Ernie Pearson says he was not a founding partner.
The former attorney for Moonlight Bandit Productions, the company that until last week managed the new Randy Parton performing arts theater in Roanoke Rapids, said that neither he nor the former head of an economic development partnership were part of the company until months after it had struck a deal to manage the theater.
Pearson, a Cary attorney, said he, Rick Watson and four others had become partners in the company on March 2, 2006, roughly a year after it was created, and eight months after Roanoke Rapids officials had hired the company to manage the new theater, Dan Kane reports.
Prior to that, country singer Randy Parton and his wife, Deb, were the sole owners of the company, Pearson said, though he served as legal counsel and Watson often provided financial advice.
Pearson and Watson's involvement with the company has led to conflict of interest concerns. They both left their respective roles with the Northeastern North Carolina Regional Economic Development Commission after news reports surfaced about their ties to the theater project. Pearson had served as the commission's legal counsel.
Today, the theater has become a huge controversy for the city as it struggles to bring in enough visitors to help pay for the cost of building and operating the $12.9 million facility.
Pearson said that he, Watson and the four other members left the company earlier this year as part of a reorganization. Pearson said neither he or Watson received any compensation for leaving the company. Watson could not be reached for comment.
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