Residents with short memories might have been surprised by a North Carolina appellate court’s recent ruling that revived a lawsuit against Pinehurst Mayor John Strickland brought by North Carolina Citizens for Transparent Government.
The case is rooted in circumstances that arose in late 2021 when Strickland targeted then-Village Council member Kevin Drum and fellow member Lydia Boesch for committing so-called “ethics violations”. The timing of the allegations likely cost Drum re-election to the council. Boesch was not up for re-election.
Drum is party to the transparency group’s lawsuit, which seeks to expose how Strickland (and then-council members Judy Davis and Jane Hogeman) violated open meetings law in their haste to blindside Drum and Boesch during an October 12, 2021, public council meeting.
Fast forward to the here and now, in 2023. Drum is a candidate for Pinehurst mayor on the November ballot. Strickland is vacating the seat.
Drum’s critics argue that he should be disqualified as a mayoral candidate because “he is suing the village”. This is a falsehood. As documented in a 2021 video production, efforts to smear Drum’s character in Fall 2021 were not a “village” undertaking. The effort was driven by one man -- Strickland — and two surrogates.
The video chronicles the moments during which Hogeman delivers a lecture on the council’s commitment to ethical standards. Strickland infers the council has “heard” Boesch’s concerns as to why she was being targeted for ethical misconduct (she properly and normally communicated with a member of the village staff) before haltingly calling for a council vote to decide Boesch’s fate.
“I don’t see the facts changing,” said Strickland, using a liberal definition of “facts”.
Boesch intoned that a vote should not proceed absent a complete written record of Strickland's allegations. On cue, council member Hogeman began to read a prepared statement in which he made a motion to proceed with a vote based on “perceived transgressions”. Boesch, an attorney by trade, expressed deep suspicion as to the origin of the prepared statement.
She asked Hogeman about its origin. Hogeman hesitated. Drum interjected, “It’s a yes or no question.” Ultimately, Hogeman blew Strickland’s cover, acknowledging the statement was written collaboratively (unbeknownst to Boesch and Drum).
“I got it,” Drum said. “A little cabal; you’ve got a little cabal going on. I think that’s against ethics. That breaks ethics, right there.”
This would not be the last time the council in 2021 was accused of willfully violating ethical policy to bring an ethics “violation” against another.
Drum’s lawsuit echoes a similar concern. The suit charges that Strickland violated state open meetings law to conduct internal email communications alleging that Drum’s disagreement with a fellow Pinehurst merchant was unethical. This, despite the fact that Drum’s interactions with said fellow merchant were not connected whatsoever to his role as an elected member of the council. (Drum has owned the Drum & Quill pub in the village since 2014).
If a Pinehurst resident asks how a citizen who is party to lawsuit against the outgoing mayor can justify a mayoral candidacy of his own, it is advisable to point out that the pending lawsuit seeks to eliminate the possibility that the council will blatantly violate open meetings law in the future.
“When faced with what I thought were violations of ‘transparency’, I had to think beyond my personal interests first and foremost and act in the face of adversity and prioritize the public's trust and the broader implications of a lack of transparency in government,” Drum said in a recent statement. “My thought was that by focusing on the bigger picture I could turn this negative thing into a positive impact, long term, for the citizens of North Carolina.
“My conclusion was that you must build an organization from scratch with the sole mission of protecting the public from backroom deals. I created the North Carolina Citizens for Transparent Government, a significant step towards safeguarding the rights of the citizens of North Carolina.”
Drum brings a wealth of experience in service to Pinehurst. But more importantly, the suit reflects a commitment to protecting council members from character assassination by a Strickland-style vendetta.
Citizens, and transparency in local government, are the winners if the suit is upheld going forward.
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