< Previous page

Since then, he has traveled across the state educating officials ranging from community college board members to the USS North Carolina Battleship Commission so they could understand the need to report their financial interests. He has reviewed thousands of public officials' statements of economic interest and has issued hundreds of advisory opinions on whether actual or possible conflicts exist.

Newson also investigates conflict-of-interest complaints.

Last year, he found evidence of conflicts of interest involving Trudy Brown, then the head of the N.C. Board of Electrolysis Examiners. Brown owns laser hair removal clinics in Greensboro and High Point, and she raised money to lobby for legislation that benefited such businesses at the expense of competitors who do not use lasers.

Brown did not wait for the ethics board to make a recommendation on the findings. She resigned shortly after an investigative hearing.

Helping officials serve

Jane Finch, a Raleigh lawyer who is vice chairwoman of the commission, says Newson has been thorough, fair and firm in his ethics probes.

"He gives people a chance to talk through things and explain things," says Finch, who has served on the commission since 1993. "But if he takes a position that what happened is horrible and these people need to be hung, he's firm."

Newson says his approach to ethics enforcement won't change despite the tighter regulations. The goal is still to help public officials understand why transparency in government is important so they can disclose anything that could pose an issue in their public work.

"I tell people we are not the ethics police," Newson says. "Sure, we have a compliance function, but I don't view that as our primary mission by a long stretch. I view it as helping public officials do what they want to do, and that's serve the public."

< Previous page

Get $150+ in coupons in every Sunday N&O. Click here for convenient home delivery.