NC Auditor to focus on DMV, Helene recovery, election integrity (01-21-2025--Hour2)

[00:00:04] What's going on? Thank you so much for listening to this podcast. It is heard live every day from noon to 3 on WBT Radio in Charlotte. And if you want exclusive content like invitations to events, the weekly live stream, my daily show prep with all the links, become a patron, go to thepetekalendershow.com. Make sure you hit the subscribe button, get every episode for free, right to your smartphone or tablet. And again, thank you so much for your support.

[00:00:28] I want to welcome to the program the newly elected, now sworn in and already working state auditor for North Carolina, Dave Bullock. Welcome to the show, sir. How are you? Pete, I'm doing great. Thanks for having me. Yes, sir. So do I call you, like, is it like Auditor Bullock? And I know you're probably, oh, just Dave is fine. But like, is there a title that comes? Auditor Dave? Yeah, they call me the auditor, but Auditor Dave is good with me. Auditor Dave? Auditor Dave? All right.

[00:00:57] If you knew what my kids called me, it was, I mean, you know. Well, and so I'll throw this out there, just something to think about. You don't have to answer right now, but I'm thinking, just like with the Labor Commissioner, pictures on the elevators, have you thought about maybe mandating your picture on everyone's checkbooks or maybe at bank branches? I'm just throwing it out there. It could be a marketing tool for you. Just, you could just chew it over, you know. That's a great idea. I'm going to chew on that.

[00:01:23] Okay. So let me, let's start with, first off, what does the auditor do? I know a lot of people became aware that the position really even existed when your predecessor, Beth Wood, was the auditor. And then you, and then she stepped aside after the problems that she had. She stepped down. Governor Roy Cooper installed another person into that office. You then ran against that person and beat her. And so what exactly does the auditor do?

[00:01:53] Yeah. So the auditor basically, I mean, there's three or four primary functions. I like to basically start with, we're the watchdog on behalf of taxpayers with respect to fiscal responsibility across the state of North Carolina.

[00:02:08] So the bread and butter is fiscal audits. We also audit information systems. On the flip side of that, or in addition to that, we do efficiency and effectiveness audits of government, as well as taking a look at program results. Is that something that you go through every single jurisdiction, every municipality all the time? Or do you, do you pick and choose? Or do you, is it a complaint driven process?

[00:02:34] Well, it's a, it's a combination there, Pete. I mean, I've got a roughly 160 person office. So we have some statutory mandated audits, like we just wrapped up an audit of the Department of Transportation, Transportation's cash position. We also wrapped up our portion of the state financial statement, have to do the universities, most of the community colleges. That's sort of bread and butter.

[00:02:58] And then it is sort of up to the discretion of the auditor as to where you go from there. So we've got some priorities that we're going to put front and center on behalf of taxpayers. And you've already talked about one of them very publicly, the DMV, which I don't know why you would need to look at them.

[00:03:18] I mean, my interactions have always been very quick. I'm just kidding. No, I had to, I had to drive an hour outside of Charlotte to get an appointment to get a driver's license renewal. Yeah. Yeah. It's like the whole from, so what are you looking at in the DMV and how long, like how long of a, of a window are you looking at for it to take, to do an audit of that operation?

[00:03:42] Yeah. So the DMV audit, we are going to take a look at the finances of the DMV because I do believe that in all of the audits really makes a lot of sense, Pete, to come with a set of data to back up your conclusions. And, and, and we want to be able to tell a story, you know, how are these agencies impactful to North Carolinians?

[00:04:04] And we want those audits to be impactful in the way those audits can be most impactful is to tell a story, but we need that data to back it up. So we're going to do a Florida ceiling audit of the DMV and look at effectiveness, efficiency, and the results. You know, in 2018, Auditor Wood actually did an audit of the DMV and in the recommendations from that audit were first and foremost,

[00:04:32] that the DMV needed a system of metrics to measure their effectiveness. To date, they've never instituted that system of metrics. So we're going to start there. You know, I had someone tell me one time, well, I don't know what good a book report is going to do to help make the DMV better. Well, you know, a real data-driven audit is more than a book report.

