The State Ethics Commission met for about three hours behind closed doors today to discuss personnel matters, but took no action and offered no comment afterward.

The regularly-scheduled meeting took place amid controversy within the commission. A report in June by a consultant to the Office of State Personnel found a work environment that was dysfunctional and distrustful, Dan Kane reports.

Last month the commission's executive director, Perry Newson, fired an office assistant who had raised questions about preferential treatment to an aide to Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue. The aide had visited the commission to review Perdue's statements of financial interest.

The office assistant, Amanda Thaxton, had made a notation about the visit that was later erased from the log.

Thaxton was present at the opening of the meeting, but left after the commission went into a closed session. She has filed a grievance over her firing and said she wanted to be present in case the matter came up for public discussion.

Tim Hoegemeyer, general counsel for the State Auditor's Office, also attended the open session. The auditor is investigating how the aide's visit was handled, and its aftermath.

Auditor Les Merritt's spokesman played a key role in briefly halting a voting bill, according to e-mails received under a public records request.

At 10:12 a.m. on June 5, Chris Mears forwarded a Dome item on a bill to allow North Carolinians to register to vote the weekend before an election to Merritt, Chief Deputy Kris Bailey, Executive Assistant James Forte and legal counsel Tim Hoegemeyer.

"If we want to have an impact on voter registration legislation, we should get Sen. Berger information sooner rather than later," he wrote. "This is a significant opportunity to safeguard our democracy that I don't think we should pass-up."

Merritt agreed, saying that "time will pass us by." In a reply sent at 10:17, he wrote, "We may need to speak even if our audit is not complete."

At 2:34 p.m., Merritt e-mailed Sen. Dan Clodfelter to ask him to pull the bill. Senate leaders agreed, but they put the bill back up for a vote after a hearing with Merritt. It passed and is now back in the House.