QUESTION: What’s behind the departure of Larry Brooks from his role as general manager of the local ABC board and his subsequent appointment to a seat on this five-member body?
ANSWER: The goings on at the Alamance Municipal ABC Board might seem a bit rummy to the casual observer. But they’re nothing of the sort, according to Chip Foushee, who currently serves as the chairman of the five-member group.
Foushee, who is also board’s only representative from Mebane, recalled that Brooks had been the board’s general manager for roughly eight years before he tendered his resignation, which the board accepted at its latest quarterly meeting on May 14.
As general manager, Brooks, who is 85, had been responsible for the operations of six state-owned liquor stores that the board administers in Burlington, Mebane, and Graham. Since his resignation, this role has been temporarily assigned to Nancy Gooch, the general manager of Siler City’s ABC board – who, according to Foushee, is also filling in as the general manager of a board in Orange County.
Foushee has informed The Alamance News that the Alamance Municipal ABC Board won’t meet again until August 20 – a week later than dictated by the group’s quarterly schedule. In addition to Foushee, this gathering will presumably include Burlington representative Lisa Kirpatrick, Graham delegate Robert Parrish, and two new appointees to the group.
One of these newcomers will be none other than Brooks, whom Graham’s city council had appointed in June to a seat that previously belonged to Robert Sykes. The council offered no explanation for its choice of Brooks over Sykes, although its 4-to-1 vote did draw a dissent from Graham’s mayor Chelsea Dickey.
Sykes, for his part, is emphatic that he doesn’t have any hard feelings over Brooks’ elevation to his old position, which Sykes insists he resigned before the city council tapped the board’s old general manager as his successor. The council nevertheless received a reappointment application from Sykes that was dated April 1 of this year – more than a month before the ABC board accepted the resignation from Brooks.
Sykes contends that Brooks, whom his considers a close personal friend, did a good job, overall, during his stint as general manager. The former board member did allude, however, to one indiscretion that apparently occurred during Brooks’ tenure.
“He did make a mistake,” Sykes told a reporter on Wednesday. “He was observed doing something he shouldn’t have done, but in my opinion, it wasn’t anything serious.”
Sykes wouldn’t divulge the details of Brooks’ alleged error.
Meanwhile, Foushee merely recalled that the board’s former general manager had voluntarily resigned his position, adding that Brooks had served as an ABC board member prior to his staff-level posting.
Brooks didn’t return a phone call from the newspaper before press time on Wednesday.
In the meantime, another new board member is expected to be selected next week by Burlington’s city council. This as-yet-unnamed individual will succeed outgoing board member Frank Longest, who has declined to be reappointed to his seat on the board. [See separate story in this edition: https://alamancenews.com/burlington-council-prepares-to-select-new-appointee-to-local-abc-board/.]
THE PUBLIC ASKS: Have a question about a matter of public record? Call The Alamance News at (336) 228-7851; write to the newspaper at P.O. Box 431, Graham, NC 27253; or e-mail alamancenews@mail.com.
If it’s a topic in the public domain — a matter of public record, including issues of government, courts, etc. — we’ll try to find the answer and print it in ‘The Public Asks’ column. (Please furnish as much complete and specific information as possible.)
Note: Issues regarding businesses — including salaries, policies, and practices — are usually not matters of public record, unless they are the subject of governmental or regulatory action, a court suit, or law enforcement activity.
MORE LOCAL NEWS THAN YOU’LL FIND ANYWHERE ELSE! SUBSCRIBE TODAY!