[00:04:56] And we're going to give solid common sense recommendations to both the legislature and the governor on how to fix it. Right. Because the auditor can't impose a new, can't impose those things onto the DMV, right? It would have to be legislative, they'd have to write law, I assume, and the governor would have to sign it. Well, you'd have to have either legislation or you could have, you know, the governor runs the DMV. Governor Stein has said that he wants to work across the aisle, so I'm going to give him the opportunity.

[00:05:25] So, yeah, I will say here's one area, and I don't know if this would even be part of your operation, but I could tell you that, like, when I went to the DMV and I got a license, I upgraded to the real ID. I had moved into a house, and we weren't, it wasn't even a real address until, like, the house got built, you know? And so it took a long time, so I had to go in with, like, a deed, and, like, here's the purchase, and this property does exist. And at that point, they were like, do you want to upgrade to real ID? I said, yes, I got the new photo taken, all of that.

[00:05:54] And then a year later, I got to go back in for an in-person renewal. And I said, well, I already sat for this last year, got my picture taken, upgraded to the real ID, and they said, no, that counts as a duplicate license. It's like, how is that a duplicate license? Pete, you just repented the same story my wife went through. Oh, really? Because she got halfway through it, took an entire morning off, and she's a business person, took an entire morning off, went through the DMV, got an appointment, and they actually got her in.

[00:06:23] And she came back home and told me later, you know, halfway or three-quarters of the way through, I was thinking, why in the heck does Dave want to audit the DMV? And then they binged her at the end with, oh, yeah, and by the way, you're going to have to come back next year and renew your license in person. I mean, you're never more bona fide than when you're getting the real ID. Why not start it from there? Right. Yeah, I do. Yeah, yeah. So, okay, so you're already aware of that issue, right? Make your wife happy. I get that one straight from home. Yeah, there you go.

[00:06:53] All right, so you got the DMV. Also, let's talk a little bit what's going on in Western North Carolina. I saw you put out a statement after the governor did his five executive orders, which I was happy to see him do that. He went to Asheville as soon as he took office, did five executive orders. So what is the role that the auditor's office plays in the recovery efforts out in Western North Carolina? So it's a good question.

[00:07:19] Now, the legislature in the latest piece of legislation from December, Senate Bill 382, actually mandated that the auditor do a little bit more than just looking back at what happens to state tax dollars and has asked the auditor's office to do more of a periodic audit. And I liken it to tracking dollars.

[00:07:42] And so, you know, Governor Stein has set up a new agency called Grow to handle Western North Carolina. But we put a team together on January the 2nd, and we've already begun getting data. And we're hoping in the next week or so to be able to ramp up a regular reporting feature on the state auditor's website to track those dollars. So that hasn't been announced yet, so I'm giving you a little bit of news there, Pete.

[00:08:11] I think it's really important that we don't relive what happened about three months ago when the head of NCOR, the previous agency that ran Eastern North Carolina's disaster money, appeared in front of the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee, and it was a dumpster fire. I mean, $35 million, we don't know where it is. Oh, and by the way, we need another $221 million to finish projects that are in the hopper.

[00:08:41] You know, and that's a six-year run on that. And I've committed to keeping track of this stuff so we don't get to a six-year period and we're wondering what the heck happened to multiple billions of dollars. Right, because I think what the leader of that agency, now she has been ousted from her position there, but I think she said, oh, we just lost track of the accounting or something. Right. Yeah. Really? I mean, you can't make that up. Yeah.

[00:09:08] I mean, their entire existence was to keep track of the accounting. So this new agency, G-R-O-W-N-C, which is the Governor's Recovery Office for Western North Carolina, and I would submit that merely the creation of this new agency is probably proof that they know that the Rebuild NC or NCOR was such a colossal disaster that they can't do that again.

[00:09:36] And so, so far, I know you say, and you and the governor said that you wanted to work together on this. So far, how was that going? It's working great. Good. I mean, I've had no pushback from the governor. He and I both committed to work across the aisles. I feel good about it. As I've said to agency heads that I've talked to over the last couple of months since I was elected,

[00:10:01] you know, you ought to really welcome the state auditor to come in and give you some advice and give you some look at the numbers, take a look under your hood, and I think we can actually be helpful. Now, when there's waste, fraud, and abuse, we're going to put the hammer down, Pete. So let me, I got to ask you about the elections issue. That was part of Senate Bill 382.

