It's 5.05 and welcome in to a Monday edition of the Carolina Journal News Hour, News Talk 1110-993 WBT. I'm Nick Craig. A good morning to you.
Well, State Representative Cecil Brockman, the Democrat from Guilford County, has officially resigned from his position within the North Carolina General Assembly. That happened on Friday after State House Republican Speaker Destin Hall formed a committee to consider his expulsion. Representative Robert Reeves, who is the Democrat from Chatham County and is the leader of the House Democrat caucus, confirmed the resignation in a statement saying, quote, I am glad that Representative Brockman has voluntarily resigned from the General Assembly. The allegations made against him are serious and made it impossible for him to adequately represent his constituents. I look forward to the Guilford County Democrats appointing his successor.
The news arrived roughly an hour after House Speaker Destin Hall announced the formation of that House Select Committee to investigate alleged misconduct and other matters included in charges against Representative Cecil Brockman. If you'll remember, back on October the 8th, Brockman was arrested and charged with taking indecent liberties with a child and statutory sex offenses. He has been in jail at least part of the time since then, and calls for his resignation started immediately after those arrests became public a couple of days after October the 8th. Under the North Carolina Constitution, each chamber of the North Carolina General Assembly does hold the power to expel its own members. That's according to a press release from Hall's office.
The newly established select committee was to be tasked with investigating the allegations and, if warranted, recommend expulsion for Brockman. He would have been suspended from all House committees' assignments during the investigation. It was a bipartisan group with 12 members. A couple of the names that you'll find interesting: Representative John Bell, the Republican from Wayne County, Brendan Jones from Columbus County, and Democrat Robert Reeves, who is the Senate or the House Minority Leader, all serving as co-chairs. Representative Charlie Miller from Brunswick County and a couple of Democrat representatives from Mecklenburg County as well.
Becky Carney from MEC, Carla Cunningham from MEC, Brandon Lofton from MEC, and Shelly Willingham from Edgecombe County.
So a bipartisan group of individuals tasked with dealing some of the issues around Brockman. Both Hall and Reeves have posted statements on X following the immediate arrest of Cecil Brockman, calling for his resignation, as well as the North Carolina Democrat Party, as well as the chair there, and Anderson Clayton. Brockman had represented North Carolina's 60th House District, and he's been in that position now for close to a decade since 2015, covering parts of Guilford County, including the Greensboro and High Point area. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte with a degree in political science, and his career began with work in political campaigns and as a legislative assistant in the GA before he officially won his seat in the General Assembly.
However, he is now resigned from his post, from the office that he held after some of these charges were levied against him in the month of October. The House Select Committee that was announced by Speaker Destin Hall really won't have any work to do at this point.
Now that Brockman has resigned.
However, we will keep an eye on those legal challenges as they play out and some of the work that will ongo here for the Guilford County Democrat Party as they name the replacement for Representative Cecil Brockman. We'll keep you up to date on all those details right here on the Carolina Journal News Hour. Into some other statewide news this morning, an alleged cash-for-vote scheme tied to the city of Wilmington's municipal elections have been referred to the North Carolina State Board of Elections for further investigation. This is as voters in New Hanover County, which hosts the city of Wilmington, will cast their ballots for city council on election day tomorrow. A New Hanover County voter claims that they received a text message offering payment in exchange for voting for three Democrat city council candidates.
According to the text messages, the voters were promised, the voter, I should say, was promised $100 per candidate vote. The North Carolina Republican Party reviewed unredacted text messages it received before forwarding them to the state board of elections for further investigation. NCGOP Chairman Jason Simmons commented on the importance of free fair, honest, and transparent elections, with Simmons saying in a press release, quote, this is troubling. An allegation of paying a voter and attempting to buy votes in an election is an affront to our shared values. We remain steadfast in our commitment to the integrity of honest elections and will continue to work diligently to keep North Carolina elections free, fair, honest, and transparent.
