Area ABC salaries less than New Hanover administrator's

Local Alcohol Beverage Control general manager pay pales in comparison to New Hanover County’s ABC administrator, whose $232,200 yearly salary sparked a state investigation when revealed by an area newspaper earlier this week.

Onslow County ABC Board Supervisor Neta Grady said she makes $75,931 yearly, a salary Board Chairman Gary Dixon said is what it should be.

“Her salary is in line with what it has always been,” he said.

In 2008, the six ABC stores in Onslow County sold more approximately $10 million in liquor, according to a report from the State ABC Board.

J.B. Boone the manager for Carteret County ABC Board earns $59,800. The board sold about $10 million in liquor from six stores in 2008.

Patsy Blake, the manager for the Pender County ABC Board earns a yearly salary of $51,294, according to her staff. In 2008, the board sold around $5 million in alcohol from its five stores.

Other area boards were not so forthcoming with their supervisor’s salaries.

Jim Cejka, the manager for the Jones County ABC Board, did not immediately return messages. The board there sold about $800,000 in alcohol at three stores.

Duplin County has three independent ABC Boards, none of which would report their salaries Wednesday. In total the three boards had approximately $2 million in sales at the three stores in 2008.

Billy Ramsey, the manager for the ABC Board in Wallace said his accountant was busy compiling his salary information for the state and he couldn’t say what his pay was until after that was complete.

“I’d be more than happy to talk about it next week,” he said.

An employee with the Warsaw ABC Board said Wednesday that its manager, Diane Blackburn, was tied up in meetings and would not be able to answer questions about her salary until next week.

The manager for the Kenansville ABC Board, Spike Edwards, did not immediately return detailed messages. 

The reluctance of local ABC boards to make salaries public is what drew Gov. Bev Perdue’s attention in the first place. After inquiries by The Star-News in Wilmington into New Hanover ABC Board Administrator Billy Williams’ salary, Perdue ordered a closer look at apparent salary disparity among the 158 ABC boards in the state.

 “The governor has directed us to examine the issue statewide, because it is critical that there is transparency and good stewardship of taxpayer dollars at all levels of government,” N.C. State ABC Commission Chairman Jon Williams said in a statement to reporters last week.

Williams, who has worked for the ABC Board in New Hanover County for nearly 42 years, makes $232,200 a year. His son, Bradley Williams, an employee since 1994 and the assistant administrator, earns $115,500 annually.

The county ABC Board sold nearly $30 million worth of liquor in 2008 from seven stores, according to a report from the N.C. State ABC Commission.

Williams defended his salary to The Star-News, saying that he worked in the business since starting as a clerk at 21 in 1968. New Hanover ABC board members also defended Williams’ salary, saying that Williams and his son worked their way up through the ranks.

State Commission Chairman Jon Williams makes $109,553 a year. State Administrator Michael Herring earns $97,279.

Contact Lindell Kay at 910-219-8456 or lkay@freedomenc.com. Read his blog at http://onslowcrime.encblogs.com.