[00:10:27] So now, under that law, you will be in charge of appointing the members of the Board of Elections, right? And so, like, how are you ramping up for that responsibility? Well, I mean, first of all, we're making space within our agency to move the Board of Elections over. So the Board of Elections, we will be in charge of managing the budget and sort of those operational issues for the Board of Elections.

[00:10:55] My primary responsibility will be to appoint the state board and the chairs of each Board of Elections in each North Carolina county. Do you get, does your office get into the, I don't want to say into the weeds, but are you getting, like, into the, like, the schedule of list maintenance, the voter roll maintenance issues?

[00:11:17] You know, because there's, I mean, that's, I think, part of the problem with the Supreme Court race, for example, is, like, there, it seems like administrative problems have persisted inside the Board of Elections for decades. Is that something that now becomes under your purview? Yeah, we believe it will. I had talked about this on the campaign trail, and that is making those voter rolls more accurate.

[00:11:41] You know, it seems to me, and again, I've heard from county officials that they're, you know, they need more time or whatever. But, you know, in between elections, that's a really good time to go ahead and take a look at these entries to make sure that we have all the proper information and to make sure people are properly registered. I mean, there's 60,000 names. I know that Judge Griffin is, got up for question in front of the Supreme Court.

[00:12:09] Seems to me that over a two-year period before the midterm, we could make phone calls, send letters, reach out to all of those 60,000 people to make sure that their information is correct. And I don't think that's too much to ask. Yeah, it seems like a common-sense approach. Judge, we are out of time. You're welcome back any time. We appreciate you joining us today, Auditor Dave Bullock. Auditor Dave, thanks for your time, sir, and congratulations on the victory, and good luck to you, sir. Appreciate it.

[00:12:39] Just getting back from D.C., had a fantastic weekend up with President Trump. Oh, sounds good. All right. Well, glad to have safe travels to you, and glad you got back all right and had a good time. Did you see him dance with the sword? I did. That was at the commander's ball. He was having a good time. He always had a good time at rallies. Yeah. No, it was quite the sight. I got a chuckle out of it. I appreciate your time, sir. Thanks so much for joining us. Yes, sir. All right. Take care. All right. That is the Auditor of North Carolina, Dave Bullock.

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[00:14:30] for alternative housing will be allowed to stay in hotels until May 25th, with checkout on May 26th. So technically, doesn't that mean that you're staying until May 26th if the checkout is on the 26th? Or do you got to be out at like midnight on the 26th or something? That would be weird. Federal Emergency Management Administration officials announced Sunday, Sunday, Sunday,

[00:14:59] that they extended transitional sheltering assistance to families in western North Carolina affected by the hurricane. According to FEMA, residents and families receiving the lodging will be allowed to stay now for another, what, five months? Is that, yeah? March, April, May. Four months. So this is another extension after, I've lost track, okay? I've lost track of how many extensions there have been now. I think we're up to five. There may be six.

[00:15:29] But it's better, like this is a better extension length because the previous ones were always like, okay, okay, I know it's a blizzard outside. Okay, I know it's like, you know, 12 degrees. So we'll give you an extra 24 hours. I know the roads are going to be icy. So you have 48 hours, you know, so they can clear the roads. And then you're out, okay? Then go sleep in a tent next to a river someplace where you don't even have property anymore

[00:15:58] because the whole side of the mountain caved in. Okay? Like, that's the way they've been doing it. And now they've at least extended it for another four months. Josh Stein taking a victory lap saying this was because, you know, he had implored FEMA to extend it beyond, like, basically the freaking winter. Right? And look, I'll give him credit. Absolutely. If he's the reason why people have four more months to, you know, not freeze to death,

[00:16:27] literally, on the side of a mountain, kudos to Governor Stein. Absolutely. Because the deadline was January 25th. So this weekend, I guess. And so now it's been extended to May 25th. Oh, and by the way, there was a phone number. Chuck Edwards, congressman for the district out there, launched a dedicated phone number. 223-FIX-FEMA.

[00:16:55] And that is to help constituents that have issues regarding FEMA. So if you need help or having issues with FEMA, you call 223-FIX-FEMA. And then his office can engage with FEMA directly on behalf of your application. 223-FIX-FEMA. All right. I hope you had a happy holiday season. But tell me if something like this happened at your house. Your family and friends are gathered around. Maybe y'all are in the living room.

