Randy Merritt to resolve ethics complaint
Randy Merritt
County Commissioner Randy Merritt is on the state Ethics Commission agenda for Sept. 9 to enter a stipulate to resolve an ethics complaint that he didn’t properly report a land sale on his financial disclosure. As part of the stupulation, he will pay a $1,000 fine.
According to the ethics report, in 2018, Merritt’s financial disclosure reported a land sale to Mike Pafford of 28 acres on Martin Luther King Jr. Road for some $197,000. The actual sale price was $540,000. Merritt told The Sun that the $197,000 figure was one he got from his CPA about the profit on the sale. He said he brought the issue to the ethics investigator’s attention – and immediately filed a corrected disclosure. “It wasn’t intentional,” Merritt said. Another allegation of voting with a conflict of interest was dismissed. Merritt voted in October 2016 to approve the final plat for the Gardens of Saralan phase II, which was developed by Pafford Properties. Merritt, an engineer, provided engineering services for Pafford on the homes. A couple of years earlier, Merritt had sought an opinion from the ethics commission’s general counsel on whether he could vote on such issues or if it constituted a conflict of interest. The counsel’s answer was as long as Merritt wasn’t employed by, or have a contract with the developer, it didn’t rise to the level of a conflict. Merritt said he does not have a contract with Pafford, though he does view him as a client. The ethics commission determined the answer created an ambiguity and dismissed the charge. The approval of final plats is purely ministerial and county commissioners cannot vote not to approve a final plat if it has met all the conditions. Merritt commented that this case and some other legal matters are what convinced him not to seek reelection after 12 years on the county commission. He added that he feels his reputation will be tarnished as “a corrupt politician” when all he did was make an inadvertent mistake on a form. He said he might speak in his own defense when the ethics commisison meets on Spt. 9.