Mayor Chris Carney calls Bobby Compton’s allegations ‘ridiculous’

BY MIKE FUHRMAN

Former Mooresville town commissioner and unsuccessful mayoral candidate Bobby Compton publicly accused Mayor Chris Carney of inappropriate and unethical conduct on Monday evening.

Speaking directly to Carney during the public comment period during the town board meeting, Compton repeated rumors that have been circulating for weeks about the mayor’s late-night activities in Town Hall.

“Recently you were in this building until after midnight to the early hours of the morning. You were conducting town business during that time or something personal?” Compton asked the mayor.

“Some say you weren’t feeling well. Instead of going home to your wife who is a pharmacist, the female that was help for your campaign and doing work for the town helped you clean up,” Compton added. “For transparency, please explain your activities and actions. Keep in mind that at night the lights are on, the blinds are open, anyone on that side of the building can see inside this building.”

Later in his remarks, Compton was a more direct.

“On November 26 — Parade Day — a sign at this building read, ‘Party Naked at Town Hall.’ Was that directed at you?” he asked the mayor.

Recalling Carney’s campaign pledge to ensure town government was transparent, Compton challenged the mayor to live up to the promise he made to voters

“Elected officials are held to a strict code of ethics. I cannot emphasize that enough. You’ve lost the trust and respect of many people,” Compton said. “What are the options? Be a man. Do the right thing. Be truthful and transparent. Or resign.”

Compton also alluded to an incident in which he said the mayor avoided arrest for a DWI, but he did not provide any details about that incident.

Carney, who easily defeated Compton in the 2023 mayoral election after Miles Atkins decided not to seek another term in office, did not respond to the allegations publicly.

“I saw no value in that, which is why I didn’t respond last night,” Carney said Tuesday afternoon. “I don’t believe in getting  in the mud with someone.”

However, later in the public comment period, Troutman Town Manager Ron Wyatt, came to the mayor’s defense by questioning Compton’s tactics and his credibility. Wyatt brought up Compton’s decades-old domestic violence conviction as well as a judge’s ruling that he had not kept up with his court-ordered child support payments.

“There’s somebody that’s not taking care of their own family, but yet they want to stand up in a public forum and attack somebody based off rumor and innuendo,” Wyatt said. “And I find that distasteful.”

Mayor: ‘There is no sex tape’

During an interview Tuesday afternoon, Mayor Carney admitted that he had been in Town Hall into the early morning hours one night in early October with Jaime Gatton, a local journalist who did some consulting for the town as a contractor. She also is a freelance contributor to Iredell Free News.

Gatton, he said, has been a friend of his for 20 years. After having dinner and drinks with a town commissioner and staff members, Carney said he met Gatton for a margarita at a downtown establishment to discuss town business.

As they were leaving, Carney said he began to feel “violently ill” and did not think he should drive home. He decided to go to Town Hall to pick up a cell phone he left on his desk. According to the mayor, Gatton accompanied him because she was concerned about him.

After he parked in front of Town Hall and entered through the front door — “I got worse. I got dizzy,” he said. “I felt nauseous. At first I thought I had food poisoning.”

Carney said he later realized that the three drinks he consumed during the evening combined with the prescription medication he was taking and made him sick. He and Gatton stayed in his office for a few hours, and Carney said he left the office to go to the restroom.

“It took me that long” to feel safe driving, the mayor explained. “I felt I was doing the right thing and not driving impaired. I came here because I thought it was a safe place. I didn’t think anyone would question that.”

He said it was disgraceful that Compton would sully Gatton’s reputation by implying they had acted inappropriately.

“Don’t fault her for being a good human being,” the mayor said.

Police officers and the cleaning crew were in the building while he and Gatton were in the building, the mayor added.

Gatton could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

And rumors that there is a security video showing him doing anything inappropriate are absurd, Carney said.

“There is no sex tape,” the mayor said. “It didn’t happen so it doesn’t exist.”

Iredell Free News filed a public records request for security footage for the nights surrounding this incident about three weeks ago. The town has not provided any footage to date.

Carney took a leave of absence from his position as mayor the following day to address mental health issues that he said were related to the sudden deaths of two young people in his life. His father, who has since passed away, was in hospice care at the time.

His doctor referred him to a therapist and a psychiatrist, Carney said, and he is continuing to work on himself. He said he has not had a drink of alcohol since that night in early October, and has enjoyed the support of friends and first-responders who have reached out since learning about his mental health struggles.

The last six weeks, Carney explained, have been a difficult but necessary part of his journey.

“This is probably the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” he said, “although it took a bad night to get there.”

Police Chief: Carney was not pulled over for impaired driving

The mayor was adamant that he had never been pulled over for impaired driving or even speeding by Mooresville police. Earlier this year, about 8:30 p.m. one night, Carney and Police Chief Ron Campurciani saw each other driving on Williamson Road and pulled over to talk, the mayor said. Passers-by may have seen them talking and inferred he had been pulled over, Carney said.

The mayor said he was disappointed that his former rival would question the chief or the MPD’s integrity by suggesting Carney had been given a pass for driving impaired.

“That’s so ridiculous.” Carney said. “There’s no truth to that whatsoever.”

Campurciani told Iredell Free News on Tuesday that Carney had not been stopped for impaired driving by him or any of his officers and then been allowed to drive home. That accusation, he said, is an insult to the department.

“Has there been anything in the last five years that would give someone any indication that that’s something we would do?” he asked.

MPD officers who watched the meeting on Youtube felt the sting of Compton’s words, Town Manager Tracey Jerome added.

“They were impugned last night publicly,” she said. “It’s completely unacceptable.”

Compton: ‘This isn’t retribution’

While the mayor believes his former rival’s comments were politically motivated, Compton said he came forward with his concerns during Monday’s board meeting because he cares about the Town of Mooresville, where he worked for 43 years.

“This isn’t retribution by any means or anything like that. I’m not that person,” he explained in his public comments. … In fact, I don’t want to be here, but I was delegated.”

Compton, who did not elaborate on who “delegated” him, said he had been warned not to go public with his allegations against the mayor.

“I was told, finally, that you would bring charges against anyone saying anything about you,” he said to Carney. “What will I be charged with for stating facts, telling the truth and asking questions?”

Meanwhile, the mayor said he would not be “sidetracked by this silliness.” He plans to stay focused on the town’s business and save the politicking for later.

“In July, Bobby can put his $5 down … and put his name back on the ballot,” he said.