The New Bern Board of Aldermen voted unanimously on April 11 to submit an application for a $950,000 Rural Transformation Grant on behalf of Bradham’s Legacy. If awarded, the money would be used to construct or rehab a building to house a Pepsi Museum.
After a lengthy discussion, Alderman Rick Prill brought up the fact that Mayor Jeffrey Odham and City Manager Foster Hughes sit on Bradham’s Legacy Board of Directors. He asked City Attorney M. Scott Davis “if there was any conflict of interest that exists…”
Davis said there wasn’t a conflict of interest because they were not “making allocation of city funds.”
It’s unknown whether the city already hired someone to write the grant or how much they would be paid, but city funds would be used to apply for the grant.
Last year, the city asked Deputy General Council Tom Carruthers, NC League of Municipalities, to make a presentation to the BOA on Ethics. During the March 22, 2022 meeting, he addressed a number of topics, and one was a new law that governs elected officials serving on nonprofit boards, NCGS § 14-234.3, Then Adlerman Jeffrey Odham asked Carruthers, “to clarify what you’re not supposed to vote on, is it for this governing body that funds that nonprofit, or is it any vote for the nonprofit because they receive funds from the government?
Tom Carruthers responded, “It affects the elected’s ability to vote, once the elected has moved to the nonprofit role he’s no longer sitting as an elected…”
Odham stated, “Okay, so technically, I probably should not vote on our budget because our budget includes funding for the C1A. But I’m okay to vote with C1A board, because they received funding from the city.” *
Carruthers said that was correct.
Referring to a potential conflict of interest, Carruthers said, “But if you’ve thought about it, someone else is thinking about it. Why take the risk that a community member will accuse you of violating your ethical duties. What you should do is address it publicly if it’s a close call because the courts are willing to give elected officials the benefit of the doubt.”
Last night the mayor led the discussion without mentioning a potential conflict of interest.
In North Carolina, an elected official can ask to be recused from voting to prevent the appearance of a conflict of interest. When this happens, it would be recorded as a yes vote.
Mayor Odham was asked for comment but has yet to respond.
Editor’s note: C1A is an acronym for Craven 100 Alliance.
What do you think?
By Wendy Card, co-editor. Send us an email with questions or comments.
Related articles: City of New Bern takes first step towards new Pepsi Museum, will seek $950,000 in funding; Bradham’s Legacy’s “Comparable Exhibit” study suggests connection to PepsiCo, Aldermen push back vote on grant to build Pepsi Museum to April 11