NC gov wants local boards to add gift ban to rules for state’s unique alcohol control system

NC alcohol commission eyes governor’s ethics push

RALEIGH, N.C. — The North Carolina Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission is considering a voluntary ethics policy after revelations of huge executive salaries and an extravagant dinner on a liquor vendor’s tab.

The Commission — the closest thing to a central authority overseeing the state’s disjointed system of liquor sales — is scheduled to discuss new statewide ethics policies Wednesday for the county officials responsible for liquor sales.

Gov. Beverly Perdue, who years ago was a member of her local ABC board in Craven County, wants local alcohol regulators to agree to banning gifts which might be perceived as swaying booze buying decisions. Perdue has already imposed the ban as part of ethics rules that apply to state agencies under her control.

She said local alcohol boards that don’t comply with the gift ban will be shamed on a state Web site.

Perdue “is confident she will have very willing compliance with this,” spokeswoman Chrissy Pearson said Tuesday. “The message is they need to do this because this goes hand in glove with the governor’s belief that the public deserves to know how their money is spent.”

North Carolina is one of 18 states that directly control wholesale and retail liquor distribution, but it’s the only one where local ABC boards sell spirits to consumers. Local voters have been allowed to decide since the system was created in 1937 whether their county — or towns within dry counties — would allow liquor sales.

As a result, the state’s 161 county and municipal ABC boards are independent entities that establish their own policies and procedures. Local liquor outlets generated $259 million for state and local governments last year on sales of more than $700 million, according to state ABC Commission data.

Critics fear the local boards have been susceptible to personal influences.

Earlier this month, New Hanover County ABC board members resigned after it was revealed they approved a $232,200 salary for the local administrator and a $115,500 salary for his son as assistant administrator. Their combined compensation exceeded $400,000 after adding bonuses and longevity pay.

State Alcohol Law Enforcement agents last week said international distiller Diageo, its North Carolina marketing director and the local ABC Board in Charlotte violated laws on giving and accepting gifts. A Diageo marketing director in November treated the chairman of the local board and about two dozen employees to a $12,700 tab for dinner and drinks.

The local board has since repaid the company more than $9,000. Diageo paid for its two employees, their spouses and the $2,000 tip.

The Mecklenburg board’s chairman this week rejected a request by fellow board members that he resign.

The state ABC Commission has asked Diageo and an affiliate of whiskey distiller Jim Beam to provide expense receipts for other meals they may have bought for members of local ABC boards. The state commission on Tuesday released a receipt showing Beam Global Spirits and Wine paid $285 for a lunch with four employees of the Mecklenburg alcohol board at a Charlotte steak restaurant in November.

The Mecklenburg ABC board last month revoked Jim Beam’s sponsorship of an alcohol warehouse manager in Charlotte who is a competitive angler outside of work. The manager displayed Jim Beam logos on his clothing and boat in return for $3,200 in expenses over the last three years.