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We get the government we deserve
by Tom Campbell

November 21, 2007

There must be some rule that when you get elected to public office, lead a public entity, or even advise one you must check your brains and common sense at the front door. The Randy Parton Theatre fiasco confirmed this notion for me.

Let’s state up front that the Roanoke Valley is desperate for economic development, so when best-brother Parton showed up, proposing to build a “Branson East” along I-95 at Roanoke Rapids, folks had to take smelling salts to calm their light-headedness. Mom ‘n ‘em always cautioned us that anything that looked too good to be true usually was. Roanoke Rapids is finding this out the hard way.

City leaders quickly knew they had made a bad deal with Parton. They were late to the party. It was better entertainment than moving pictures to ride through the parking lot of the Parton theatre at night counting the number of cars present. Problem was, it didn’t take long to do the counting and didn’t require a calculator.

The city made a bad deal, but we could at least give them credit for trying to improve their situation were it not for the lame excuses they used when asked about the situation. The mayor and council members hid behind a reported privacy clause in their contract with Parton that forbade them from discussing details such as attendance figures, financial considerations and results and ongoing discussions with Parton.

This is inexcusable and unacceptable. In the first place North Carolina has laws that prohibit public business to be conducted in private except in a very few instances. Was there no one in the process of negotiation and execution of this contract who stated that such a provision was not only illegal but bad public policy? All newly-elected officials in our state take a course at the Institute of Government that informs them of their fiduciary responsibilities to those who elect them. Do they just forget these admonitions?

Even more disconcerting is the notion that public officials thought these secrecy provisions were acceptable enough to sign the agreement, regardless of the legality. Reasonable people have to wonder whether these officials are dumb or devious. Neither is desirable.

The problem begins with our own legislature. They exempt themselves from being required to disclose information, so there is little wonder that cities and counties feel either the legal or moral imperative to be transparent. In the case of public contracts there must be consequences when public officials break the public trust with such little regard for what is right.

If we don’t raise voices in protest over closed-door deals and privacy provisions in contracts, we can expect the practice to continue. We get the government we deserve.