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RALEIGH (AP) - North Carolina Board of Transportation member Louis Sewell resigned Thursday following a report that he helped steer thousands in taxpayer dollars to road improvement projects near properties that he or his son co-owned.

Sewell is the second board member and fundraiser for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beverly Perdue to step down from the panel this year because of ethical questions.

"Unfortunately, I did not follow proper protocol by fully recusing myself from decisions which could be viewed as having an appearance of conflict of interest," Sewell said in his resignation letter addressed to Gov. Mike Easley.

"I did not have any intentions to place myself or my family to personally benefit from these road improvements."

But Sewell, who lives in Jacksonville, defended his work on the panel in the letter and said the transportation projects in question were important for Onslow County.

Transportation Secretary Lyndo Tippett said in a statement Thursday that Sewell's resignation is in the "best interest" of the board, department and public.

Tippett had referred the situation to the State Ethics Commission following a Sunday article in The News & Observer of Raleigh that said Sewell recommended or voted for roughly $375,000 in road improvement projects in 2004 and 2005.

State law prohibits board members from seeking money for projects from which they would directly benefit.

Sewell's resignation comes the same day he was supposed to hold a fundraiser for Perdue.

Perdue's campaign did not immediately respond to Associated Press inquiries seeking comment.

In January, Thomas Betts Jr. of Rocky Mount resigned from the board after he tried to raise money for Perdue's campaign from investors in a high-profile Roanoke Rapids commercial project.

Betts stepped down after Tippett expressed concerns that people with ties to Carolina Crossroads might feel obligated to comply with Betts' fundraising requests because the Board of Transportation had approved funding for the development project.