Dean Debnam

As many WakePol readers speculated, the man behind the pro-impact fees calls earlier this month was Dean Debnam.

Debnam is a Raleigh management consultant who dabbles in political polling.His firm, Public Policy Polling, released a survey on impact fees just a few days before the calls went out.

He took exception to the claim by the Home Builders Association of Raleigh-Wake County that the recorded calls were against the law because they did not say who they were from.

"It's simply free speech, and there isn't any law that says you need to disclose who paid for the calls," he said.

There appears to be some question about that.The state Board of Elections said its statutes only address calls made for or against candidates, but a recent law on telemarketing says all political calls must be identified.

For his part, Debnam said he has nothing to hide.He said his firm made about 25,000 calls to recent Raleigh voters at a cost of about $1,250.He paid for the calls himself, writing a personal check to his firm.

"The Home Builders think anything's illegal that disagrees with their opinion," he said.