LaRoque, Clary owned billboards, voted for billboard industry law

Two members of the General Assembly who voted to approve a billboard industry-promoted bill allowing more trees to be cut around the signs last year had connections to the business.

One is Rep. Stephen LaRoque, a Kinston Republican and high-ranking legislator who has come under scrutiny for how he ran a pair of federal loan intermediary nonprofit groups. LaRoque on Friday provided a copy of an opinion from the state Ethics Commission that it would not be a conflict of interest to vote on the billboard bill, because the bill would provide a financial benefit to all billboard owners, not just him, and because he owns so few of them.

The other legislator is former Sen. Debbie Clary, a Republican from Cherryville who is a longtime political ally of LaRoque. Her marketing business received one of his federal loans. She has since resigned from the Senate, but says it had nothing to do with LaRoque.

Clary had a financial interest in a limited liability corporation called Billboards Rock & Roll as of April 2011, according to a statement of economic interest she filed then as a public official. The company was formed in 2009.

One of LaRoque’s two nonprofit organizations, formed to loan federal money to struggling businesses, made loans to two billboard companies in 2007 and 2009, records show. His nonprofit owns four of the billboards because the loan defaulted, according to information LaRoque provided the Ethics Commisison. LaRoque told the commisison he also owns half interest in five billboards in Lenoir County.

Today  N.C. Policy Watch, which first raised questions about LaRoque’s finances last year, posted online a document showing that LaRoque’s for-profit company listed ownership of $38,000 worth of billboards as of December 2010.

“It was not a conflict because it affects all billboards throughout the state,” LaRoque said Friday. “Because the nonprofits only did four billboards, I had half interest in five billboards, it was not a significant number. It would have been a conflict if I did something specifically for one (billboard).”

Last June, the Senate overwhelmingly approved the billboard tree-cutting bill. The legislation ran into trouble in the House, where a Republican lawmaker wanted additional protections for trees and to ensure local control. But a committee formed to work out a compromise, which included LaRoque, gutted the protections and restored most of what the industry wanted.

Earlier in the year, LaRoque had introduced a similar bill -- after obtaining the Ethics Commission's opinion -- but that piece of legislation didn't advance.

In mid-November, the Joint Ethics Committee in the General Assembly was asked to consider looking into LaRoque’s financial dealings. The committee works in secret, and so it isn’t known if it has taken up a formal complaint. But, according to its annual report, filed last month, as of Nov. 30 there were no pending complaints.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which administers the federal loan program, denied a public records request from The News & Observer this week because LaRoque’s nonprofits are under investigation by that agency. Policy Watch first reported the federal probe earlier this month.

LaRoque said Friday he refers all questions about the ethics committee to his attorney, Joseph Cheshire V.

Clary could not be reached for comment. The ethics committee opinion would apply to her, as well.