Chris Mears

Merritt still checking voter rolls

ryanteaguebeckwith — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 08:46:20 -0400

State Auditor Les Merritt's office continues to review North Carolina's voter rolls, more than a year after state lawmakers chided him during a packed committee hearing.

The review became public in June 2007, when Merritt advised senators to delay action on a bill to allow voter registration up to three days before an election, David Ingram reports.

Merritt, a Republican, said he had preliminary findings about potential fraud, which state election officials disputed and some Democrats called partisan.

Sen. Dan Clodfelter, a Charlotte Democrat, called Merritt before a Senate committee to explain himself. The bill later became law.

Merritt's spokesman Chris Mears said this week that auditors are still looking for possible irregularities in who has voted or registered to vote.

"We think that it would be after November for sure before we released any report," Mears said, citing the upcoming election. "We wouldn't want our report to be used in any way political."

Merritt is running for re-election against Democrat Beth Wood.

Merritt's response on watchdog

ryanteaguebeckwith — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 15:56:57 -0400

Les Merritt says the watchdog ads are not related to his reelection.

Chris Mears, a spokesman for the state auditor, said the public service announcements and a related Web site are not aimed at helping his 2008 campaign, Dan Kane reports.

"It's fairly standard and well known that the Office of the State Auditor is the taxpayers' watchdog," he said. "It's the taxpayers that own the watchdognc domain and we hope that 10 years from now, 15 years from now, that the hotline is still getting tips through watchdognc.com."

The Web site includes a short biography of Merritt, above the words "Office of the State Auditor, The Taxpayers' Watchdog," and a photo (above right) of him peering through a magnifying glass.

The domain is registered to the state auditor's office, however.

Previously: State Democrats protest public service announcement.

Correction: An earlier version of this post did not accurately describe the page.

Merritt pushes fraud hotline

ryanteaguebeckwith — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 11:09:21 -0400

State Auditor Les Merritt has started a television ad campaign this week to raise public awareness of a hotline to report fraud, waste and abuse of state money and property.

Two ads will run on stations across the state through Nov. 11, telling viewers to contact the hotline at 1-800-730-TIPS. Those tips are kept confidential, Dan Kane reports.

Chris Mears, a spokesman for the auditor's office, said that the total cost of producing the ads and buying air time was $150,000, the minimum spending recommended by the state Agency for Public Telecommunications.

Merritt said in a news release that he expects to recoup the ad campaign's cost by receiving tips that uncover fraud and abuse.

"The OSA is the 'taxpayers' watchdog' and our Hotline has proven to be an effective tool at detecting inefficiency and exposing fraud in State government," Merritt said.

The last time the state auditor's office ran ads promoting the hotline was in 2001, when Ralph Campbell led the office. It used ads that had been first run eight years earlier.

Both the new ads can be viewed here. The site also includes a link to report tips.

State auditor mum for now

ryanteaguebeckwith — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 15:05:48 -0400

The state auditor's office won't have much to say for months, if at all.

Chris Mears, a spokesman for Auditor Les Merritt, said that any investigations into complaints about state equipment first go through a fact-finding phase to see if they're worth pursuing.

After that, the investigation either ends, or it becomes full-blown.

From there, it could take "weeks or months" to finish. Until then, Mears said, the auditor's office will not confirm it's investigating, in order to prevent any potential wrongdoers from covering their tracks.

(Of course, the tips are usually confidential, and not made in the press.)

Dome asked Mears what he thought about the Republican auditor becoming the referee in a Democratic primary fight between Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue and Treasurer Richard Moore.

"No comment about that," he said.

Previously: Bennett requests; Perdue complains; Moore responds; Bennett's identity.

Christmas bonus?

ryanteaguebeckwith — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 12:31:46 -0400

A state review released today of an Anson County nonprofit said that the former executive director was overpaid by roughly $36,000 and had spent more than $6,500 on questionable and "possibly fraudulent" expenditures such as a veterinary bill, car parts and Christmas items.

The executive director of the Anson County Domestic Violence Coalition, which has received roughly $400,000 in state funds since 2004, resigned in February as some of the expenditures came to light. The audit found that the coalition's board had "rubber-stamped" many of the expenditures and lacked internal controls to catch misspending, Dan Kane reports.

The questionable spending has also led to an overhaul of the board, with several members replaced. The new board in a letter to the state auditor does not dispute the findings and said it is taking action to recover the money. State Auditor Les Merritt has referred the findings to the attorney general's office.

Chris Mears, a spokesman for the auditor's office, said the coalition's troubles illustrate the need for better oversight of the several thousand nonprofits that receive state funds each year.

State budget proposals by the House and Gov. Mike Easley would award the state auditor's office with an additional $180,000 that would largely go toward nonprofit oversight, but the Senate budget did not include those expenditures and cut another $50,000 from the office.