In New Hanover County, John Hinnett, who is the chairman of the local county Republican Party, told the Carolina Journal that it's important for voters to stay vigilant during the election season. He said in part, we take these allegations very seriously. The voter who received this message did the right thing and reported it to the election integrity hotline. For voters, if you see something, say something. And remember, it is a violation of law to take a photo inside of a polling place.
Jill Hopman, who is the chairwoman of the local Democrat Party in New Hanover County, said that the messages are not connected to any local Democratic candidate or party and called the allegations flat-out farcical, saying, quote, the New Hanover County Democrat Party is fully committed to free, fair, and secure elections and believes anyone trying to purchase votes should be prosecuted. That said, let's be clear about the facts here. One well-known local MAGA activist received a text message. from an anonymous untraceable number not affiliated with any candidate or party, with nothing to suggest it's in it's indicative of a widespread scheme. Unfortunately, instead of waiting for the North Carolina Board of Elections to investigate this farce, the NCGOP is trying to turn this into a sensationalized circus.
Very strong commentary there from the Democrats in New Hanover County. Wilmington City Councilman Luke Waddell, who is a Republican running for re-election, he currently serves on the Wilmington City Council, stressed the importance of election integrity in a statement saying, Election fraud is a serious allegation. If these allegations are determined to be true, the guilty parties should be prosecuted. My understanding is that both state and local authorities are aware of this matter and conducting an investigation. Election integrity is the cornerstone of public trust, and every credible concern should be reviewed thoroughly to ensure confidence in our democratic process.
Earlier today, I retained legal counsel to closely monitor this situation, and my campaign will aggressively pursue all legal remedies if evidence is found to support these claims.
Some other candidates spoke to CarolinaJournal.com as well, including Cassidy Santaguita, who is running as a Democrat for the city council elections. She said she has not seen any evidence to substantiate the allegations, saying, I have not seen any evidence to verify the truth of this message, but I alerted the New Hanover County Democrat Party chair of these accusations on Tuesday afternoon and have no further knowledge about it. I have run an honest, transparent campaign focused on the issues affecting the residents of Wilmington. I'll continue to focus on the needs of our city, and I trust that law enforcement and the North Carolina State Board of Elections will investigate the legitimacy of these allegations. State Auditor Dave Bollock also chimed in on this, saying on social media that his office is aware of these allegations in southeastern North Carolina, writing on X, quote, our office will provide any additional resources or assistance needed to thoroughly investigate this matter.
We will hold any bad actors accountable and give voters confidence in our elections. The North Carolina State Board of Elections did meet on Friday morning for a regular scheduled meeting.
However, they did not address the investigation during the public portion of their meeting. They did, after the public session, break and go into a closed session. That is pretty typical during a meeting of that caliber to discuss private issues that are not appropriate, like staffing. Issues in front of the public in a public setting. It's not immediately clear whether the state board discussed it there or not, but we do know that an investigation is at least in the process of either ongoing or beginning after this alleged cash-for-vote scheme was forwarded to the North Carolina Republican Party from a voter within the city of Wilmington in New Hanover County.
We'll keep an eye on that as we head into Election Day tomorrow morning, right here on the Carolina Journal News Hour. You can read additional coverage and get some more details over at our website, CarolinaJournal.com. That headline story, alleged cash-for-vote scheme in Wilmington elections. Verbo last-minute deals make chasing fresh mountain powder incredibly easy. With thousands of homes close to the slopes, you can easily get Epic Powell, freshies, first tracks, and more.
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News Talk 11:10-993WBT. Ahead of two federal judges in their separate rulings on Friday that the Trump administration must use a $6 billion emergency fund to fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance or SNAP program and benefits, as it was set to pause on Saturday due to the federal government shutdown. North Carolina and others are donating nearly $18 million to food banks across the state. Governor Josh Stein announced on Thursday that the state will grant $10 million, which is starting to raise some questions this morning as the governor continues to rag on the North Carolina General Assembly about not having a budget and not having any money in the state. Yes, yet he is able to selectively write a grant for $10 million.
