CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Mecklenburg County's liquor board has some explaining to do. The ABC Board is trying to explain to state regulators at the ABC Commission why it was OK for dozens of them to take expensive steak dinners from a leading liquor wholesaler.
The NewsChannel 36 I-Team broke the story two weeks ago with video of top local regulators being wined and dined.
Now, the Mecklenburg County Alcoholic Beverage Control Board is drafting a statement to send to Raleigh. The ABC Board drafted the statement behind closed doors in a special lunch meeting On Monday.
North Carolina is unique among the states in giving local ABC boards a monopoly on liquor. So if liquor wholesalers want their brands to get more shelf space in local stores, the distributors have to convince local ABC board members and employees, who are public officials, to stock more of one brand than another.
Two weeks ago one of the biggest liquor wholesalers doing business in the state, Diageo, treated at least 28 Mecklenburg ABC officials and spouses to drinks and dinner at Del Frisco's, one of Charlotte's best steak houses.
Some of those taking the free dinners are the very same public officials who decide how much of each liquor to put on the shelves at local liquor stores.
Mecklenburg ABC Board Chairman Parks Helms defended the dinner, saying it was important to work with liquor industry reps. "We are operating a business just like any other business," Helms said.
But the new state ABC Commission Chairman Jonathan Williams says ABC boards are not just any business.
"In the sales and commercial world, wining and dining is part of how business is done but we're public servants," Williams said.
The North Carolina ABC Commission asked Alcohol Law Enforcement agents to investigate the dinner after a NewsChannel 36 report. Helms said the board would overnight a statement to Raleigh and release a public statement on Tuesday.
Helms and his wife attended the dinner along with Mecklenburg ABC Chief Executive Calvin McDougal. Helms said, "Any gift that would have been made would certainly not affect my judgment."
But Williams said he has concerns about public regulators accepting meals from the business interests they are tasked with regulating.
Helms said he does not order liquor for the stores. But local ABC Board employees do order specific brands of liquor through the state warehouse in Raleigh.
Earlier the state ABC Commission released a statement saying it had the authority to remove local board members and employees who violate a state law against accepting gifts. Helms says he does not agree that the state Commission has the authority and says that state laws on local ABC boards accepting meals are murky and need clarification.
