Merritt in the moonlight

Les Merritt needs to resign. Oh, not from his elected post as state auditor, where he's been doing a good job watchdogging government. No, Merritt needs to bag his moonlighting as a retirement investment consultant, something he's been doing with his son, Dale.

First, the state auditor's position is full-time, paying over $100,000 a year, and Merritt should give it his undivided professional attention. Second, he should recognize the unseemliness of appearing to use his position as a high state official to attract private clients, whether he advertises in that fashion or not. Third, there is a potential for a conflict of interest if he ended up with a client who was a state employee.

The public relations firm that sent out the press release discussing Merritt's association with financial consultant Banyan Rock & Talent wasn't shy about promoting the fact that Merritt is state auditor, or that he was the first Republican to defeat a Democratic incumbent for the job. This is not acceptable, and Merritt, after being asked about it, said he asked the public relations people to delete references to his state position. Obviously, many people who might deal with the firm would know about it anyway.

The N&O's Under the Dome reports that Merritt is working only for clients who do not have a "decision-making" capacity in state government. But that sounds like a pretty loosey-goosey restriction, whether Merritt intended it to be or not. And it would not eliminate the possibility that a client might be someone whose activities on the state payroll were of interest to the auditor.

Merritt needs to stop moonlighting, right now. He is one of the people who investigates other governmental agencies, and thus he must work without so much as a hint of real or potential conflict himself. This may be an innocent error of judgment -- and it can be corrected.