A police officer charged with molesting three young girls. Court records show that West pleaded guilty in 2000 to multiple counts of taking indecent liberties with a child. Then Michael Watley hired him, even though West was open about his criminal record. Watley appointed a convicted sex offender to lead party committees. Putting politics over safety.
If this is who Watley hires for a job, why would we ever hire Watley for the Senate? Paid for by WynnSenate, winsenate.org, not authorized by any candidate or candidates committee. It's 505 and welcome in to a Monday edition of the Carolina Journal News Hour on Charlotte's FM News Talk 107.9 FM, WBT, I'm Nick Craig. Good morning to you. A new performance audit of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services and the Division of Child Development and Early Education, the acronym for that, the DCDEE, found concerns with the way compliance visits were conducted at 4,112 child care centers across the state.
In 2025, North Carolina had more than 5,100 limited child care license facilities serving more than 213,000 children at a direct cost of more than $2 billion. Compliance visits. Visits included program operations, staff qualifications, children's records, and facility conditions. The North Carolina Office of the State Auditor. said in the audit released last week that even though all child care centers had compliance visits, many visits followed repeatedly scheduled patterns that were inconsistent with the intent of the division's said policy.
State law requires the division to conduct at least one unannounced compliant visit each, complete one of those visits at each licensed child care center each year. Division policy also requires scheduling practices intended to prevent visits from occurring at the same time each year. Specifically, the division's consultant procedure manual states that, quote, intentional planning is necessary to ensure that visits are not made the same time each year, as these are set to be random drop-ins at these facilities. Auditors said that repeated scheduling patterns made those annual compliance visits more predictable from year to year, which reduces the effectiveness of unannounced monitoring. Unannounced visits are intended to capture what the state auditor's office called typical operating conditions.
When the timing of visits is predictable, auditors said it reduces the likelihood that those Those completing the visits will observe those typical conditions as well as it weakening the oversight value of the division's monitoring activities, particularly for cited violations and involving things like food storage and handling, storage of medications and hazardous products, sanitations, and other requirements in state law. Diving into some of the findings, auditors reviewed annual compliance visit data for all 4,112 licensed child care centers for the fiscal year 24 and 25, noting that visits were genuinely conducted within 364 days during the fiscal year 25. They also tested a sample of 68 out of 303 administrative actions issued during fiscal year 25 and found that the division verified some of the implementation of corrective actions for non-compliance identified during those annual Compliance visits. But they also identified reoccurring scheduling patterns when comparing 25 to the previous year's visit dates for those compliance visits. Specifically, 197 visits occurred on the same weekday within the same calendar week as the prior year's visit.
667 visits occurred within the same calendar week as the prior year's visit. Those added together more than 20% of the visits thus far. 68% of the state's 100 counties showed some degree of repetition in terms of the pattern of visits. In 21 of those counties, 25% or more of the visits followed repeating scheduling patterns and were concentrated in a small number of counties, including Union, Montgomery, Richmond, Stanley, and Anson counties. Auditors recommended clarifying the current policy to make annual compliance.
Compliance visits less predictable, including those occurring in the same week or on the same day of the week as the prior year. They also suggested implemented monitoring of scheduling patterns by establishing a documented monitoring process to identify repeat timing patterns in those annual compliance visits before consultant schedules are finalized to ensure that those scheduling practices align with the intent of the division's own policy. Third, monitor repeat scheduling patterns at caseload and county levels by tracking some of those metrics across multiple years at the caseload and county levels and incorporate the metrics into routine management reporting. Finally, assign management accountability by designating explicit responsibility within the division's management for reviewing schedule trends and ensuring alignment with policy intent. Also, identified two other issues while conducting the audit.