Other donations include $5 million from America Health, $2.5 million from the David and Nicole Tepper Foundation. Of course, a strong Charlotte connection there. Plus, they had already announced a $10 million gift to the food banks in both North and South Carolina. More than 1.4 million North Carolinians do rely on SNAP benefits, including more than 580,000 children, working families, older adults, veterans, and people with disabilities. More than 80% who receive SNAP benefits are working.
With SNAP providing between $230 and $250 million worth of food benefits to over 600,000 households in the state of North Carolina, Democrat Governor Josh Stein saying in a press release, quote, with the help of our generous partners, North Carolina is taking action to keep families fed. Shoring up our state's food banks will serve as a critical but fleeting lifeline for families in need. And I hope other North Carolina organizations will also step up in this time of need. Whether it's paying our military, ensuring no child goes hungry, or lowering health care costs, leaders in Washington need to come together immediately to find a bipartisan solution that provides long-term stability for millions of Americans. The president and CEO of the food banks for Central and Eastern North Carolina, Amy Bayro, said in a statement, quote, Our hunger relief network is working tirelessly to meet the increased needs with hundreds of partner pantries and thousands of volunteers stepping up to help.
But we know emergency food programs can't replace the impact of federal nutrition assistance. SNAP remains the most effective tool in fighting hunger and poverty nationwide. We need swift action to ensure this critical support continues uninterrupted for those who need it most. Every day of delay means that more empty plates and tougher choices will have to be made for our neighbors. There are some other groups that have made Some pretty substantial donations.
Duke Energy and both them and Bank of America throwing in $100,000 a piece. Delaware North and Cotabat 2 Kings Casino donating $50,000. UNC Health Foundation and UNC Horizons, $30,000, $25,000 coming from the fresh market, $20,000 from Smithfield Food. And the Smithfield Food Foundation also announced that they're donating around 10,000 pounds of food to either various food banks or food shelters as this continues. Snap benefits are adversely advised to continue applying for and renewing their SNAP benefits as county DSS officials are open and processing applications to attempt to prevent backlogs.
Any funds already on EBT or electronic benefit cards will continue to be available for use. People can also call 211 for assistance in finding some of those resources. North Carolina was among 24 states and the District of Columbia that filed a lawsuit last week against the USDA, stating that plans to pause SNAP benefits, even though the government has now been shut down for well more than 30 days, is illegal. North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson said that USDA wasn't telling the truth when they said there wasn't enough money left, pointing to a $6 billion emergency fund that Congress had established for the agency in the case of emergency use. Jackson said that the USDA reversed course last week from a September the 30th statement when they said they planned to originally tap those emergency funds.
In addition to the lawsuit, he said that they have also requested a temporary restraining order, which appears to be what the federal judges issued in their ruling on Friday. Jackson issued a statement on Friday saying that the rulings were, quote, great news, noting, quote, in the lawsuit we filed, a federal court just ruled that the agricultural department acted unlawfully by refusing to use its emergency funds to make snap payments, saying, quote, it is until Monday to deliver a plan and pay benefits. We're not finished, but this is a major step towards making sure that 16 million kids don't go hungry.
However, the Attorney General seemingly provides no insight as to how SNAP and USDA is going to pay for the continuation of this program once that $6 billion worth of emergency funds is a whittled down, which according to USDA and SNAP officials could happen within the span of just a couple of weeks.
So even though Jeff Jackson and Democrats are thrilled about the win in this lawsuit on, or at least this temporary pause in this lawsuit on Friday, there's no plan as to if this government shutdown continues to roll into the later parts of November. What exactly SNAP would do long term? That is not in the comments from the Attorney General.
So we'll have to wait and see what he has to say as this process continues to unfold. We will keep an eye on the government shutdown, SNAP, and some of these ongoing legal challenges over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com. And of course, right here on the Carolina Journal News Hour, where it's now 5.20. News Talk 1110-993WBT. At Florida Blue, we're constantly solving to make healthcare better for the people of Florida.
