Following through on a fall campaign pledge, new Gov. Beverly Perdue signed executive orders Monday she said would make North Carolina government more transparent and less susceptible to political influence in road-building decisions.

"I have high expectations for North Carolina government and for North Carolina's people," Perdue said in the old Capitol Building office where outgoing Gov. Mike Easley worked for the past eight years. "These change orders begin the process of raising the bar for all of us."

Perdue's directives also formed a "budget reform and accountability commission" that would recommend to the General Assembly ways to improve state government and ordered state agencies under her direct control to post contract and grant data on the Internet.

"We're shaking up the way North Carolina government does business," said Perdue, who was sworn in Saturday as the state's first female governor.

The key changes come with the Board of Transportation. Perdue ordered the panel to delegate to new Transportation Secretary Gene Conti the authority to approve all highway construction projects and award contracts. State law allows the board to defer these powers.

Some members of the board have been accused in recent years of voting on projects that could personally benefit them or their family. One of them was a major fundraiser for Perdue during the 2008 campaign. That member resigned.

The Department of Transportation will create within 60 days a new decision-making process on where to build roads based on data and the decisions of highway professionals.

Board members still will be required by state law to vote on some types of projects, including right of way land purchases and non-highway projects such as mass transit, said Jim Trogdon, DOT's new chief operating officer. Lawmakers would have to change the law to remove board members from voting on these type of projects.

If they must vote, Perdue will require board members to promise at monthly meetings they had no personal interest in these other projects. The governor names all appointees to the 19-member board.

"I believe that this is going to change the DOT paradigm," Perdue said. "And I invite my friends in the General Assembly to be eager and happy about this change."

Jim Harrington, a former transportation secretary under then-Gov. Jim Martin in the 1980s, said such a shift will be successful only if Perdue's top transportation department leaders are strong-willed yet also listen to the needs of the regions represented by board members.

"It is important that the board members have input and advocacy for individual projects," Harrington said in a phone interview.

"With effective leadership, the staff would come up with a very responsive program."

Perdue also wants legislators to be forced to vote yes or no on her efficiency panel's recommendations without making amendments - just like Congress with the results of the federal government's base closing commission. But legislative leaders will be wary of getting boxed in.

The "First Day of Change" directives also include the formation of a task force that would lead to the creation of an endowment that would give money to gubernatorial candidates starting in 2012 who agreed to fundraising limits and pledge to run positive campaigns. The endowment, which Perdue said last year could reach $50 million, would come from private sources.

Perdue said she raised or borrowed $18 million to campaign in both the 2008 primary and general election.

"The money drives folks who want to serve out of the whole idea of public service," she said.

Taking the money would be voluntary, but it's disturbing that program leaders could decide what candidates could say to receive contributions, said Dallas Woodhouse, state director for the fiscal watchdog group Americans for Prosperity.

"Voters are quite capable of deciding what political speech is acceptable and these decisions are best left to the market place of ideas controlled by the voters," Woodhouse said.

The signings capped a day that included Perdue meeting with senior staff and watching on as her 10 Cabinet appointees were sworn in at a ceremony in the old Capitol House chambers.

Perdue has already made changes in the formal office kept by Easley, rearranging furniture and bringing in her own desk. A painting of Sir Walter Raleigh has replaced one of Easley and his son on a sailboat. Stacked cardboard boxes sat behind Perdue's desk as she spoke to reporters.

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