RALEIGH N.C.
The State Ethics Commission removed two appointees from their positions Friday and recommended removing three more because they didn’t fill out a new economic disclosure form required due five months ago under the state’s new ethics law.
The five and 15 others also received $250 fines. Most of those who were just fined filed the disclosure form late after receiving warning notices. The forms are designed to ensure that conflicts of interest are uncovered and to promote transparency within government, the commission’s leader said.
“We’re just following what the legislation says,” Robert Farmer, the commission’s chairman and a former judge, said during a break in the commission’s first meeting to consider penalties. “The general public needs to know what interests they have, that everything is open.”
The commission mailed the Statement of Economic Interest form to more than 4,300 people covered by the law, including the governor, judges, General Assembly members, cabinet-level officials and appointees to boards and commissions.
That’s more than double the number that Easley required to provide details of their personal finances under an executive order that formed the basis for the old rules.
Last year, following a series of scandals that highlighted weaknesses in the rules, the General Assembly passed expanded ethics laws and required more information to be disclosed.
