From the Raleigh News and Observer (3/13/10): The Star-News of Wilmington last year asked the New Hanover Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, a public agency, to list staff salaries.
That local ABC board balked. The state ABC office said that under North Carolina law the salaries were public. The New Hanover board released the information.
It showed the New Hanover board’s top two administrators, Billy Williams and his son Bradley, were compensated a combined $390,000 last year, including bonuses and longevity pay.
The Star-News reported that Billy Williams’ compensation of $260,000 was more than any of the area’s judges, county and city managers, community college presidents, school superintendents, sheriffs and district attorneys. (The paper reported this week that Billy Williams, who retired last month, will receive $195,000 a year in retirement pay.)
The revelations caused all three members of the New Hanover ABC Board to resign. The reports showed the value of our state’s public records laws (and of good newspaper work). In North Carolina, unless otherwise specified by law, all records are considered public.
Next week is Sunshine Week, an effort sponsored by the American Society of News Editors to remind Americans of the value of open government and public documents, and how those are good for democracy.
The News & Observer will publish articles about open government and records throughout the week, including a three-part series, “Keeping Secrets,” about North Carolina’s restrictive personnel law that covers public employees.
The series, by reporter Dan Kane with assistance from N&O database guru David Raynor, starts Sunday. While our public records law is strong, our personnel law is one of the nation’s most restrictive. Among our findings:
- School districts cite the personnel law in declining to share information about teachers who have had improper relationships with students. The teachers sometimes move to another district and restart their careers.
- Law enforcement agencies say the personnel law prevents them from releasing information about officers who have been charged with violent crimes on duty.
- Agencies decline to provide employee applications and résumés, as well as recommendations from well-connected political donors. So there’s no way for the public to know whether an employee was qualified for a job.
Under the law, an agency head can release personnel information to protect the integrity of the agency. That rarely occurs.
When declining to give personnel information, the agencies often say they are protecting the employee. But one wonders whether the agency’s leadership isn’t protecting itself.
After the Star-News made its request, the lawyer for the New Hanover board explained why the board did not want to give specific salaries. Doing so, the lawyer said, “will create upheaval and turmoil among employees.”
by John Drescher, News & Observer Executive Editor