NORTH CAROLINA TRIBUNE.

• Author: Campbell, Colin
• Position: NCTREND: Public Affairs

INDEPENDENT

INTELLIGENT

INFORMATIVE

Our paid daily newsletter launched in February, providing detailed interviews with key lawmakers, Q&As of other political leaders, and stories on redistricting and candidate filings for the 2022 elections. Plus lots of stories tracking daily happenings at the state legislature.

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PENNY THOUGHTS

Ronald Penny, 68, has led the N.C. Department of Revenue since 2017. Here are some comments from the attorney whose signature appears on N.C. tax refunds:

> What are some of your past jobs?

* Tenured associate professor, N.C. Central University

* Vice president for human resources, UNC System

* Senior managing partner, Penny & Barnes law firm

* General counsel to the chancellor, Elizabeth City State University

* Attorney, DuPont Corp.

> What lessons have you applied to your current position?

All organizations must have a clearly articulated vision and mission. Senior leaders must reinforce that mission and vision in multiple ways to reach internal and external stakeholders.

An organization's most valuable assets go home at the end of the workday, act like it.

> What's the most common misconception about your agency?

People often think that the N.C. Department of Revenue and the Internal Revenue Service are the same agency. The IRS is a federal agency that has no authority over the N.C. Department of Revenue, which is a state agency. Correspondingly, NCDOR generally is unable to address issues that taxpayers may have with our federal counterparts.

> What's the best advice you've received about getting things done in state government?

"Always tell the truth. And when you are wrong, and inevitably you will be wrong, remember a good apology is better than a bad stand any day."--Army Lt. Col. Leon J. Penny (Penny's dad)

* Months before Cov. Roy Cooper endorsed Sen. Kirk deViere's Democratic primary opponent in March, the Nexus Strategies consulting firm led by Cooper adviser Morgan Jackson dumped deViere as a client. In December, deViere filed paperwork changing his campaign treasurers from Nexus to another firm, Blue Wave Politics. DeViere says the...