After The News & Observer of Raleigh published a story in February about his contract dispute with Basnight Construction of Manteo, James Morris of Elizabeth City thought it would be easier to collect about $50,000 he was owed.
But, as of Tuesday, Morris still doesn’t have his money and he thinks that the political influence of Marc Basnight, president pro tempore of the Senate and president of Basnight Construction, has been a factor. Basnight told the N&O that he was not involved in day–to-day operation of the company and that his cousin Jimmy Basnight, who is secretary-treasurer, ran the business.
The dispute involves a $5 million contract to install a sewer system in Engelhard, an unincorporated community in Hyde County. A Chesapeake, Va. company, Peters and White won the contract and subcontracted a portion of the work to Basnight Construction. Basnight subcontracted another portion of it to Morris’ company, JMM Plumbing and Utilities of Elizabeth City.
Marc Basnight was also responsible for securing the grants for the state-funded project. “We got the grants through Marc Basnight,” Sanitary District Chairman Tommy Ethridge told CJ earlier this year.
According to Morris, Deputy Greg Padilla, who handles collections for the Dare County Sheriff’s Department, told him a few weeks ago that the funds in Basnight Construction’s bank account at RBC Centura in Manteo had been secured but not released.
Seeking an update, Morris said Friday that Padilla told him that the lawyer for the bank and the county attorney were talking about the situation. “He said she was going to talk to Marc about the situation,” Morris said. Padilla was referring to Norma Mills, a close ally of Basnight. Reached by phone this week, Padilla said he was instructed by his superiors not to comment any further about the case.
As county attorney, Mills provides legal advice for the sheriff’s department. Mills told CJ, “Greg Padilla called me with a legal question within the last two weeks. I have not talked with Marc Basnight and have no intention of talking with him about this matter.” She also said that she had not talked with anyone at RBC Centura.
Immediately before taking the job as Dare’s county attorney in February 2003, Mills was in Raleigh as legislative counsel to Sen. Marc Basnight. She is also currently listed as assistant treasurer for the Marc Basnight Campaign, his political committee. That committee has its funds on deposit with RBC Centura in Manteo.
The finance report filed with the State Board of Elections in April showed that the Marc Basnight Campaign had just over $1 million on deposit with RBC Centura and that RBC Centura President Scott Custer made a $2,000 political contribution to it in April.
“The bank has been served by the sheriff and the bank has responded accordingly,” said RBC Centura Associate General Counsel James Edmundson. “We put a hold on the funds that were specified in the execution and assume we will be paying it out fairly promptly. Our customer is entitled to due process. We need to make sure we are paying out funds that have been actually collected.”
He said that there has been no political influence and that he has not talked to Mills. “I am very comfortable with the way the bank is handling this.”
Morris has been pursuing payment since he completed his work in July 2002. The first writ of execution was issued in October 2003. It was based on a February 2003 judgment in Hyde County Court. Padilla allowed the execution to expire because the lawyers from both sides were trying to work things out, he told CJ last year. They didn’t get worked out.
In May 2004 the Hyde County Clerk of Court issued another writ of execution to the sheriff of Dare County. That document was an order for the sheriff to collect property from Basnight Construction to pay a $41,777 judgment. Interest of $4,258 and court costs of $210 were added for a total of $46,245. The final amount will be greater because the interest charge grows on a daily basis, and a sheriff’s commission on sales of property may be eventually collected if property is confiscated to settle the judgment.
After the second order was issued, Padilla told CJ that he would handle it like any other order and that Basnight Construction would not receive any special treatment. Padilla had considered seizing backhoes and other construction equipment, but instead went after the company’s bank account at RBC Centura.
Reached at his Basnight Construction office, Jimmy Basnight said, “He got a judgment due to my ignorance, I just didn’t pay attention to the paperwork. I am appealing it and want to get before a jury.”
“I don’t owe him any money yet. The contract says he will be paid when we are paid,” he said. He said has not been paid by Peters & White, and he disputed $29,000 in the judgment against his company.
Jimmy Basnight acknowledged that funds in his bank account have been set aside to cover the judgment. “He got the court to swing his way and I am probably going to have to pay him,” he said.
Morris is also pursuing justice on another front. Jimmy Basnight and Marc Basnight said there were no liens, lawsuits, or judgments against the company when they both signed a license renewal application for Basnight Construction in November 2003.
Morris was angry over their failure to acknowledge his judgment. He has filed a complaint against Basnight Construction with the General Contractors Licensing Board. A board official would not comment on the complaint, but she said the board expected to take up the matter in the next few months.
Don Carrington is associate publisher of Carolina Journal.