Mary Alice Tetro: An ethics lesson for McCrory

At 20, when my father served as the agricultural attache at the U.S. Embassy in Rome, I learned a life lesson in ethical behavior. As a United States government civil servant, he was limited in the value of any gifts he received.

I was stunned when one afternoon an enormous and beautiful rug, made of cowhide, arrived at our home. My father just said, “Get a good look at it today; tomorrow it is going out the door.” When I asked why, he said, and I have remembered this lesson for 48 years, “Because of my role, it is unethical and unlawful to accept expensive gifts. If I were to accept the gift, the group from which it came might think they can sway my decisions on very important and lucrative agricultural contracts held with our government.”

I am too often reminded of this lesson, in this case, regarding the privatization of prison contracts.

Gov. Pat McCrory stated he didn’t hear Graeme Keith’s saying “it was time to get something in return.” Since this statement was also written in the meeting summary, I would have expected with a contract worth a few million dollars, McCrory should have read the notes. My father always did.

This story was originally published November 7, 2015 at 1:00 PM with the headline "Mary Alice Tetro: An ethics lesson for McCrory."