Ouch!

I really admire the way Joe Sinsheimer does what he does. It'll be interesting to watch Mr. Merritt squirm and backpedal in the face of this new challenge.

September 5, 2006

Leslie Merritt
Office of the State Auditor
2 S. Salisbury Street
Raleigh, NC 27699-0601

Dear Auditor Merritt,

I am writing to ask you to reconsider your decision to serve on the local Board of Directors of the Four Oaks Bank in Zebulon as a paid Director (per your August 21, 2007 letter to the North Carolina State Ethics Commission).

In April of this year, your office announced that you were discontinuing your side business of providing financial advice to clients and that you were closing the business because it was proving to be a distraction “to the good work that this office is doing.” That was a good decision that is now being undercut by your efforts to seek outside employment again. The North Carolina constitution does not make provisions for a part-time state auditor. Quite simply, we don’t need a state auditor that moonlights, and your repeated attempts to garner outside income while in office have undercut your moral authority as the state taxpayers’ watchdog.

I also would caution you to avoid using your office for partisan attacks. Your criticism of the State Board of Elections earlier this year, as well as your 2007 audit of the governor’s corporate recruitment efforts, spoke more to a partisan agenda than efforts to improve state government. North Carolina taxpayers deserve a full-time, non-partisan Auditor.

The recent scandals in state government remind us that there is much work ahead to make our government more transparent, efficient and accountable. I believe that the Office of the State Auditor can play a vital role in that effort but only if is led by someone who is dedicated to the task and above reproach.

Sincerely,

Joe Sinsheimer

Nice work, ,Joe. I particular appreciated this paragraph:

Quite simply, we don’t need a state auditor that moonlights, and your repeated attempts to garner outside income while in office have undercut your moral authority as the state taxpayers’ watchdog.

For what it's worth, I'd rather see Merritt resign his auditor position than a bank director seat. The guy is an embarrassment to the state - and if NC Republicans had any integrity they'd be calling for him to step down, too.