Ex-Chowan ABC Board chairman defends salary

By Connie Sage,  Correspondent

EDENTON, N.C.

The former chairman of the Chowan County Alcoholic Beverage Control Board was paid $6,000 a year to oversee Edenton's one liquor store and run monthly board meetings.

The compensation - tied as the second highest among the state's 157 local boards - was justified, said Burton Jones, because he served as both chairman and secretary-treasurer.

Jones said he also was paid an additional $6,300 to oversee the store's 2006 expansion and remodeling.

New ABC Board Chairman Haywood Coston told county commissioners in a letter last month that he was reducing the chairman's per diem to $200 per meeting, or $2,400 a year, down from the previous $500 monthly stipend.

Coston said cutting the pay is the right thing to do given the county's financial shortfall.

"You're appointed by county commissioners," Coston said. "It's a civic duty to the county."

Jones was asked to resign in July after 10 years on the board, seven as chairman. He said what he was paid was "very minimal" considering the responsibilities of directing a profit-making operation that generates more than $1 million in sales.

Michael Herring, chief administrator for the state's ABC Commission in Raleigh, disagreed.

"When you look at the volume as a one-store operation, it doesn't justify the high compensation that's been paid in the past," he said. "These members are appointed to these roles as public servants. They're not being appointed to draw a salary. They set policy and have managers and employees who are compensated to run the system."

Jones said he took over the day-to-day management, oversight and accountability of the local ABC Board after the 2003 death of ABC employee A.B. Harless, who had been paid $550 a month, plus another $350 in benefits, as secretary-treasurer.

Instead of hiring someone to replace Harless, Jones said he took on the responsibilities in his role as chairman.

He said he was paid $500 a month and worked as much as 100 hours a month making what he said were much-needed improvements to the store.

Herring said in an e-mail that "no other boards had or have to my knowledge this arrangement."

The board has to hire people to perform work. The salary, no matter what he did, had to be approved by county commissioners, he said.

According to a preliminary review of county commission meeting minutes, there is no indication that commissioners ever voted to increase Jones' compensation, said board Clerk Suzanne Stallings.

County Commissioner Ralph Cole, a former commission chairman, said he thought the ABC Board was a separate entity and pay was never discussed by commissioners.

Jones said his compensation was authorized by former County Manager Cliff Copeland.

"He assumed the mantle of authority and responsibility and left me to believe that it was clearly approved and authorized by the county commissioners," Jones said.

The county pays members of most other local boards a $20 monthly stipend for their time.

"I've never considered the ABC Board to be a civic endeavor as you would the planning board, the Edenton Historical Commission or the Board of Adjustments," Jones said. "I've done all those things and they are as different as apples to coconuts compared to the ABC Board."

"I was poorly compensated for the time and energy I put in," he said.

Jones said he undertook a "complete overhaul and expansion" of the Edenton store, instituted inventory control and other procedures, and ran the store as a business.

Pasquotank County ABC Board Chairman Robert Vaughan said other local boards don't generate revenue.

"ABC boards pay taxes and operate as a business" and are not nonprofit or county- or city-supported ventures, he said.

Vaughan said he is paid $200 a meeting, or $2,400 a year.

Elizabeth City's single liquor store generated almost 12 percent in profits on total liquor sales of $2.6 million last year, making it the 23rd-largest operation in the state.

Dare County ABC Board Chairman Ray White receives $400 a month, or $4,800 a year, the fourth highest in the state.

"We run it like a business, not like other government agencies," White said. "We're in the top 10 in net profit percentage."

In 2008, profits for Dare County's five ABC stores were 14 percent. With $12.5 million in total liquor sales, they ranked eighth highest in the state. Chowan County's $1.1 million in total liquor sales for one store had a 3.65 percent profit and was ranked 130th for the same year.

Mecklenburg County's 23 ABC stores, with $94.7 million in total liquor sales, is the state's largest operation. Its chairman receives $7,200 a year to oversee that board.

Ten boards statewide receive no compensation, according to state records.

"These systems are pretty much running themselves, and maybe compensation should be looked at more often by the local governing authority," the state's Herring said. "The prices are set by the state. All they have to do is put the products on the shelf and ring it up."