Charles Taylor’s attorney disputes ethics investigation claim as cease-and-desist faces court

The attorney for North Carolina House of Representatives candidate for District 51 Charles Taylor released a statement following the cease-and-desist order for Sandhills Citizens Alliance.

“Sandhills Citizens Alliance had every opportunity to retract two serious, provably false accusations and chose not to. Charles Taylor does not own or operate a casino or gambling operation, and the State Ethics Commission has not initiated an investigation against him. Those facts haven’t changed. We look forward to holding the responsible parties accountable in court.”

– Philip R. Thomas

Chalmers, Adams, Backer & Wallen, PLLC

Counsel for Charles M. Taylor

This action follows Diana Stepanik’s filing on Oct. 9 of an ethics complaint, stating Taylor “failed to disclose several financial interests on his 2026 Statement of Economic Interest (SEI), which he should have known he needed to disclose.”

Attorney Phillip Thomas wrote on Oct. 21, “As to the supposed investigation, I personally communicated with senior officials of the North Carolina State Ethics Commission, who informed me that no investigation or formal proceeding has been initiated against Mr. Taylor. He filed an amended Statement of Economic Interest after working with Commission staff to clarify the filing requirements and work through their technical issues. Your website acknowledges only a submitted complaint, yet your mailer asserts an investigation as fact. Nor does the reporting you cite establish Mr. Taylor committed a gambling offense: Alcohol Law Enforcement stated that it had not examined the particular machines and had not charged Mr. Taylor. (Ex. C).”

Today, Oct. 23, 2026 at approximately 9:10 a.m. the radio station 103.1 FM played an advertisement claiming Taylor was operating a gambling facility and that April Montgomery was a better candidate because she was a homemaker and would reduce the cost of living, advocate for a clean environment and slow development. The Oct. 23 advertisement favoring Montgomery was sponsored by Sandhills Citizens Alliance, the same group going to court to face claims against Taylor.

The advertisement did not mention Montgomery’s work with the Sanford Area Growth Alliance or her nearly instant retraction of a political promise to navigate development responsibly or that she did not provide answers for the industrial waste problem in Lee County–after she promised.

On Sept. 12, during a political campaign launch, when asked during the public Q & A, in front of the attendees, Montgomery said she will fight to retract the law on downsizing and wants to introduce a bill forcing developers to pay impact fees.

Minutes later, after the Q & A, Sandhills News asked her how she plans to implement the proposed bill to make developers pay impact fees. Montgomery said she could not introduce a bill to make developers pay impact fees and that because she was unaffiliated she would not be allowed.

However, the General Assembly’s Introduction of Bills reads that a representative may submit a bill, any representative, and that they must follow protocols.

During the Q & A, Montgomery said she will find out how the Magneti Marelli (MM) plant in Sanford on Nash Street, with its expensive environmental hazard state-mandated remediation (paid by taxpayers) with no known expiration date for final clean up was approved for purchased by Lee County Government. Montgomery said the college had been trying to buy the MM property for a long time. It joins the college property.

Montgomery was allowed a month to provide the information about how Lee County Government agreed to purchase MM. She did not provide any answers.

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ) reports on MM identify many hazardous chemicals, solvents and violations. MM’s NCDEQ reports, NCD060299880, are public records available to everyone.

NCDEQ records show Lee County purchased the former manufacturing property in July 2021, despite publicly documented environmental concerns.

The Nov. 2, 2020, NCDEQ NCD060299880 report shares, “This [stormwater] runoff was known to have been contaminated by spillage of electroplating sludge from the Old Pretreatment Former Drum Storage Area (SWMU 22).”

The Nov. 20, 2020, MM NCDEQ report shares, “remediation is required at the Former Waste Stoddard Solvent Tank (SWMU 17).”

The NCDEQ website has continually made public the contamination and necessary remediation efforts.

In July 2021, Lee County Government purchased the property for $7.4 million for Central Carolina Community College’s E. Eugene Moore Manufacturing and Biotech Solutions Center, with a $600,000 deposit for ongoing cleanup.

The North Carolina Department of Environment lists hazardous waste sites and notes that the MM Stoddard tank had a historic leak beginning in 1988 but was not removed until March 2022, and in Oct. 2022, found carcinogens in the wells.

During the due diligence period of the real estate transaction for MM, Lee County Government read the Phase I Environmental Site Assessment prepared by Timmons Group of Raleigh for MAD M & R LLC, which filed for incorporation on Feb. 12, 2021. MAD M & R LLC is a development company operated by Sanford residents: Mark Davenport and Mark Lyczkowski and Whitsett resident, Ray Covington.

Read NC industrial sites threaten water and soil: Why oversight committees matter.

Montgomery shared her thoughts on an alternative form of local government, first saying that something needed to change.

Read Editorial: North Carolina proposal would replace political management with professional local government.

The Oct. 23 advertisement favoring Montgomery was sponsored by Sandhills Citizens Alliance.

Read Sandhills Citizens Alliance receives cease-and-desist to learn the parameters of the cease-and-desist now facing court.

The names involved in the Sanford Citizens Alliance case have not been formally released, and this article will be updated when they become available.

Oct. 23, 2026

Stephanie M. Sellers

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