Fire electrolysis official, board rules

Ethics violations seen in her actions

The head of the N.C. Board of Electrolysis Examiners improperly used her public position for personal gain and should be removed from the appointed post, the state ethics board ruled late Friday after a hearing.

Recommending removal is the strongest sanction the board can take.

Trudy Brown, who owns laser hair removal clinics in Greensboro and High Point, used her position as head of the five-member state electrolysis examiners board to solicit money from owners of clinics that are licensed by the board, the ethics board ruled.

That represented a conflict of interests, the ethics board said.

Brown also used her public position to further personal gain while pushing changes to laws, the board ruled.

The ethics board's vote was 5-2, with at least one dissenter saying that recommending removal was too harsh, according to the ethics board's director, Perry Newson.

Brown and her lawyer and lobbyist, Don Vaughan of Greensboro, could not be reached. Both appeared at the hearing and denied any wrongdoing, Newson said.

As a result of testimony at the hearing, the ethics board will open investigations of two other members of the electrolysis examiners board.

Ethics officials also want legislators to examine how the board functions.

The removal request will be made to House Speaker Jim Black, who recommended Brown for the position.

A spokeswoman for Black said Friday the speaker supports the removal decision.

It wasn't clear whether Black can remove her or whether Gov. Mike Easley must take formal action because her official appointment was the result of the state's appointments law, signed by Easley.

Records show that Brown asked her colleagues to help her raise $100,000 as lawmakers considered passing legislation that would help electrologists who operate lasers to remove unwanted hair.

Brown has said she raised only about $24,000, which Vaughn reported earning as a fee on lobbying reports last year.

An electrologist in Forsyth County, Rhonda Jones, filed a complaint about the practice. She said Brown was pushing legislation that served her interests over those of electrologists who do not use lasers.

The ethics board also found that Brown improperly mentioned her state board position on a commercial Web site.