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It's 536. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour. News Talk 1110, 99.3 WBT, looking at some statewide news this morning. Democrat State Representative Cecil Brockman. Has officially resigned from office.
That happened on Friday after the leader of the Republican-led majority in the North Carolina House, House Speaker Destin Hall, formed a committee to consider his expulsion. This all is surrounding an October the 8th arrest in which Brockman was arrested and charged with taking indecent liberties with a child and statutory sexual offenses. Since that period of time, both Republicans and Democrats in the North Carolina House, Senate, and throughout other realms of government, including Democrat, Republican Party, Governor Josh Stein, pretty much everybody are jumping in the fray to call on Brockman to resign from his position. Representative Robert Reeves, the Democrat from Chatham County, who is the leader of the House's Democrat caucus, confirmed the resignation, saying, I am glad that Representative Brockman has voluntarily resigned from the General Assembly. The allegations against him are serious and made it impossible for him to adequately represent his constituents.
I look forward to the Guilford County Democrats appointing his successor. Again, that news arrived roughly an hour after House Speaker Destin Hall announced the formation of the House Select Committee that would have investigated alleged misconduct and other matters involving the charges surrounding Representative Cecil Brockman. According to the North Carolina Constitution, each chamber of the General Assembly holds the power to expel its own members. That is what that committee was set up to do.
However, with Brockman resigning on the exact same day of the committee's formation, It would not appear that there will be any reason for this committee to meet, and there will be no action that they can take to get Brockman out of office as he has already resigned. We've got continued coverage of this very disturbing story this morning, and kind of going back to early October, what was going on there. Over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com, the most recent story with links to some of our other coverage. Brockman resigns after House Forum's expulsion group. You can read those details at CarolinaJournal.com, or it's now 538, News Talk 1110-993, WBT.
DEI or diversity, equity, and inclusion has been under fire in the United States over the last nine or ten months. That corresponds pretty well with the change of the administration in Washington, D.C., and those DEI programs and terms have been under scrutiny all across the United States. This morning, we turn our attention to the North Carolina General Assembly and a House Select Committee on Government Efficiency that recently took place. To walk us through some of those details, Teresa Opeka, CarolinaJournal.com, joins us on the news hour. What's going on over at DOT and DMV, Teresa?
DEI has, I guess, made its way there too. Yeah, good morning, Nick. Thanks for having me.
So, yeah, there was this hearing that was supposed to be mainly on the DMV, North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles, about how far they've come after an audit that was performed by the state auditor's office. But some questions and concerns were also raised about hiring quotas for minorities and females, as well as the hiring of a DEI recruiter at NCDOT, Department of Transportation. That all took place last week. You know, we had a representative From Cabaras County, asked DOT Secretary Daniel Johnson, who to be fair about this, he was just appointed almost a month ago, so after the retirement of Joey Hopkins. But still, the question was raised since Mr.
Johnson's been there since 2019 about quotas that DOT reportedly had for hiring minorities and females. I'm going ahead of the DEI, but it's kind of all ties in.
So, in their annual report for 2024, the agency has set a hiring percentage target for women and minorities to be a quote diverse and inclusive organization.
Now, Johnson responded, they, of course, want the best people to work for them and they have a diverse workforce. But he also added that DOT must comply with any state and federal laws regarding discriminatory issues and equal opportunity. But the representative argued the report states that one of the goals is to have employees who ethnicity is identified as a minority. Between 22 and 31 percent, and women were People who associate themselves as a woman, 23 between 23 and 48 percent. You know, Johnson said he didn't look at the report for a while, but he said he would review it.
So, what the representative told Johnson is like, okay, fine, we understand you didn't put this together, but what you're saying is you agree with this.
So, it's probably going to be in your strategic report if something doesn't change.
Now, that's the subject for those targets. On the subject of a DEI recruiter, we had Representative Wyatt Gable of Onslow County ask about this recruiter position that was created in 2021. With a salary of $88,000. He asked if it was currently still an active position in the DOT.
