Ben Kellman & Blaine Leggett / GNP contributors
Half the people in Pitt County are likely to say America has an honesty problem, judging by a national Gallup Poll this summer.
Eight in 10 are likely to say they do not trust the federal government, suggests a Pew Research Center poll.
Chances are some of them might feel that way about the Pitt County government. To those people, Pitt County commissioners say they are all about ethics and doing right, not wrong.
Beth Ward, in her 23rd year as member of the Pitt County Board of Commissioners, says that there is no issue that she would vote on unethically.
The Greenville News Project contacted all nine county commissioners to ask how they defined ethics and used it in their work as elected officials. Five of them responded.
The conversations also ranged into how they learn to be commissioners and how they stay in touch with their constituents. But for ethics, there's state-required training.
Know it to do it
Governments have a code of ethics that is meant to ensure elected officials put the public’s interest ahead of their own by establishing guidelines for their decision-making. The Pitt County Code of Ethics states that “county commissioners must be able to act in a manner to maintain their integrity and independence, yet they must be responsive to the interests and needs they represent.”
If governments were to operate without an ethics code, then they would cease to be trustworthy and be prone to selfish action, says Michael Gerhardt, a professor at UNC’s School of Law.
In addition to an ethics code, county commissioners are required to undergo ethics training each time they are elected, says Norma Houston, who previously conducted ethics training at the UNC School of Government.
Houston, who is now the chief of staff to the state university system president, says that if a government is going to enforce ethics standards, then it has to let officials know what those standards are. “You can't punish someone for violating a conflict-of-interest law if you haven't told them what it is they're not supposed to do,” says Houston.
All Pitt County commissioners are also required to take an oath of office. The oath is basic in its terms, and states that each commissioner will support the laws of the United States and North Carolina.
Pitt County Commissioner Tom Coulson says that some of the committees that commissioners are appointed to require additional ethics training.
The necessary training on the duties of being a commissioner is less formal. Melvin McLawhorn, who has been a county commissioner for almost 20 years, says that he had a mentor to help guide him. McLawhorn’s mentor, Denison D. Garrett, was the first African American on the Pitt County Board of Commissioners and the leader of the Pitt County chapter of the NAACP, according to NCPedia.
McLawhorn says that Garrett showed him what it takes to be a person with honesty and integrity.
For County Commissioner Lauren White, “a lot of the training comes from learning what your constituents want and what’s best for the people in your district.”
Ethics, justice and prosperity
As elected officials, commissioners are required to make decisions that affect the district they represent and the county as a whole. Their role as commissioners is to vote in the best interest of their community, and they do so by gauging their constituents’ opinions on hot topics, says White.
Kevin Leonard, the executive director of the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners, adds, “County commissioners need to take ethics seriously because it teaches them how to lead equitably, ensure justice and promote the prosperity of all county residents.”
All commissioners the GNP spoke with agree that the needs of their constituents must come first. “You need to think about the whole county when you vote, and how your decision is going to affect everybody,” Ward says.
The recent case of the crypto mining firm Compute North is an example. It initially wanted to build its crypto mining plant near an elementary school. That sparked an outcry from students’ parents and other people in the neighborhood.
Their concern was for the noise generated by crypto mining. The mining is done round the clock by banks of computers, and they need vast amounts of electricity to run. All that power surging through the mining plant generates a noticeable humming noise.
Commissioners responded to the public by amending the county’s noise ordinance to put more distance between neighborhoods and businesses that generate a lot of noise. It led Compute North to look to the city’s industrial park as a possible site, but it abandoned those plans earlier this year after it declared bankruptcy.
McLawhorn says that he tries his best to make decisions that benefit his constituents. “I try to be a person that wouldn’t take advantage of a situation that is presented to me for any self-gain,” he says.
Commissioners are forbidden from voting on items that affect them personally and that is one way to avoid a conflict of interest, says Commissioner Mary Perkins-Williams.
White adds, “You have to put the needs of your constituents and the people that you are serving above your own wants and desires.”
When it comes to keeping in touch with her constituents, Wards says they take it upon themselves to voice their opinions to her. “Citizens from all over the county contact me almost daily with questions or suggestions,” she says.
White takes a more modern approach and uses social media to hear from those she represents. “A lot of times I'll post on Facebook when I know that something coming up is going to be a real hot topic in my district, so that we get a good sample from the area I represent,” she says.
Of all nine commissioners the Greenville News Project contacted, one missed a scheduled interview and three did not respond.
Kellman and Leggett reported this story for the fall 2022 class, In-Depth Reporting.
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