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RALEIGH — Gov. Mike Easley was talking ethics back in March 2006.

He had shoehorned reporters into his Capitol office to announce that he would appoint former judge Robert Farmer to lead the state’s ethics board and would order Farmer to conduct a review of North Carolina statutes designed to keep public officials on the path of the straight and narrow.

The voters, Easley said, should expect candidates and public officials to conduct themselves ethically.

“On the other hand, you cannot legislate ethics or morality,” Easley said. “But you can make it hurt for people who don’t demonstrate good ethics and morality.”

It was a line that Easley would echo as various scandals unfolded over the last two years of his time in office, including the ouster and eventual conviction of House Speaker Jim Black.

Easley, a former district attorney and attorney general who ran for governor on law-and-order credentials, now finds himself on the same precipice where Black stood more than three years ago.

Easley faces public inquiry from the State Board of Elections into his campaign finances as well as inquiry from a federal grand jury. State board hearings are scheduled to start Monday.

The scene may be far too familiar for voters, who have had reason to question whether anyone in public office can be trusted after watching over the past five years as state officials had their foibles and follies laid bare before losing their office and their freedom.

To be clear, the state board doesn’t have the power to send anyone to jail. Hearings into Black, former Agriculture Commissioner Meg Scott Phipps and former state Rep. Thomas Wright all preceded state and/or federal law enforcement pressing charges.

All three are Democrats, and all three were sent to prison.

In fundraising cases like the one involving Easley, the State Board of Elections enforces laws that govern what candidates can receive during a campaign and what they can do with that money. Candidates usually face fines if severe errors in bookkeeping or over-generous donations are found.

“All the state board really asks of us is to tell them what we got and what we did with it,” said Marshall Hurley, a Greensboro attorney who has represented clients before the board on a variety of matters.

A series of reports by The Associated Press and The News & Observer of Raleigh have detailed the Easley campaign’s use of SUVs and private airplanes. Those perks may have exceeded contribution limits or may not have been properly accounted for on campaign-finance documents.

Other questions surrounding Easley’s involvement in a land deal and his wife’s hiring for a six-figure university job have been reported but seem unlikely to come up before the board. People watching the state board hearings closely and with some knowledge of who has been called to testify say the board may reveal more than has been reported.

A decade or more ago, Hurley said, the state board would have been unlikely to hold hearings on a public official who left office almost a year ago. And if there was a hearing, he said, the process would be aimed more at straightening out the public record than meting out punishment.

“There was a long time in North Carolina’s history where you couldn’t point to a lot of instances of bad actors in public office,” Hurley said. “But with the wave of criminal prosecutions that we’ve seen in connection with the public process, I think that creates an atmosphere for the people charged with enforcing the law to say, 'Let’s really clean this up.’”

Voters may wonder if that’s possible. There has been a persistent drumbeat of bad news about elected officials, not all of which has been generated by state board hearings.

Consider that, just this year, two representatives resigned under a cloud:

• Former Rep. Cary Allred, a Republican, left his House seat after a swirl of allegations involving reckless driving and possibly inappropriate behavior on the House floor.
• Former Rep. Ty Harrell, a Democrat, resigned after questions were raised about his reporting and use of campaign funds.

Added to that now is the extraordinary spectacle of a former governor being asked to account publicly for questionable campaign spending.

“Most people who serve are definitely going in for the right reasons and are not crooks and don’t match the perception that unfortunately the public has on politicians,” said Bob Phillips, who leads the North Carolina arm of Common Cause. His group advocates for public funding of elections, among other things.

“Politician used to not be a negative word, and unfortunately, it is and really should not be. These are people who are serving the public.”

That is a view held by the lawmakers, even those who have decried what they see as corruption by Easley.

“I think for anybody that calls North Carolina home, it’s not a happy occasion,” Sen. Phil Berger said about the hearings coming this week. The Eden Republican said he has “real concerns” about potential campaign finance or other criminal violations raised by what’s been reported regarding Easley.

“Most folks who serve in the General Assembly, even those folks with whom I would most vociferously dispute policy issues, are reputable, are people that have high integrity and that are very ethical,” Berger said. “The really bad thing about what we’ve seen is (that) it does paint all of us with a brush we’d prefer not to be painted with, and it’s all the more reason for us to try to get to the bottom of it.”

For many closely watching the state board hearings this week, the question is less about what will happen to Easley. While the former governor will have to face the legal consequences for whatever his transgressions may have been, it is those who will serve in public office going forward who will have to live with his legacy.

“The best thing that could come out of this process is more awareness by candidates and public officials that the rules that govern candidates and campaigns are important and that there’s going to be enforcement and consequences,” Hurley said. “I hope it will enhance compliance.”

Contact Mark Binker at (919) 832-5549 or mark.binker@news-record.com