Fact-Based Opinion Piece

BlackwaterReports invites Bob White, Ike McRee, and or Megan Morgan for a sitdown interview on camera to discuss each of the points below. 

BlackwaterReports pulled a copy of Bob Whites’s public statement on “false accusations.” There has been so much said, and still being said, by various media outlets that have not done the research we did prior to breaking this story over a week ago. The story in another media outlet last frankly caught us off guard because so much detail we had already reported was missing. 

White’s public statement posted to the county website last night made a number of statements that simply did not align with the reality of this ongoing issue. We have broken down White’s statement below, with our comments in bold. BlackwaterReports did not correct grammatical errors in White’s statement, it appears as he published it.

As Chairman of the Currituck County Board of Commissioners, I must respond to false accusations recently made on social media about this Board. The majority of the Board has consistently acted in good faith and has taken great steps to provide transparency and openness in our actions. Several commissioners have served multiple terms on the Board – a sign that the citizens of Currituck County support our leadership.

Recently, however, this Board has been wrongly accused of violating North Carolina’s open meeting laws.
[BlackwaterReports reached out to Robert P. Joyce, Charles Edwin Hinsdale Professor of Public Law and Government, UNC School of Government, who opined, given access to the facts, that the county did violate the Open Meetings Law. We would welcome the name of the county’s subject matter expert to engage the two in a fair debate.] 

Social media posts on Facebook claim that six commissioners acted illegally by communicating with each other by email. This is an absurd claim, as email communication between commissioners is allowed. The chairman can and should poll the board when needed.
[Again, the School of Government has opined that when a quorum of elected officials meets by email, they have convened a meeting; the more proper way might have been to contact each commissioner separately.]

I cannot and should not ever attempt to take unilateral action.
[We couldn’t agree more, but as illustrated last night, White did just that when he announced to the media that Ike Mcree’s contract had been extended. The rules of enforcement of a public employee’s contract require it to be followed to the letter. In McRee’s contract, there is only one sentence on the required actions of the Board: that he must be notified in writing six months before the end of his contract. White and Jarvis met with McRee on January 24 and delivered the written communication, as confirmed with multiple commissioners.]

Commissioner Paul Beaumont was found to have been involved in what appeared to have been an egregious violation of his office.
[When the board met by email on January 15 and 16, they had gathered no evidence against Beaumont. It was not until six days later that the county attorney reached out to InsightGlobal to initiate the fact-finding process.]

The Board must be able to have communications with how to proceed in dealing with these issues. In doing so we are not going to involve him in our initial discussion.
[In this particular case, it appears that not only did they not allow a sitting commissioner to participate, but they did so without notifying him they were going to do so. Beaumont was not afforded the opportunity to recuse himself from such a meeting.]

Only when we had a plan did we then move forward and inform Paul Beaumont. 
[In this statement White makes clear decisions were made, and that county business was acted upon. This is an essential element of violating the Open Meetings Law.]

At no time has the Board leveled a public accusation against Paul Beaumont.
[Whites email sent to commissioners excluding Beaumont at 10:50 am on January 15, 2024, leveled many accusations against Beaumont (read the emails here).]

The Board discussed these issues with Commissioner Beaumont in closed session to hear his side of the story and gain more information. Commissioner Beaumont was afforded a quite conversation with us to keep what may have been erroneous information from becoming public, thus potentially assailing his image or standing. 
[This is a critical statement because the release of the emails, which White should have known would be public record, has, in fact, assailed Beaumont’s image and standing.]

Commissioner Beaumont of his own accord made the information public. He has told only half of the story for his own purposes.
[BlackwaterReports has told the entire story and linked the relevant government records.]

The Board wanted to gather information and have a full picture of events before casting judgment or going public. 
[Another odd statement, because the emails and statements made by six commissioners in the emails on January 15 and 16, 2024, absolutely cast judgment before meeting with Beaumont the night of the 16th, and finally receiving records from InsightGlobal six days later. For instance:

