Update: During the Nov. 8 Board of Aldermen meeting, Alderman Kinsey said, “There’s been some false accusation about me, where I live. I live in the City of New Bern. I live in the Fourth Ward. That’s where I reside. Noone has come to me to ask me anything, it’s just been negative information. That’s where I live. I do live in the city.”
To clarify, in an email to all members of the BOA, including Alderman Kinsey on Nov. 4, we did ask for a comment, and he did not respond. We also did not mention Kinsey’s name, Alderman Prill did in his comment.
Nov. 4, 2022 — New Bern Now has received reports from over thirty citizens stating a recently reelected alderman owns a house in the ward they were elected to serve, but lives outside the jurisdiction. The claims began several months ago, but no one was willing to go on the record or give us the location of where the alderman is now staying, until last month.
Wondering who investigates this kind of situation, we asked Patrick Gannon, the NC Board of Elections public information officer on Oct. 10, 2022. He replied via email, “The State and county boards of elections have no role in investigating whether a current officeholder is eligible to continue in office. The boards of elections manage the elections process. So, they have a role in determining whether a candidate for election is eligible for the office. Once a person takes office, however, the boards of elections have no jurisdiction to determine whether that person should remain in office during the term for which they were elected.”
According to Coates’ Canons NC Local Government Law, “If a sitting board member becomes disqualified (most likely by moving outside the jurisdiction, but also by being convicted of a felony), he or she must leave office. Votes cast as a sitting member after the disqualification is discovered are subject to challenge, and actions of the board can be thrown into question. For a discussion of issues like this, see David Lawrence’s post here.”
“The member should resign. The resignation would create a vacancy which could be filled in the normal course and the problem would be solved.”
“What if the member does not resign? First, the board must verify that the disqualification does in fact exist. If the issue is residency, then the board member can simply be asked whether he or she has in fact moved outside the jurisdiction. If the member says yes, the disqualification is verified.”
New Bern Now is not releasing the elected official’s name at this time. We will see if the New Bern Board of Aldermen publicly addresses the issue. If you are a concerned resident with information related to the situation, we ask that you contact the Board of Aldermen (BOA) via email or phone. Feel free to cc us on the email.
The next board BOA meeting is on Nov. 8, 2022, and people are allowed to address members of the board for four minutes each during the Petition of Citizens agenda item. The BOA asks speakers for their name and address, but people are not required by law to provide this information. The rules to speak are, “Comments will be directed to the full board, not to an individual board member or staff member.” The city can have rules in place, but they cannot enforce them because it would infringe on peoples First Amendment right to freedom of speech. Sign up before the meeting starts at 6 p.m. at City Hall located on the corner of Pollock and Craven Streets.
In an email at 6:40 a.m. this morning we asked members of the board for a comment. As of 4:20 p.m. on Nov. 5, three Aldermen responded:
Alderman Rick Prill of Ward 1, “This matter came to my attention yesterday via an email from an anonymous sender. I have subsequently sent an email request to City Attorney Davis asking that this matter be discussed with the Board at Tuesday night’s meeting. I’ve also asked Alderman Kinsey to have a conversation with Attorney Davis prior to our Tuesday meeting.”
Alderman Barbara Best of Ward 5 responded, “Thank you for the information. As a sitting Alderman I will not disregard this information, but I await to hear from the City Attorney. I will not be a part of any unethical business practices that I am aware of, based on the City Charter under Code of Ordinance – Article III. Elections Section 3.3.”
Alderman Bob Brinson of Ward 6 responded, “Thanks for bringing this to my attention and giving me the opportunity to respond. The first I heard about this allegation was yesterday in an anonymous email sent to the entire board which also contained no evidence. I will be looking to our city attorney for guidance on how to proceed. I feel it is premature for the board to act on this without evidence.”
Comment or questions? Send us an email.
By Wendy Card, Editor