Wake commissioner Gardner denies misuse

He sought public money for pool

RALEIGH -- Wake Commissioner Kenn Gardner says he did nothing wrong four years ago when he advocated for $1 million in public money to support the Triangle Aquatic Center, a private Cary pool foundation that would later pay him $244,355 in design fees.

Gardner, an architect, also said this week he saw no conflict of interest when he initially voted against granting $10 million in hotel and meals tax revenue for the Cary Aquatic Center, a competing pool project he now says he never really opposed.

He later voted in support of the same project, when there was talk of merging the dueling pool proposals.

"I've never misused my office, and I've never acted unethically," Gardner said in an interview Tuesday. "If anything, it was putting the community first. And that's what I did."

In 2004, when he was chairman of the commissioners, Gardner pitched a proposal to buy up to $1 million in surplus land from Triangle Aquatic through the county's Open Space, Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee, which the commissioners appoint.

That proposal fizzled when Cary leaders, who were backing the other pool project, declined to participate in the deal.

Gardner also met with County Manager David Cooke about the possibility of granting public money to Triangle Aquatic and solicited then-Wake schools Superintendent Bill McNeil to sign letters in support.

Minutes from meetings of the Triangle Aquatic board detail other actions Gardner took as early as 2002 to seek public help, such as talking with the county revenue director about a property tax exemption.

As he sought government support for Triangle Aquatic, however, Gardner insists he was not acting as chairman of the elected county board or as a member of the nonprofit pool group.

He was acting solely as a "swim parent," he said, and never asked for favoritism.

"I wear multiple hats," Gardner said. "Everyone knows I have a passion for swimming. I had comments, certainly I did, but it was not as a commissioner."

Gardner, who is seeking re-election to a third term, offered a public apology to anyone who might be under the "misperception" he did something wrong.

The commissioner first answered questions in an interview Tuesday about his involvement with Triangle Aquatic Center, after not returning numerous calls from reporters for nearly two weeks. He said he had not commented earlier because his attorney had advised him not to speak while a settlement of his lawsuit seeking nearly $400,000 in additional payment from the nonprofit was still pending.

In his lawsuit, Gardner claims there was an understanding between Gardner and other members of the pool board as far back as 2002 that he would be paid for his design services when the project began construction.

That's different from what he was saying publicly at the time. When questions about the potential for conflict of interest arose in 2005, Gardner said he was donating his professional services and that he had "not been paid a dime."

Not all his services

The commissioner clarified those statements this week.

"I did not say I was donating all my services," said Gardner, a Republican.

He also noted that his written contract with Triangle Aquatic was not signed until August 2005, after the public debate over the dueling pool projects was over. The contract, which Gardner prepared, details $134,800 in services for which he was due payment going back to 2002.

The commissioner said he would never have sought payment for his services had the pool been successful in receiving government grants.

"I would never take taxpayers' money," he said. "This is a private client, a private project, no taxpayers' dollars. There was no conflict."

State law forbids public officials from influencing or trying to influence the awarding of a government contract to an entity in which they have a financial interest. Further, the ethics policy for the Wake County board dictates that commissioners must disclose such interests and abstain from deliberations or votes on the issue in question.

Gardner said he could not recall whether he had ever disclosed to the county attorney or fellow commissioners that he would be paid by Triangle Aquatic.

Michael Ferrell, who retired as Wake's county attorney last year, said he also could not recall whether Gardner ever told him he would be paid. Ferrell said he did not believe Gardner broke the law, since Triangle Aquatic, in the end, did not get public money.

However, the former county attorney said he could not speak to whether Gardner violated the county ethics policy requiring him to disclose his financial stake in the pool's success.

"I don't give ethical advice," Ferrell said. "I just give advice as to whether they have violated a statute."

Gardner said Tuesday that he was not familiar with the requirements of the county's ethics policy. He said he and the rest of the commissioners may need an annual refresher on the board's ethics standards, and he has suggested that the policy be revisited.