Charlotte Observer (North Carolina)
March 12, 1998 Thursday


FBI SEEKS ELECTION BOARD RECORDS


BYLINE: MARY ELIZABETH DeANGELIS and CAROL D. LEONNIG, Staff, Writers * Staff writers JIM MORRILL and DAN CHAPMAN contributed to, this article.


The FBI subpoenaed Mecklenburg County officials Wednesday, seeking records of financial transactions involving the elections board, former director Bill Culp and vendors who did business with the office.

Investigators also asked for Culp's personnel file as well as his travel, expense and reimbursement records for the past five years. The information is being sought in connection with a federal grand jury investigation.

Culp, elections director for nearly three decades, retired this year, saying he couldn't remain neutral in the midst of some of the most contentious political fighting in Mecklenburg history. He is now a political consultant.



On Wednesday, he declined to comment about the FBI's actions, other than to say: "Politics sure is getting rough." He referred all questions to his attorney, Jerry Parnell.

"It looks to me like the nastiness of local politics has spilled into another arena," Parnell said. "I think it's a continuation of the unfortunate circumstances that led Bill Culp to conclude a fine career of public service."

Last month, county commissioner Joel Carter sought an outside audit of elections board financial records for the past 28 years. Carter said his request stemmed from an anonymous letter to commissioners alleging that Culp had accepted money, gifts and trips from a voting-machine vendor.

The commissioners didn't act on Carter's request. Most said they wouldn't support an audit because it appeared to stem from a political vendetta between Culp and Carter.

Culp has criticized Carter and is trying to unseat him and several other commissioners this year. Carter tried to get Culp fired, saying Culp had been recruiting candidates to run against him.

The grand jury subpoena seeks records on transactions the elections office had with different companies and agents. That includes MicroVote Corp., an Indianapolis-based company that has sold the county millions of dollars' worth of electronic voting machines since 1994.

Acting on recommendations from a citizens panel, the commissioners bought 1,200 new MicroVote machines for $5.2 million in 1994. Last year, the commissioners agreed to spend another $1.3 million to buy 400 used machines from MicroVote.

"The only thing I can think this is about is someone didn't like the final decision that was made," said Board of Elections Chairman Ike Heard Jr. "In light of the anonymous letters we've gotten from people, someone obviously didn't like it. . . .

"I have no reason to assume there's any truth in any of them. I've known Bill for a long time. I have never known him to be a dishonest person and so have no reason to assume the implications here are true."

Investigators want records of transactions between the county and MicroVote's agent in the sale, Ed O'Day of Columbia. The president of United American Supply Co., he acted as MicroVote's liaison to the county.

In a statement Wednesday, a MicroVote spokesman said company officials are cooperating fully with the FBI investigation "of their agent . . . and certain Mecklenburg County Elections Officials."

MicroVote attorney Dean Richards said the company has not been accused of wrongdoing. He said the company ended its relationship with O'Day in light of the federal investigation.

Repeated attempts to contact O'Day Wednesday were unsuccessful.

Culp's and O'Day's names also came up in a Virginia lawsuit that MicroVote filed last summer against a former executive.

In that case, MicroVote accuses Gary Greenhalgh, its former national sales director, of using company trade secrets to lure away MicroVote's business and customers - particularly in North Carolina - to his own competing companies.

Greenhalgh's attorney has sought to question Culp and O'Day in depositions but has yet to do so. According to court records, the attorney has also asked MicroVote to provide any documents relating to expenses or reimbursements the company or its agents paid Culp, members of his family or the staff of the Mecklenburg elections board.

In a telephone interview Wednesday, Greenhalgh said his attorney sought to question Culp and O'Day because MicroVote had accused him of falsifying expenses. He said Culp and O'Day had dined with him at MicroVote's expense and therefore could verify his expense reports.

Greenhalgh said he would be surprised and sad if an investigation found Culp guilty of any wrongdoing. But he said he recently learned about Mecklenburg County's policy that bars employees from taking anything of value from current or prospective vendors.

Greenhalgh said he often took Culp and his wife, Deena, out for meals and entertainment while seeking the county's business.

He said he took the Culps and O'Day and his wife, Sandy, out for a meal at a popular Philadelphia seafood restaurant. He also said he took the Culps to dinner in Washington and afterwards to an Eartha Kitt performance at a Georgetown night club.

"I bought a lot of meals for Bill . . . ," Greenhalgh said. "It's up to them (county officials) to tell me the proper relationship."

Responded Culp: "I can't comment on that."

County commissioners Chairman Tom Bush said Wednesday night that FBI subpoenas do not make him second-guess his earlier decision that complaints about Culp were politically motivated.

"I want to see some credible facts," Bush said.

He said he was "in complete shock" that Culp's expenses and his office were being investigated.

"Everything I have ever known about Bill Culp is he is a man with complete integrity," Bush said. "I really hope from one man to another that there's nothing to this."

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Staff writers Jim Morrill and Dan Chapman contributed to this article. Reach Mary Elizabeth DeAngelis at (704) 358-5239 or marye1 at charlotte.com .