Top state officials must disclose outside income
Just because they sign up for statewide office does not mean top officials need to give up other sources of income.
Posted — UpdatedWhen this hit the desk of one of our newsroom editors, it made her wonder out loud, "People lost their minds over McCrory and Duke and that lending company. Why is she allowed to do this?"
Fair question.
Those stories had less to do with whether McCrory was entitled to own that stock or serve on the board – he was – than whether he properly disclosed what could be potential conflicts of interest.
Perry Newson, the executive director of the North Carolina Ethics Commission, said that most government workers are allowed to pursue other vocations in their off hours, including elected officials.
"There is no blanket prohibition in the ethics act for those situations," Newson said.
After that, Newson said, it's up to public officials to avoid conflicts of interest in "fact specific" situations. A public official is not allowed to take action in a case where he or she has a financial stake and is supposed to recuse himself or herself from such actions. If the official doesn't, that's where disclosure forms and regulators come in.
Cowell, a Democrat who is not seeking re-election this year, is far from the only member of the Council of State – the 10 independently elected statewide officials who oversee various departments – to have income outside of a government salary:
- Attorney General Roy Cooper lists ownership interest in several residential and business rental properties on his disclosure forms.
- Labor Commissioner Cherie Berry rents property to the C.O. Jelliff Corp., an auto parts manufacturer.
- Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler lists income related to his Browns Summit Farm, including tobacco buyout payments, on his latest SEI.
- Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin's SEI lists him as a co-owner of Cotton Exchange Investment Group, a company that owns and leases space in a historic downtown Rockingham building.
- Lt. Gov. Dan Forest's SEI lists deferred compensation that he earned as an architect before being elected to office, as well as ownership interest in two real estate firms.
In Cowell's case, since she oversees the State Retirement System, she would likely have to recuse herself from any decision involving whether the retirement fund would invest in ChannelAdvisor.
"Treasurer Cowell would also be restricted from using her official position to advance ChannelAdvisor’s or James River’s business interests," the opinion read. "That would include promoting those companies to the news media, the general public or the investment community if such actions could be reasonably foreseen to result in a financial benefit to those companies. The Ethics Act would also restrict Treasurer Cowell’s disclosure of confidential information or use of nonpublic information obtained in her official position to benefit either company."
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