NC lawmaker rejects Apex's invitation after 'inappropriate' emails, profane voicemails from town employee

A powerful state legislator says her relationship with a fast-growing Wake County town is strained after one of the town’s employees sent her hostile emails and left profane phone messages over the placement of campaign signs.

State Rep. Erin Paré, a Republican who represents a southern Wake County district, rejected an invitation from Apex officials to attend a breakfast event where town officials hoped to speak with legislators about laws they want approved in the coming year.

Paré declined the invitation in a Feb. 26 email to town leaders, citing “very inappropriate” emails and two voicemail messages from Oct. 22 that she says were sent by June Cowles, a senior planner for the town who is registered to vote in Paré’s district. WRAL viewed the email messages and listened to the voicemail messages.

In one of the recordings, the caller uses profanity to complain about Paré’s campaign signs.

“You are way over the height, and there's limitations on the size of your [expletive] sign. Plus your [expletive] signs are right in front of a [expletive] stop sign, where you are causing a traffic safety [issue],” the caller says.

Another recording, the caller says: “God, you’re such a lying [expletive].”

An Oct. 22 email to Paré’s campaign from an address including Cowles’ last name and initials said: “You are as dumb as they come. You stupid idiot.”

Paré told WRAL News that she has received plenty of criticism during her years in public office. “But I have never received voice mails or emails like that from any town official, ever,” said Paré, whose campaign didn’t receive any citations for its campaign signs.

Apex officials didn’t confirm or deny that the messages were from Cowles. But in emails to Paré, which were viewed by WRAL, the town acknowledged that the calls came from a town employee.

When WRAL called the phone number tied to the voice messages, Cowles answered and identified herself. When asked about the messages left for Paré, Cowles sighed and hung up. Cowles didn’t respond to follow-up calls, text messages or email requests for comment.

Paré represents Fuquay-Varina, Holly Springs, and parts of unincorporated Wake County. Her district doesn’t include Apex. Paré said that, apart from the messages, she has no reason to be upset with Apex officials. She said she doesn’t have any business before the town, and Apex officials said they’re not aware of any past disputes with Paré.

The signs that were the subject of the messages were believed to be in Paré’s district, which is where Cowles lives, according to voter registration records. Because of Cowles’ employment with the town, Paré alerted Apex officials to the voicemails on Oct. 30 and to the emails in the following days. Apex Town Manager Randy Vosburg responded in a Nov. 8 email, telling Paré that the town’s human resources department investigated the matter and that the town had determined the employee hadn’t violated town employee policies.

“On the issue submitted to the town for consideration of voicemails and emails from a town employee with your campaign — I want to first say the remarks shared with me in no way reflect the viewpoints of the town of Apex,” Vosburg wrote, without identifying the employee.

Stacie Galloway, the town of Apex’s communications director, told WRAL News that the town has no rules for its employees’ behavior outside of work.

The town “does not place unconstitutional restrictions on an employee’s First Amendment right to engage in free speech that falls outside of their job duties,” Galloway said in an email. “When contact is made using a personal phone, outside of their work hours or during their time off, and outside of their job duties, that employee would be considered as acting as an individual, not on behalf of the town.”

Working together

On the surface, the fuss over the messages is a dispute between two people. But such controversies can have a broader impact. State legislators — especially Republicans, who hold a majority in the General Assembly — have the power to pass laws that directly affect a city, its assets, its elections, and its finances. And legislators have a history of targeting municipalities with laws that local leaders oppose.

Perhaps the biggest example came in 2016, when legislators passed a law requiring people to use public bathrooms associated with their birth gender in response to a nondiscrimination ordinance approved by Charlotte city leaders. Then-Gov. Pat McCrory and then-state Rep. Dan Bishop warned Charlotte leaders that passing the ordinance could prompt legislative backlash.
Paré, who was first elected in 2020, is the co-chair of the House Appropriations Committee, a group with tremendous influence over state spending. Paré said that in 2021 she advocated for the state to provide Apex with $11.5 million in Covid relief that it failed to receive from a federal package. The town told WRAL that Apex officials worked with Paré and other elected leaders, including then-Gov. Roy Cooper, on securing the funding.

Paré also pushed for a 2023 bill that allowed the Apex mayor to help the town council appoint the town manager, town clerk, and town attorney. In a statement to WRAL, Apex acknowledged that Paré was “instrumental” in getting the bill passed.

Paré also spearheaded an effort two years ago to redraw districts for the Wake County Board of Commissioners. County leaders ultimately reached a deal with Paré, agreeing to districts that gave Republicans better odds of winning seats on the board.

Paré’s proposals are taken seriously by Republicans who control the legislature, said David McLennan, a political science professor at Meredith College in Raleigh.

“This is not a freshman legislator who might not be taken seriously. This is someone who will be taken very seriously,” McLennan said, adding that Paré has “extra gravitas” within the GOP because she is one of only a few Republicans who have won elections in heavily-Democratic areas.

Given the General Assembly’s power over municipalities, it would be unwise for any town official to antagonize a legislator who’s a member of the majority party, political analysts told WRAL.

“In a state like ours, where the General Assembly reigns supreme, it's like walking into the lion's den with a steak in your hand and tempting them to take your arm off,” said Chris Cooper, a political science professor at Western Carolina University.

“Towns, municipalities, [and] cities have to go to the General Assembly to get all sorts of things done here that they wouldn't in other states,” Cooper said. “So towns want to stay in the General Assembly's good graces.”

Paré said she wouldn’t let the Apex dispute influence her decisions on legislation involving the town.

‘Continuing to collaborate’

By the time Vosburg responded to Paré’s emails about Cowles in November, Paré was ready to move on from the issue, she told WRAL. She had just won reelection in one of the House’s most competitive seats, defeating Democrat Safiyah Jackson with 51% of the vote.

It wasn’t until last month, when Apex officials invited Paré to their legislative breakfast event that she reconsidered how town officials responded to her concerns. Paré said she was disappointed that the town didn’t apologize for how she was treated.

Paré spoke to WRAL News about the situation because she said she thinks Apex residents deserve to know how their tax dollars are being used. “When you work for a town government that works for the people, you really should hold yourself to a little bit of a higher standard just because you are in a public position,” Paré said.

Vosburg, the town manager, reiterated that “the town was not involved in the interaction between the constituent and their elected representative.”

Apex Mayor Jacques Gilbert said he has worked diligently over the past four years to build and strengthen his relationship with Paré to advance the town’s legislative priorities.

“My experience working with Representative Paré has been productive, and I appreciate her office’s commitment to serving our state,” Gilbert told WRAL News in a statement. “I look forward to continuing to collaborate and strengthen these partnerships in the future.”