Cooking school could get burned by pols' promise.

• Author: Martin, Edward
• Position: Tar Heels Tattler - John Yena of Johnson & Wales University says North Carolina officials promised $10 million for cooking school in Charlotte

John Yena plans to build a cooking school in Charlotte, but six months after state leaders dangled $10 million before him to clinch the deal, he's getting a lesson--in waffling. The politicians don't have the money. And maybe they didn't really promise it anyway.

Yena, president of Providence, R.I.-based Johnson & Wales University, says the $82 million campus will have 250 staff and 2,700 students by 2007. When the school announced in June it would build a campus in Charlotte, only local incentives were reported. No mention was made of House Speaker Jim Black, Senate President Pro Tern Marc Basnight and Gov. Mike Easley indicating that the state would kick in $10 million.

That's because nobody asked, says Carroll Gray, president of the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce, which spearheaded recruiting and brought together school officials and legislative leaders in May. "The deal was presented to people from Johnson & Wales, and letters of support were read from the speaker, Senator Basnight and Governor Easley outlining our full package."

Copies of those letters show some slippery wording. "The speaker says he's going to try like hell to get the money," says Danny Lineberry, Black's press secretary. "But he can't write the check. The letter speaks for itself. It says 'personal' support." Basnight offers "my commitment to make...