Reconciling Conflicts of Interest in Local Government

We’ve had some slow news days of late. Twice in the past two weeks one of the top stories in The Herald showcased developments in the District 4 race for Lee County Commissioner. As most everyone now knows, my former opponent in this race, Kenny Cole, has taken a job as the Town Manager in Coats, NC and subsequently withdrew his name from contention in our commissioner race. While this development would appear to be good news for me, politically, it introduces uncertainty into the campaign as well.

Kenny Cole made the right choice in withdrawing from the Lee County Commissioner race. Lee and Harnett Counties compete for new business developments. If Kenny had been elected as a Lee County Commissioner and retained his full time job as Coats Town Manager, he would have faced the inevitable problem of handling confidential economic development information that would advantage one entity over the other. There’s no way he could avoid this conflict of interest and do justice to the citizens of both counties. So, his early withdrawal from the race was both ethical and practical. Kudos to Kenny.

I have always advocated that politicians must avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest in executing their duties. This concept was instilled in me at West Point and has stayed with me continuously the past 30 years. As commissioner of Lee County, I would not knowingly work for or accept any form of compensation from an entity that competed with the county or that did contract work for the county. Either of these situations could introduce the problem of an apparent conflict of interest. That appearance, in turn, would diminish public confidence in local government, which serves no useful purpose.

It’s the same sort of problem that Representative Jimmy Love, Sr. has in serving two masters who have competitive interests. He is compensated by the citizens of House District 51 to be our elected representative in Raleigh, while simultaneously serving as a contracted legal counsel to the Board of Education in Lee County. As a well-educated and trained lawyer, Mr. Love is intimately familiar with the statutes and regulations governing conflict of interest. I’m sure he knows just how to walk that tightrope while avoiding legal complications. But he cannot avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest in the minds of many across the community he represents. As our representative, he advocates for funds to support Lee County Schools, to which his law firm is a contractor. This is viewed by some as him inappropriately singing for his supper.

If one ascribes credence to the latest Civitas poll conducted in Lee County, Mr. Love’s apparent conflict of interest may only extend to the end of the year. It looks as if Mike Stone’s campaign for the District 51 seat is gaining momentum and Mr. Love may be back to focusing his energies exclusively on his law practice come January. If that’s the will of the citizens in Lee County, I offer them kudos as well.