When the North Carolina State Government Ethics Act was signed into law in 2006, many hoped that unethical conduct on the part of public officials in the state would at best decrease and at worst be exposed and investigated. Unfortunately, neither has been realized.

The high-profile cases of former Speaker of the House Jim Black, former state Rep. Mike Decker, former N.C. Lottery Commissioner Kevin Geddings, former U.S. Rep. Frank Ballance, former Commissioner of Agriculture Meg Scott Phipps, and others led to the establishment of a more formal ethics entity for the state of North Carolina.

There was hope that establishing a proactive Ethics Commission would thwart unethical behavior from public officials. However, in nearly three years of existence, the commission has done little. Not a single resolution of note has come as a result of any Ethics Commission investigation, even though several dozen complaints have been submitted or referred.

For example, media reports indicate that former Gov. Mike Easley allegedly failed to disclose a seemingly inappropriate relationship with homebuilder Nick Garrett, but this went undetected, or perhaps unchallenged, by the Ethics Commission. Meanwhile, a Board of Elections investigation of Easley made a criminal referral to the Wake County District Attorney, and a federal grand jury is reportedly looking into possible campaign finance violations by Easley and his donors and is asking how his wife, Mary, obtained her position (and subsequent 88 percent raise) at North Carolina State University.

These are only a few of the possible violations of honest services law the federal grand jury is presumably investigating. None of these issues appears to have been investigated by the Ethics Commission.

Earlier in the year, Ethics Commission staff said on several occasions that the fact that there have been no substantiated cases resulting from allegations submitted to the Ethics Commission demonstrates the ethics and high moral qualities of North Carolina’s public servants.

One has to wonder what exactly is the point of having an Ethics Commission if it is not going to take its role as an investigative or enforcement entity seriously.
Do we really need to have 10 salaried employees to file financial paperwork and offer advisory opinions? Also, the eight commissioners who are expected to serve as a public watchdog have been silent in the face of the state’s continuing ethics crisis.

The commission has entirely too much discretion to ignore or dismiss complaints. And since the General Assembly controls the purse strings of the Ethics Commission, how can the commission effectively police the same entity that makes its existence possible?

Since it is difficult to legislate “doing the right thing” with an Ethics Commission whose members are appointed by political leaders and whose funding is controlled by those on whom it may receive an allegation of wrongdoing, the media become even more relevant to counter public corruption.

It also is essential that independent organizations such as the Foundation for Ethics in Public Service assist the media in exposing cases of corruption. We are a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that does not rely for financial support on the potential or actual subjects of complaints. Since we do not accept any government money, we are able to freely, fairly, and forthrightly examine all complaints we receive without fearing retaliation.

Conflicts of interest and political influence are much less likely — hopefully absent — when the investigative, referral, and reporting processes are in the hands of a nongovernmental, nonpartisan entity like the Foundation for Ethics in Public Service. Our donors, complainants, witnesses, and the greater public expect, and will receive, nothing less than unconditional objectivity.

Les Merritt, North Carolina State Auditor from 2005-09, is executive director of the Foundation for Ethics in Public Service.