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[00:18:20] Mountain Express, mountainx.com reporting. And thanks, by the way, to Andy for sending me this story. Financial impacts to Buncombe County's budget from Tropical Storm Helene are beginning to come into focus. And the outlook is not sunny. About seven months into the fiscal year, which ends June 30th, county leadership is projecting revenues will be anywhere from $15 to $25 or almost $26 million less than projected.

[00:18:50] So they are looking at a budget gap of somewhere between $15 to $26 million. Their general fund is $440 million. That's their budget, $440 million. By comparison, Mecklenburg County is somewhere in the neighborhood of about $2.5 billion. Okay? So Buncombe County working with about a fifth of the size of the budget that Mecklenburg runs on.

[00:19:17] And they're looking at up to a $26 almost million budget shortfall. So to balance the budget, county staff is proposing 4% cuts in most departments and a 4% cut in K-12 education. They're cutting education in Buncombe County.

[00:19:41] Which, by the way, they have a long history out there of, like, underfunding education to the point where, like, I think the state came in and gave, like, special tax authority or something to... Yeah. And it's not a consolidated system. So you've got the Asheville City Schools. You've got the Buncombe County Schools. But the Buncombe County Commission is Democrat-controlled. I think it's actually completely Democrat at this point.

[00:20:11] And so they are looking at massive cuts. Why? Because of the hurricane. County Manager Avril Pinder already imposed a hiring freeze across all departments except for 911 services, resulting in about $2 million in salary savings for 89 vacancies. So they just haven't hired for the vacant positions. Again, this is mountainx.com. Mountain Express is the... It's sort of the...

[00:20:41] It's like the old creative loafing here in Charlotte before it got shut down. Mountain Express, mountainx.com. This is a piece by Greg Parlier or Parler. Parlier. P-A-R-L-I-E-R. Parlier. Parlier. Anyway. Budget Director for Buncombe County, John Hudson, said the county can save a total of $4.2 million in salaries and benefits, the county's largest spending category.

[00:21:07] No filled positions are going to be eliminated in the proposal. They're also looking to defer maintenance, which means like, yeah, we're supposed to be maintaining these things that we have. So we're just going to put off the maintenance and hope stuff doesn't break. The problem with deferring maintenance is that stuff breaks. And the longer you don't maintain it, the chances increase that it's not going to live as long as it otherwise would.

[00:21:37] And so it's a short-term gain for a long-term loss. They're also going to be deferring energy efficiency upgrades. And so I'm assuming that means like solar panels. They're not going to be... They're very green out there. Very, very, very... They're the green new dealers out there. So maybe they're not going to be doing some of that stuff because it's expensive.

[00:22:02] Deferring information technology infrastructure upgrades, cuts at the animal shelter, and reductions in library programming. No! Who's going to hire the trans to read to the kindergartners? Hudson found... Hudson is the budget director. Found about $2.5 million in savings from trimming programs or services in public health, social work services, justice services, economic development, and economic services.

[00:22:32] The story goes on to say that the county's projected revenue losses come primarily in four areas. High unemployment, which could mean many can't afford to pay property taxes. There's also a sharp decline in permits for new single-family home construction. There's been a drop in the occupancy tax receipts. In other words, people staying at hotels.

[00:22:55] So please, if you are considering, you know, a weekend getaway or whatever, please consider going to Western North Carolina and going to some of these places to help them survive. This is their... This is not the peak of tourist season right now, but they lost a lot of money and a lot of tourism revenue has been lost. And that's what that region runs on, tourism.

[00:23:21] They've also had a decline in the sales tax receipts. Because once again, people not going to visit means not a lot of sales. In October, Buncombe County's unemployment rate went up to 10.4%. That is the highest in the state now. A month prior to the hurricane, it was the lowest in the state. So that's the kind of devastation that they are looking at. This is a long-term problem.

[00:23:50] The county savings account, known as the fund balance, was used last fiscal year to balance the budget for the first time in more than 20 years. So this is what happens when you run structural deficits and you start raiding your reserves to pay for ongoing operating expenses. This is what happens. You start siphoning out this money, and then when disaster hits, you don't have the money. All right.

[00:24:19] If you're listening to this show, you know I try to keep up with all sorts of current events. And I know you do, too. And you've probably heard me say, get your news from multiple sources. Why? Well, because it's how you detect media bias, which is why I've been so impressed with Ground News. It's an app, and it's a website, and it combines news from around the world in one place so you can compare coverage and verify information. You can check it out at check.ground.news.com.