Now, Johnson said he couldn't answer it and would have to get back to him. But Gable kind of like chided him and said, You know, you've been there since 2019. How come you don't know this?
So did a little digging around, and there is an employee listed as a DEI recruiter for NCDOT on LinkedIn. And that salary does correspond on the state employee salary database search.
So, um I have to And see what else is going to happen with this. We did have House Bill 171 that was passed earlier this year that bars state agencies from DEI policy, but it was vetoed by Governor Josh Stein. It is, however, on the calendar on November 17th for a potential veto override.
So very interesting doings last week. Yeah, and you know, Teresa, this is the broader discussion over DEI that I think a lot of individuals find themselves frustrated with. And it's through some of these benchmarks and metrics that you were just recapping from that story that we have to hire a certain amount of individuals that look one way or the other. We have to hire a certain amount of individuals that are one gender or the other. And I think most people have woken up to the reality that, no, we want to hire the best people qualified for the job, regardless of their skin color, regardless of their race, regardless of their sex.
There's a pretty big national backlash over these policies. It's not unique to North Carolina. Correct, correct. You are seeing that across the country. And I did not name the representative before.
Don't want to mispronounce his name, it's Representative Brian Escoveria or Ecaveria from Cabarris County. He even noted that. He said, Okay, you want the best people, but there's going to be people being left out of being hired because of these quotas. And, you know, Mr. Johnson said, Well, no, we're looking for the best people.
It's not really a quota, it's a goal, but it's but still you have that in your report as. I would say it's a quota. If you're looking for 20-some percent of people to be White, black, or a woman, or a man, or whatever, that it's not saying, well, I want the best candidate, period, who's got the best experience, regardless if they're a man, woman, if they're white, black, Asian, whatever.
So you're right, and there is a lot of pushback on this across the country. Yeah, I mean, this idea that it's not a quota, even though there's percentage goals in there, even with some of the commentaries from Johnson over, oh, well, you know, we're still hiring the best people. Teresa, I think folks probably scratch their head and wonder: how can these two things exist at the same time? They seem like they can't. Exactly, exactly.
So, yeah, you know, and the one representative saying, well, you know, you don't know. Obviously, yes, give him a little bit of grace, is what Representative Allen Dahl said at the end of the meeting or the hearing, because he's only been in the position for three weeks, but But you've been with DOT for twenty since twenty nineteen. You had to know what's going on in the report, or at least you should know what's going on in the report.
So yeah, yeah, it's going to be interesting to see what comes of this and what comes of possible override of that veto on November 17th. Yeah, that is on the calendar. We will see what the General Assembly does with that coming up here on the 17th. Teresa, one of the other concerns, and this is not, again, something that I would say is probably not unique to North Carolina. It might not even be unique to DOT or DMV, is modernization and bringing computer systems up to date.
This is a big problem in governments all across the United States.
However, it does also continue to be a problem here for DOT and DMV. It certainly does. You know, they've got computer programs, I believe, or the mainframe was going back to the 80s or 90s, and they are looking at obviously modernizing that. They are supposed to be talking or procuring a vendor by the end of December, although it. From what we're understanding from Commissioner Paul Tyne, that system's not gonna be completely overhauled for many years.
So they're gonna work on it, and that's great, but it's gonna take many years to completely update that. And we've talked about this before about government systems, whether it be a DMV, it could be other systems, and it's not. It's not unique to North Carolina. As I've mentioned maybe on the show before, Pennsylvania, their unemployment compensation system they had up there, they had a DOS program running for a long time from the 80s up until I think maybe they have now fixed it. But I'm going to say about 10 years ago or so.
So, you know, North Carolina is not the only state, but yeah, you're wondering, like, how do these governments run on these older, outdated programs? And that is the reason for a lot of the issues that we're seeing.
So again, they're going to try to get a new vendor by the end of the year, but it's not going to be completely fixed for many years.
So we'll have to see how that's going to turn out.