One is that the division hasn't consistently conducted the full star rating license reassessment. As a result, many childcare centers continue to display star ratings that are based on assessments conducted several years ago and may not reflect the current program quality or enhanced standards. Those star ratings are intended to signal whether a child care center continues to meet enhanced quality standards beyond minimum health and safety requirements. Under state law, the division must reassess each child care center star rating at least once every three years to determine whether it continues to meet enhanced standards such as lower staff-to-child ratios and higher staff qualifications. Auditors say that assessments were paused in March of 2020.
That was, of course, due to COVID-19 and a state of emergency declaration at the time. In 2021, state law extended the pause for certain child care facilities suffering staff shortages that could have affected their star ratings. That went all the way through June 30th of 2024, some three years after COVID. State law paused most reassessments again in 2024 for revisions to the rating system, and that remained in effect until July the 1st of 2025. That means between March of 2020 and July 2025, star rating license assessments were generally conducted only for new child care centers or upon request of an existing center.
Because the star-rated license assessments were only required every three years, there are centers in North Carolina that have not been reassessed. Since at least 2017, going on more than nine years. Parents can check the division's most recent star rating by navigating to the division's child care center search site, searching for a child care center by entering a license number, name, city, county, or other sorts of information, and find that information on the state's website. Auditors also found circumstances in which delays in administrative action following serious violations as well as delays in notifications when certain hazards were identified may have limited a parent's ability to receive prompt information. Delayed notification reduces parents' awareness of potential risk and limits their ability to take timely protective actions.
Now, most of the time when we cover audits here on the Carolina Journal News Hour as we watch them come out of the North Carolina State Auditor's Office, most of the time the division or whoever is being discussed typically agrees with the recommendations and tries to find corrective actions moving forward.
However, in this case, the division disagrees with the findings and recommendations of the audit. Specifically, this division dealing with child care centers does not agree with the findings that there were repeat scheduling patterns that reduced the unpredictability of annual compliance visits. The DCDEE says its scheduling policies align with both the intent and practical application of the current policy and does not diminish the effectiveness of annual compliance monitoring. They do, however, agree that their policy can be clarified to make interpretation more straightforward and will monitor scheduling practices to ensure practical applications of their policies moving forward.
Furthermore, the DCDEE has consistently interpreted same day to mean the same calendar date, for example, May the 13th, not the same day of the week, for example, like a Monday. Auditors say that the statements are misleading because the division's interpretation of same day to mean the same calendar day is in contradiction with their own with its own intent to encourage, quote, visit times that vary from year to year, as stated in its response. And the scheduling policy already precludes visits on the same calendar date because a visit on the same calendar date would occur 366 days after the previous year's visit in our 365-day calendar. On the subject of a pause of the star-rated license assessment, the entity said that the state legislature extended the pause while the new quality rating and improvement system known as the QRIS was being developed. Was their justification there?
Auditors argue that even though required annual compliance visits were conducted within 364 days during fiscal year 2025, parents rely on the STAR rating system to choose the best care operation for their family and should be made aware that existing star ratings may not currently reflect current conditions of child care centers. Finally, the DCDEE said regarding delayed parent notifications of violations under portions of the child care rule statute here in North Carolina, the responsibility for notifying parents lies within the child care facility operator and that current rules do not require DCDEE to provide direct notification to parents or of violations or administrative actions. While the division's reference to the child care rule is accurate, the North Carolina State Auditor's Office includes This matter in the report because parents may not be aware that responsibility for notification rests primarily with the childcare facility operator. This is another major report out of the North Carolina State Auditor's Office. We continue to track many of these over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com.
You can head on over there this morning and check out this story, the headline, Audit NC Child Care Center Visits to Predictable. You're great at protecting your data, but lots of places could still expose you to identity theft. I thought it was safe. If that happens, LifeLock gives you a U.S.-based restoration agent who will stick by your side from start to finish. Phone calls, filing documentation, preparing insurance claims, your agent handles it all.
In fact, we're so confident restoration is guaranteed for your money back. Isn't it nice to have someone like that on your side? Save up to 30% with promo code news at lifelock.com. Terms apply. A police officer charged with molesting three young girls.
