Michael Halminski 



Q 



LEFT TO RIGHT: 



Marc Basnight, now president pro tempore of the 

 North Carolina Senate, is second in this line of 

 youngsters auditioning for a role in The Lost 

 Colony outdoor drama. 



In this 1988 photo, Rich Novak, left, then a 

 specialist with North Carolina Sea Grant, assesses 

 the items collected by Marc Basnight, right, 

 during Beach Sweep in Dare County. 



Taking time to chat with constituents, Marc 

 Basnight, center, meets with folks during a recent 

 event on the coast. 



ogy was introduced to the Outer Banks by North Carolina Sea 

 Grant fisheries specialist Wayne Wescott, who grew up in 

 Manteo with Basnight. 



Basnight knew early on that the coastal communities had a 

 direct link to the universities — his father-in-law, Hughes Tillett, 

 was the first Sea Grant extension agent in North Carolina. 



Basnight never earned a college degree, but his legislative 

 focus on education earned him an honorary doctorate of law 

 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a 

 leadership award from the North Carolina State University 

 Alumni Association. 



Many in Dare County will recall that Basnight was a leader 

 in planning for local celebrations for the nation's bicentennial in 

 1 976. A year later, he was named to the N.C. Board of Trans- 

 portation. While he disputes stories that he wore sandals to his 

 first board meeting, he was not a suit-and-tie kind of guy at the time. 



When a cousin, Melvin Daniels, stepped down from his 

 state Senate seat, Basnight was tapped to run. In his first attempt 

 at public office in 1 984, he won the seat representing eight 

 northeastern counties and portions of three others — an area 

 compared to the size of the state of Connecticut. While Dare 

 County has seen economic growth through tourism, several 

 counties in the northeast have struggled to maintain their 

 population and to seek out new business or industry. 



As chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee in the 

 early 1990s, Basnight faced a $1 billion shortfall in the state 

 budget. His leadership through those difficult times was 



rewarded when he was elected president pro tempore in 1993 

 — and he holds the distinction of being North Carolina's longest- 

 serving legislative leader in either chamber. 



Visions of Leadership 



Basnight insists that he is one part of a pool of decision- 

 makers in state government. "I never get up in the morning and 

 feel I know more than my neighbor — and that neighbor may be 

 anyone in the state of North Carolina," he says. 



Profiles last year in Raleigh's News & Observer and Metro 

 Magazine describe Basnight as a study in contrast — a shrewd 

 politician, yet also a down-home friend to many. He regularly 

 stops by country stores to chat, but he also can help focus 

 political fundraising for specific races. 



"Basnight gets results, in part, because he is a consensus 

 builder, carefully cultivating Democratic caucus members and 

 soliciting their views and sharing power," the N&O story says. 



But consensus is not always achieved. Basnight acknowl- 

 edges there are times where he must sort through arguments 

 where each side offers valid points. "Every politician has difficult 

 decisions to make. And there is someone out there — some- 

 times a long-time friend — who disagrees," he says. 



"I have to make tough calls — and the call often becomes 

 final from where I am at," he says. "That can be an uncomfort- 

 able position." 



He also must weigh the various requests or suggestions that 



Continued 



COASTWATCH 13 