• At 10:50 am on January 15, 2024, seven days before fact-finding began, Commissioner Bob White said: 
  • It seems that his removal from the BOC is going to be the remedy for his actions? 
  • Paul has sought to undermine Ike’s authority on several occasions.
  • As you may recall he called Chief Melton after our closed session and told him we were getting rid of Ike or something along those lines. Lower Currituck and probably now all of the VFD’s know what was said in closed session. I was asked by Mills in food lion about Ike!
  • While we cannot prove it, his actions/relationship with Mike Myers has a very dubious cloud over it.
  • I would ask that if you reply all please phrase it that you are in support of a scope of action, so
  • that it does not get us into seeming taking actions without a meeting. Unless Megan says otherwise, I am treating this as a personnel matter and therefor confidential as it does involve Ike’s contract and our deliberations around it. I have included Megan on this email, but not Paul for obvious reasons.
• At 11:43 am on January 15, 2024, seven days before fact-finding began, Commissioner Mary Etheridge said: I want Paul censured and stripped of his committees immediately, and then the committees notified ASAP that he no longer represents the Board.
• At 7:49 am on January 16, 2024, Commissioner Owen Etheridge said: As I told you last week, give him the option of stepping down, if not take him off his committee assignments and censure him.
• At 8:30 am on January 16, 2020, six days before fact-finding began, the county attorney said: I can have a resolution for censureship prepared for tonight’s meeting if you would like. I am happy to join in the closed session as well if you would like me there.

The North Carolina open meetings law, which is codified in Article 33C of Chapter 143 of the North Carolina General Statutes requires official meetings of the Board of Commissioners be open to the general public after notice is provided, except when the law permits the Board to go into closed session. An official meeting occurs when there is simultaneous communication amongst a majority of the board members discussing county business.
[Professor Joyce discussed the word “simultaneous” in his opinion. The literal definition has not been challenged in court thus far, but he cautioned, “At the School of Government, we advise governmental bodies that email exchanges can become “official meetings” in violation of the Open Meetings Act, and we stress that governmental bodies must take great care to avoid that kind of violation.“]

This includes in-person and electronic meetings; however, the key point is the meeting is held simultaneously amongst a majority of the members. In the instance called into question, I emailed the board regarding a matter of serious concern regarding a fellow commissioner.

I emailed the following commissioners:  Selina Jarvis, Kitty Etheridge, Owen Etheridge, Kevin McCord, and Mike Payment.  They responded over the span of two days.
[Actually, they responded over several hours on January 15, 2024, but did continue the meeting thru the 16th.] 

At no time were we online together simultaneously and there was no action taken by the Board.
[Since Joyce and BlackwaterReports have stated (White too) that the courts have not opined on the definition of “simultaneous,” we’re not sure how White can assert that the emails were not simultaneous?] 

The Board clearly did not violate North Carolina’s open meetings law. 
[This is far from clear…]

The topic was my concern over actions taken by Commissioner Beaumont. These concerns involved his treatment of staff and actions he took that misrepresented Currituck County and did not have the backing of a majority of the Board. A summary of these actions follows:

To be clear, Ike McRee is still under contract to serve as County Manager. As Ike McRee’s contract was set to renew, we had discussion about that. As of today, his contract has now been renewed for a term of 3 years. Ike McRee has been a fixture in the county for 30 years. We should count ourselves very lucky to have someone of his experience and dedication to manage Currituck County. Ike McRee is our County Manager now, and I hope he’s here until the end of his career.

Paul Beaumont acted on his own to create a job listing with Insight Global for a County Manager. He did this without informing other commissioners and without first having a majority of the Board agree to this action. No contract was requested or signed by Currituck County to perform a search for a County Manager. Paul Beaumont says he did not create the listing, but we have multiple people confirming he was involved.
[Before the board makes a decision to censure a sitting commissioner, the multiple people confirming this should be interviewed under oath. If these “multiple people” are not called as witnesses under oath at or prior to commissioners voting on actions in this matter, their actions will be seen as no different than the witch-hunts against President Trump.] 

The position description and salary were included in the listing. This did not, nor could not happen without some form of direct involvement on Paul Beaumont’s part. 
[This last sentence is perplexing; White has already stated he and the other commissioners were aware Beaumont was engaging InsightGlobal, so obviously, Beaumont was the source of much of their information.]

Insight Global will proceed to a point and not have a contract in place. When they present candidates and the applicant wants to move forward in the hiring process, then, a contract would be fully in place. Paul Beaumont claims no contracts were issued and that may in fact be true, but that apparently is not a problem for Insight Global. 
[We can’t even unscramble what this paragraph is saying. White lays out the process at InsightGlobal working without a contract until candidates are produced, but then he suggests Beaumont “claims no contracts were issued.” My grandkids call this a “duh moment.”]

In January, Paul Beaumont informed me that he had three potential candidates for the County Manager’s position. I was caught off guard by this news and did not agree with this course of action. I later learned from Ike McRee that his job was listed on the internet. I called Paul Beaumont about this and told him to take it down. The next day, I spoke with Insight to have the posting removed.
[As of this date, InsightGlobal still has not removed the job from their website.] 

