Park Helms Steps Down From Mecklenburg ABC Board
Charlotte-Mecklenburg ABC Board Chairman Parks Helms has resigned after fallout from a holiday dinner paid for by the liquor company Diageo.
Helms has been under fire since the Nov. 18 dinner.
Earlier this week, he rejected a request from fellow ABC directors to resign.
On Thursday, Helms sent a letter to Mecklenburg County Commission Chairwoman Jennifer Roberts, saying that he would step down. In Helms' resignation letter, he says he violated no policy, procedure or law.
The move comes one day after the North Carolina ABC Commission banned all gifts from the liquor industry to ABC staff. The ban is a result of a NewsChannel 36 I-Team investigation that found Helms and dozens of local ABC staff were treated to wine, drinks and dinner that cost more than $300 per person.
On Wednesday, the state's top liquor regulator lambasted Helms, highlighting him as an example of a "culture of entitlement" in the alcoholic beverage system.
Jonathan Williams, chair of the state ABC Commission, said that Helms told investigators from the state Alcohol Law Enforcement Division that he had expected the Mecklenburg board would pay for the lavish dinner in November. The event was bankrolled by a liquor company, and state alcohol agents have accused both the board and liquor company Diageo of breaking the law.
"In other words, Parks Helms' statement is that he assumed the citizens of Mecklenburg County would pay the bill," Williams said the state commission meeting Wednesday. "Every dollar that comes into the ABC system in this state is a dollar that belongs to the public. The public's money is not what is left over at the end. It is public the moment it is handed over the counter. There is no way the public should be expected to foot the bill for select employees and family members to have a party of seemingly unlimited price and extravagance."
Helms addressed the statements in his resignation letter, writing, "I take issue with his use of my name as a scapegoat for the troubled North Carolina Alcoholic Beverage Control system which those in power have condoned for generations. I was particularly troubled by Governor Perdue authorizing the Chairman to trample on my name and my reputation for political gain."
Helms and Mecklenburg ABC CEO Calvin McDougal and other staff members repaid more than $9,000 of the bill after the I-Team broke the story.
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Sources: WCNC, Google Maps
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