[00:24:47] I put the link in the podcast description, too. I started using Ground News a few months ago and more recently chose to work with them as an affiliate because it lets me see clearly how stories get covered and by whom. The Blind Spot feature shows you which stories get ignored by the left and the right. See for yourself. Check.ground.news.com. Subscribe through that link and you'll get 15% off any subscription. I use the Vantage plan to get unlimited access to every feature.

[00:25:17] Your subscription then not only helps my podcast, but it also supports Ground News as they make the media landscape more transparent. So talking about disaster, in fact, the name of this piece that was written by Gary Pierce over at TalkingAboutPolitics.com. Gary Pierce is a Democrat strategist guy, and he started this website along with Carter Wren, who was a Republican strategist guy, and they started this website talking about politics.

[00:25:44] They don't really post a lot in the recent couple of years, to my knowledge. But anyway, he had a piece about a week ago called Disaster Duty, and he says climate change – you know where this is going. Climate change has changed governors' jobs. They now must be masters of disasters. Floods, fires, hurricanes, and winter storms. Okay. Okay.

[00:26:14] Look, I suspect that Gary was using the master of disaster because it was a kind of turn of phrase from Rocky, the Rocky movie. Apollo Creed, the master of disaster, right? That was one of his – I think that was one of his names. So maybe that's what he was just using that for.

[00:26:36] But nobody expects the governor of any state or the president or any leader, any elected leader to be – or anybody really – to be a master of disaster. Unless you're like blowing stuff up, right? Then maybe. Like Al-Qaeda? Okay, yes. Masters of disaster. Stuff like that. Okay. But if you are elected to a position to respond to disasters, see, that's part of the gig.

[00:27:05] That's the job. You have all of these resources at your disposal, and you asked for the job to marshal said resources in the wake of disasters. So, no, it is not something that I expect you to master the climate or master a disaster. I do expect you to be competent. To be competent in the response.

[00:27:28] Unlike my good friend Ray, former North Carolina governor Roy Cooper, who showed time and again through multiple hurricanes and the COVID disaster, that he is not competent as the, quote, master of disaster, as the governor who's charged with responding to these types of disasters. He – okay, he goes on to say – he talks about, of course, you know, Donald Trump.

[00:27:56] He quotes former Governor Jim Hunt, who after Hurricane Floyd, which devastated eastern North Carolina – and, by the way, my sister, who was living in Wilmington at the time, lost her apartment, her car, and her job. All of them were destroyed. So, that was actually the very first news report that I was ever on WBT with. I interviewed her. And that became – that got part of the news – became part of the newscast here. Ah, just a little bit of personal history there.

[00:28:25] So, I am aware, but Governor Hunt said his advice to governors, two words, take charge. You've got to get out there and see firsthand. It gives you a real knowledge of the extent of the disaster. So, this is not new. This is not climate change. This is – this is – you know, we have a state agency. We have these tools and this equipment to go help people after. That's your primary core mission. You don't have to be a master of it.

[00:28:52] He says, well, wildfires ravage California. You know, Trump is more likely to attack governors than to help them. It'll take superhuman patience and persistence for Governor Stein and the state's congressional delegation, especially Senator Tom Tillis, to get help from a Trump White House when disasters hit, as they inevitably will. Maybe Trump will toss us a few rolls of paper towels. Pierce just cannot help himself. Just can't help himself.

[00:29:21] This kind of snide remark. Because what is he talking about? After Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, Donald Trump went there to boost morale, get a look at the scene on the ground, and then he's out there handing out stuff, as every politician does. Are they actually helping? No. Did Kamala Harris actually help by putting like a toothbrush in a bag during one of the hurricane Helene relief efforts?

[00:29:51] No. Did she really help? No. But you go. You make your presence known. If you take an adversarial combative posture with the president, you should expect a similar thing in return. That's all I'm saying. All right. That'll do it for this episode. Thank you so much for listening. I could not do the show without your support and the support of the businesses that advertise on the podcast. So if you'd like, please support them, too, and tell them you heard it here. You can also become a patron at my Patreon page or go to thepetecalendarshow.com.

[00:30:20] Again, thank you so much for listening, and don't break anything while I'm gone.