I scheduled a closed meeting to discuss this situation with Paul Beaumont and the entire Board.

Prior to this meeting, I emailed the other commissioners to gauge their reactions and receive input on what should be discussed. As explained earlier, this email communication was legal and did not constitute a simultaneous communication among the commissioners. 
[Again, White is able to opine on the word “simultaneous,” yet the courts have not.] 

Paul Beaumont was informed of these emails in closed session. After obtaining copies he then alerted local citizens who posted false claims on social media that the Board was conducting illegal meetings. [BlackwaterReports is interested in knowing if White has included our news organization in this group posting false claims.]

Citizens have also posted false claims that the Board is firing County Manager Ike McRee. 
[Our previous statement applies. The word “fired” is a bit strong when used where an employment contract is not renewed, but there are similarities. We have seen some wordsmithing out of the county over the past few days since being caught with their pants down. It reminds me of when President Clinton said, “It depends on what your definition of is, is.”]

The Board instructed County Attorney Megan Morgan to gather more information.  It was discovered that Paul Beaumont received 11 applications for the County Manager’s position and told the team at Insight he was intrigued by one of the applicants. Again, he did this without the authority of a Board majority and without involving other commissioners, all while Ike is currently working as County Manager. 
[We understand this is a matter of contention. InsightGlobal’s involvement in this should invoke the county to hire a third-party law firm, preferably at minimum as far away as Greenville or Raliegh, to investigate this matter much as a special counsel would do. A government body should not attack an elected official without first conducting a proper inquiry into the matter.]

During the second closed session, no action was taken. Just prior to that meeting Megan Morgan let me know she had received more information. It became clear that we could no longer hold a closed session. We once again needed more information. As the BOC was present for the closed session, we had to open the meeting and then quickly close it. We had minor discussion during the meeting about the need to not hold the meeting and reached consensus that the meeting had no reason to continue. I called for a motion to adjourn, and l quickly closed the meeting to allow for more time to gather information. We are currently working to acquire documents related to the communications between Paul Beaumont and Insight Global. 
[In the previous paragraph, White says he has received more documents?]

Paul Beaumont’s actions were not authorized by the Board and were very unprofessional. Commissioners are supposed to stand behind our county staff and support them, not demean them, or secretly work for their removal.
[The decision to not renew McRee’s contract had been made prior to Beaumont’s engagement with InsightGlobal with the full knowledge of the board.] Paul Beaumont frequently belittles or is condescending to our staff in public. This behavior can no longer be allowed. Not to mention that County Manager Ike McRee has certain rights under North Carolina’s personnel laws that may have been violated. 
[White is correct about McRee’s right to privacy of personnel-specific information protected by statute. However, it was White who, at 10:50 am on January 15, 2024, in an email that is public record, discussed McRee’s contract not being renewed in an official capacity.]

Furthermore, Paul Beaumont’s actions have caused county staff to be unsettled. We have great people working in this county and I am sorry for their having to endure this needless mess.

To our hard-working staff, thank you for all that you do and your professionalism in face of all of this. Be assured that Ike McRee will remain as our County Manager for the next several years!

No action has yet been taken against Paul Beaumont. The Board of Commissioners will resolve this situation in an open, public meeting.

At this time, it is important for the public to understand that no open meeting laws were violated by the Board of Commissioners.
[There is no way for White to definitively know this unless he’s that one guy other than Clinton who knows what is, is.]

As commissioners, we work hard for the betterment of Currituck County, and I will continue to defend this Board against any accusations of impropriety.

Our Conclusion is that given the entire board of commissioners was aware of Beaumont’s engagement with InsightGlobal, by White’s own admission, why is it so hard for them to believe this wasn’t something malicious on his part but possibly an error on InsightGlobal’s part. After all, 28 days after White asked for the job advertisement to be taken down by IsightGlobal, it remains active on their website.

After all this is said and done, none of this has cost the county anything other than sinking public confidence. It’s not like Beaumont’s job was to review a contract for a 60 million-dollar project and never question why the access for parents to pick up kids at the new school crossed over someone else’s property. Or even worse, if Beaumont had been responsible for scuttling wastewater treatment facility contracts and restarting a county plant that never worked properly before being closed in 2019. The county has received certified letters every month since restarting the plant that it is outside of parameters. The Department of Environmental Quality is once again citing Currituck County month after month.