District 4 Guilford County Commissioner Alan Branson is questioning whether his opponent in the recent election – Democrat Mary Beth Murphy – has a conflict of interest because she is a teacher for Guilford County Schools and the Guilford County Board of Commissioners makes decisions regarding school funding.
At the end of the vote counting on Tuesday, Nov. 3, Branson came up 18 votes short in his bid to win the District 4 seat for a third term. However, there are still mail-in votes and provisional votes to count in the race – as well as a coming recount.
At the Guilford County Board of Commissioners’ Thursday, Nov. 5 meeting, Branson raised his concern regarding a teacher both working in the county’s school system and serving on the board.
“I’ve had a question that’s lingered on my mind for many, many weeks,” Branson said during the part of the meeting when commissioners speak on any subject they wish. “How we can have a lady on the ballot who is currently employed with Guilford County Schools – where 50 percent of our budget, from the taxpayers, goes – serve on the Board of Commissioners without it being a conflict of interest.
Branson added, “I would love for Guilford County Attorney Mark Payne or some of his staff to feed me some information on this moving forward.”
Payne, who was at the meeting, didn’t speak on the matter.
When Payne was asked after the meeting if he had yet formed an opinion on that question he said, “The short answer is no.”
He said that there was some complexity to the situation.
There seems to be no question that Murphy can serve as a commissioner, however, it is possible that, if she’s ultimately declared the victor in the District 4 race, she might have to recuse herself from some votes that pertain to the schools.
In the past, commissioners have been instructed not to vote if they have a financial interest in the outcome of the vote.
OF COURSE IT”S A CONFLICT OF INTEREST. If there were a board member of Exxon on the Commission, and they received half of the entire Guilford County Budget, do you think the Left would be screaming CONFILCT OF INTEREST?
Sounds good — to have someone truly involved with education is an asset. Mary Beth Murphy brings skills that are needed to represent the people of the County. Someone heavily involved with developers may be Conflict of Interest. Timing is important while everyone is struggling to help our students get an education with the challenges of the pandemic. Welcome to Mary Beth Murphy.
Of course its a conflict of interest. Choose one and move on. Oh wait, that crooked Steve Arnold was on the board for years throughout a whole bunch of conflicts of interest. And that SOB made millions off the county with the help of the county manager at the time. Party affiliation is no matter. Just makes my case that IF you find a politician that isn’t crooked you’d better get a time stamped picture fast. They’ll join the ranks of the other crooks soon enough. Well, that and 3 quarters and nine commissioners still won’t add up to a dollar.
That’s about it. Even those who enter office with great ideas and intentions, are soon corrupted – and get busy lining their pockets, feathering their nest, etc.
I am sure their have been good people who served their electorate well, but I can’t think of many. Howard Coble comes to mind, along with Trey Gowdy and Rand Paul.
Trey Gowdy would definitely have my vote.
No, there’s no more conflict of interest for a teacher than there is for someone who is a realtor or lawyer for realtors or businesses in this county or the state. Ridiculous assumption.
Time to give it up Mr Branson. District 4 has spoken! You should have thought about it before you voted to raise taxes on the people that voted you in. For the good of the district I for one am glad you are on the outside looking in
If one were to follow Branson’s “logic” to its conclusion we’d have to rule out any employee, manager, or boss from serving in public office as their interests always interact with, benefit from, and are answerable to government in some way. Of course, I highly doubt Branson would suggest a real estate developer involved in any number of “public-private” partnerships would have a conflict of interest that would keep them from serving on the board.
The good thing about all of this is that Branson will be leaving his office shortly, and so whatever nonsense he feels like spouting will soon be relegated to the opinions of a private citizen.