper Products of Washington.
“As a family, our family is very proud of the decision Kevin has made to serve and we wish him well,” the father said.