Letter: Ethics question not Moss’s business

Was I surprised when you reported some Beaufort County Board of Education members felt “threatened or bullied” by Superintendent Jeff Moss’s telling the board that some members had not reported their annual board income to the State Ethics Commission?” No, not in the slightest bit surprised or shocked.

If there’s one thing we’ve learned about Moss, it’s that he’s not above doing unethical and unprofessional things. We certainly are almost guaranteed he can be counted on pulling every trick out of the hat if he believes it will help him deflect the focus from him and his obvious wrongdoings.

I’m not giving the board members a pass on this filing requirement. Certainly, I believe they should be held accountable for correctly filing the necessary information in a timely manner.

But I have several questions. Why is it any of Moss’s business whether any of his employers correctly filed their financial disclosure statements with the State Ethics Commission? And who at the state, county, or board level appointed him as the gatekeeper for these statements?

While a majority of the board has given this superintendent a clear pass on the entire nepotism issue, I can’t believe that they have chosen to sit quietly by allowing themselves to be “threatened or bullied.” Our board members need to get spines and show the superintendent who runs the show. At this point, it looks like the board has acquiesced to the will and intimidating behavior of the superintendent.

This story was originally published October 6, 2016 at 12:54 AM with the headline "Letter: Ethics question not Moss’s business."