Well, and Teresa, on the technology side, this is incredibly relevant when we talk about specifically the DMV. We and you and I have had multiple conversations over the last year about some of the slowdowns there, crazy long wait lines, can't get an appointment. You can only imagine that some of the inefficiencies that likely exist within the IT and technology infrastructure within DMV probably only exacerbate that problem. Oh, absolutely. I mean, it has to, and you really stop to think about it.
And systems are not running as fast as if you went out and bought a new computer today, even at, say, Walmart or Target or wherever, where you're going to have lightning speed. I'm just making, you know, like you're going to go buy maybe a Chromebook or whatever. But the fact remains is it's truly not outdated technology by a year or two. We're going back decades of outdated technology. That's got to slow everything down.
And there's not going to be any easy fixes for things that are that old.
So, yeah, that does have a really major bearing on all the different issues going on with the DMV. Teresa, you've got some other details from the meeting, quotes from additional lawmakers that we didn't have a chance to hear from, some screenshots from that meeting as well. Where can folks go and get those details? Sure, they can head on over to CarolinaJournal.com. Teresa Opeka joins us this morning on the Carolina Journal News Hour.
Ah. Good morning again. It's 5:53. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, News Talk 1110-993 WBT.
Some concerning information coming out of southeastern North Carolina, just one day ahead of Election Day here this morning. An alleged cash-for-vote scheme tied to the Wilmington City Council elections has been referred to the North Carolina State Board of Elections for further investigation. This is as voters in New Hanover County will be casting their ballots for city council coming up tomorrow, like many other municipalities across the state. A New Hanover County voter claims they received a text message offering payment in exchange for voting for three Democrat City Council candidates. According to the text messages, the voter was promised $100 per candidate vote.
The North Carolina Republican Party reviewed unredacted text messages it received from that voter before forwarding them to the state board of elections for further investigation. NCGOP Chairman Jason Simmons said in a statement, quote, this is troubling. An allegation of paying a voter and attempting to buy votes in an election is an affront to our shared values. We remain steadfast in our commitment to the integrity of honest elections and will continue to work diligently to keep North Carolina elections fair, free, honest, and transparent. Continuing on the Republican side, John Hinnett, who is the chairman of The New Hanover County Republican Party told Carolina Journal that it is important for voters to stay vigilant during the election season, saying, We take these allegations very seriously.
The voter who received this message did the right thing and reported it to the election integrity hotline. For voters, if you see something, say something. And remember, it is a violation of the law to take a photograph inside of a polling place. On the other side of the political aisle, Jill Hopman, who is the chairwoman of the New Hanover County Democrat Party, said that the messages are not connected to any local Democratic candidates or parties and called the allegations a farce, saying the New Hanover County Democrat Party is committed to free, fair and secure elections. And believes anyone trying to purchase votes should be prosecuted.
The statement goes on to say: that said, let's be clear about the facts here. One well-known local MAGA activist received a text message from an anonymous untraceable number not affiliated with any candidate or party, with nothing to suggest it s indicative of a widespread scheme. Unfortunately, instead of waiting for the North Carolina Board of Elections to investigate this farce, the NCGOP is trying to turn this into a sensationalized circus. So, some very different ways of going back and forth on this between the Republican and Democrat Party. Luke Waddell, who is a Republican candidate running for re-election for the position on the Wilmington City Council, said election fraud is a serious allegation.
If these allegations are determined to be true, the guilty parties should be prosecuted. My understanding is that both state and local authorities are aware of the matter and are conducting an investigation. Election integrity is the cornerstone of public trust, and every credible concern should be reviewed thoroughly to ensure confidence in our democratic process. You can read some of the text mess, the alleged text messages and some additional quotes from elected officials and political parties this morning over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com. That headline story: alleged cash-for-vote scheme in Wilmington elections.
Well, that's going to do it for a Monday edition of the Carolina Journal News Hour. WBT News is next, followed by Good Morning BT. We're back with you tomorrow morning, 5 to 6, right here on News Talk 1110 and 99.3 WBT.
