Governor Pat McCory is welcoming a new secretary and budget director to his administration.
At the Executive Mansion on Thursday afternoon, McCrory appointed Secretary of Revenue Lyons Gray to serve on the North Carolina Utilities Commission. Replacing Gray as Secretary of Revenue is Jeff Epstein, the current chief operating officer of that department.
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Meanwhile, Budget Director Lee Roberts is stepping down from his post after 18 months to return to the private sector. Previous budget director Art Pope was in the gallery as McCrory praised his outgoing budget chief.
"Let me tell you Lee Roberts has done an outstanding job in his tenure as budget director. And Art, with all due respect I didn't think he could fill your shoes - he more than filled your shoes," McCrory said.
"The many hours we spent together reviewing every line of the budget, he had an innovative financial mind that was second to none and he also thought out of the box when it came to reviewing the budget," he added about Roberts, who took over for Art Pope in the summer of 2014.
Drew Heath will take over for Roberts in February. He has been chairman of the state industrial commission. The governor awarded both Roberts and Lyons with the Order of the Longleaf Pine.