Court records show that Wes pleaded guilty in 2000 to multiple counts of taking indecent liberties with a child. Then Michael Wadley hired him, even though West was open about his criminal record. Watley appointed a convicted sex offender to lead party committees. Putting politics over safety. If this is who Watley hires for a job, why would we ever hire Watley for the Senate?
Paid for by WinSenate, WinSenate.org, not authorized by any candidate or candidates committee. It's 523. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, Charlotte's FM News Talk, 107.9 FM, WBT, the North Carolina Department of Public Safety, NCDPS, had some $97.3 million in financial reporting errors for the fiscal year ending June the 30th of 2025, according to a new report recently released by the North Carolina Office of the State Auditor. NCDPS is the chief agency for law enforcement, juvenile justice initiatives, and emergency management responsibilities in North Carolina. Inadequate internal controls, including review procedures, led to overstated and understated errors that, if not fixed, would have led to department management or other stakeholders to have it be relying on inaccurate information, leading to greater errors in the future, according to auditors.
DPS, which operates under the governor. Office reported $2 billion in revenue and $2.8 billion in expenses for the fiscal year ending June 30th, 2025. The Auditor's Office did stress that financial statements for the Department of Public Safety for the fiscal year that ended in 2025 are accurate and reliable despite the internal control issues.
So, digging into some of the findings here, auditors say. That gaps in financial reporting oversight within the high-volume decentralized environment of NCDPS resulted in financial reporting errors. Additionally, they acknowledge that DPS's management had problems ensuring that personnel responsible for financial reporting had the necessary knowledge and experience following recent turnover. DPS management also didn't have adequate written policies and procedures related to preparation and review of financial statements or consistently communicate or monitor financial reporting requirements across divisions. Auditors said once they identified and accounted for 34 adjustments needed, the audit no longer showed any material error.
Some of the recommendations include the personnel responsibility for financial reporting should have the necessary knowledge and experience. Targeted training and support to address gaps resulting from turnover. One of the second recommendations is written policies and procedures that should be established and maintained, including a year-end checklist allowing for thorough review of financial statements and related information to ensure accurate and complete financial reporting. Auditors also stated that financial reporting requirements should be clearly communicated and consistently monitored across all divisions. With defined exceptions, the North Carolina Department of Public Safety Management should be actively monitoring year-end financial reporting processes to ensure corrective actions are implemented.
The Department of Public Safety Secretary Jeff Smyth acknowledged the findings and said his department is developing standard operating procedures and checklists for staff to use during the preparation of year-end statements. Yeah. with the goal of enhancing internal controls for future financial reporting activities. Additionally, he said that the department's financial services sections have also conducted a year end information session to equip division staff to perform the necessary year end requirements. Staff also continues to hold virtual office hours to monitor progress and ensure timely and appropriate submission of year-end documentation to support the accurate completion of financial statements.
Last month, North Carolina Senate Judiciary Committee leaders were reviewing ethics compliance, potential conflicts of interest, and a history of progressive policing policies ahead of the confirmation hearing for Smythe. He was appointed in January after Eddie Buffalo's retirement. Smythe is a former Burlington police chief and current city council member. In early May, in a letter in early May to the acting DPS Secretary and Jeff Smythe, Senator Danny Britt, the Republican from Robinson County, Warren Daniel, the Republican from Burke, Buck Newton, the Republican from Wilson, said that the committee is undertaking a review of ethics compliance and conflicts of interest connected to Smythe's nomination. The senator cited.
Smythe simultaneously serving as acting DPS Secretary and a member of the Burlington City Council. Smythe's appointment is subject to confirmation by the North Carolina Senate under a state law governing the governor's cabinet appointments.
However, a date has not yet been set for this confirmation hearing.
So a couple of different things going on there. This new audit from the auditor's office finds $97.3 million in North Carolina Department of Public Safety financial reporting errors. Fortunately, not a much larger scale problem there. And some of the back and forth between lawmakers and Jeffrey Smythe, the new head of DPS, will be keeping an eye on both of those threads right here on the Carolina Journal NewsHour. Lots of places can expose you to identity theft.
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Terms apply. It's 5.36. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, Charlotte's FM News Talk, 107.9 FM, WBT, I'm Nick Craig, a good Monday morning to you. We have been keeping a pretty close eye on a couple of legal challenges here in North Carolina that pit the Democrat governor in Josh Stein against the Republican-led legislature. For those that follow North Carolina politics pretty closely, over the last 10 years or so, lawmakers have slowly gone through this process of trying to handle reappointments throughout the state of North Carolina.
A lot of that previously held by the governor. They've shifted some things, like we've talked about in great detail, away from the governor to other members of the executive branch, individuals like the state treasurer, as well as the state auditor.
However, a couple of legal challenges that we're keeping an eye on today that are currently dealing with the North Carolina Supreme Court deal with some statewide vacancies for judicial candidates, also deal with multiple state boards and commissions. We've been keeping an eye on that to bring us up to date. Mitch Kokai from the John Locke Foundation joins us on the Carolina Journal News Hour. Mitch, kind of confusing because so many of these cases run together. There's been so many of them, even previously looking at some of these.
Challenges Cooper versus the General Assembly.
Now, Stein. What's the latest that you're following here?
Well, there are two cases that have now percolated their way up to the state Supreme Court, Nick.
Now, one of them, That has not yet reached the state Supreme Court deals with the changes to the state elections board, with the shifting power over appointments to the elections board from the governor to the state auditor. That case is still at the Court of Appeals, and we've not yet seen a ruling from the Court of Appeals.
So that one's sitting there. But two other cases. Have reached the state Supreme Court. And the latest development is that all of the parties in the case are trying to work out how they're going to argue these cases, what issues should be lumped together, and which issues should not. And Governor Stein and Phil Berger and Destin Hall on the other side have disagreed about the best way to do this.
They did come to an agreement on the schedule for filing briefs.
So that's a positive sign. The first round of Written filings in this case are going to come in in the middle of August, and then briefing will basically extend through the end of October.
So, we're not going to see any kind of quick resolution on this because after those court filings end in late October, then presumably there will be an oral argument, and then it'll be months probably before there's any sort of ruling from the state Supreme Court.
So, we're still quite a ways away from getting a final resolution. But the debate right now. Is about how to move forward in the oral arguments on the various issues that are involved. Governor Stein is asking for Partial consolidation of the two existing cases so they're basically split into two. One would deal with All of the various arguments about various boards and commissions in which the General Assembly has taken some appointments away from Stein and given them to someone else.
There are a bunch of boards involved, and some of the boards are in both of the cases that we have.
So there's seven boards and commissions that are involved in. The first lawsuit, and a couple more boards and commissions involved in the second lawsuit. Stein would like to see all of those lumped together. in one set of arguments and then set to the side as a separate issue. The filling of statewide judicial vacancies, which is slightly different in that case.
What the state law says and what Stein challenges is that rather than giving the governor, as he has had for years, the power to appoint anyone he wants. When there's a vacancy on the state court of appeals or the state supreme court. Instead, He's limited. to appointing one of three names put forward by the political party. Of the justice or judge who left.
So basically, if a Republican leaves, the Democrat Stein would not be able to appoint a Democrat. He would have to appoint a Republican. He'd like to see. The arguments for these two cases split so that judicial vacancies is one argument, and all other boards and commissions the other argument. The General Assembly filed a document on Friday saying they didn't really go along with that because it would be too confusing to have partial consolidation of the cases.
They basically said there are two different ways that we think you should do this. Either one, Keep the cases separate. But allow the briefs to cross-reference each other so you don't have to write the same thing twice for both cases. And then schedule the oral arguments on the same day so that you can have. The cases back to back, and you don't have to make the same argument in two separate days and waste time that way.
Or. The second option that the General Assembly put forward is just consolidate the two cases completely. Don't partially consolidate them. Just consolidate them completely, have one oral argument. Instead of having the one-hour oral argument, make it two hours since they're really the two cases, and then give each side 40 minutes to talk about boards and board appointments, and then each side 20 minutes to talk about judicial vacancies and lump them all together that way.
So it'll be very interesting to see what the state Supreme Court chooses as to how to deal with this issue. We should also mention Brad Briner, who is also involved in this case because he gets a utilities commission appointment from Stein. He also objected to Stein's proposal and basically went along with what the General Assembly suggested in terms of allowing there to be cross-references of briefing and having the briefings on the same day so you don't have to make the arguments more than one day for both cases. Let's tackle the judicial vacancies portion of this first. For those that have seen, and there's a variety of different reasons that this could happen, that a position, an elected position could be vacant.
Fortunately, Mitch, sometimes people in elected office pass away in the middle of their term. That position needs to be filled. Other people run for a different political office, typically higher up the food chain. And if they win, they, of course, move on there. When this is typically handled either the General Assembly or at the local level with a county commission or a town council, this concept of appointing somebody from the same political party is almost, and it's not completely, but almost standard across the state of North Carolina.
For example, we saw a couple of vacancies even over the last year in the North Carolina General Assembly from Democrats and Republicans. And it is, in fact, those political parties that get to make those appointments.
So it seemingly would bring that kind of in line with how we handle a lot of these other vacancies that prop up throughout government, correct? Yes, and in this case, it's a little bit different than the legislature because, in the case of the legislature, The political party makes a recommendation, and the governor has to appoint that person. There is no leeway one way or the other. In the case of the judicial vacancies, the new law says that the governor does get to choose from among three names.
So there is some choice, although the argument from the governor is it's not a choice I would make because if it's someone that the Republicans are putting forward, that's not a person I would appoint. But you're right that this is something that's done for many other cases when there is someone who was elected who had a party affiliation. Once that person departs, Then the party gets to have a role in deciding who's going to be the person to take the place.
Now, You also referenced that there are times when this happens when you have to fill a statewide judicial vacancy. And we've seen this happen a couple of times in recent years when a Republican member of the Court of Appeals. gets elected to the state Supreme Court. Even though during that election, and this has happened both recent times when this has happened, when both when Phil Berger was elected, Phil Berger Jr., and then when Richard Dietz was elected. Uh Republicans swept.
The judicial elections, statewide judicial elections that year for both the state Supreme Court and also the Court of Appeals, yet. The governor, being a Democrat, was allowed to appoint a Democrat to the Court of Appeals to replace the departing Republican judge. And I think that's one of the reasons why Republicans wanted to change this in the General Assembly is that Even as voters were saying unanimously, That in every case, not unanimously in terms of the voting population, but unanimously in terms of every position that was up on the ballot, Republicans won them all, yet Democrats were able to pick up a seat in the Court of Appeals both times because a Democratic governor was able to appoint a Democrat shortly after voters decided they wanted Republicans to win these seats. And this is, I think this is. Probably of the issues that are up there to be discussed at the state Supreme Court, probably the one that interests both sides the most, because judicial vacancies can be very important in determining whether state laws can stand, who's going to win in a separation of powers fight between the executive and legislative branches.
So, I think more so even than the membership of the boards and commissions and who gets to appoint those, the judicial vacancies issue is probably the one that both sides see as the bigger issue. Yeah, great point there. We'll be keeping an eye on that. All right, over to the boards and commissions. Over the last 10 years, without recapping all of the history, Mitch, we've seen this consistent kind of tug-and-war battle between the Republican-led General Assembly and a Democrat governor in the governor's mansion here in North Carolina.
Lawmakers have continually argued that the executive branch, and our state constitution makes it pretty clear as well, is not just the governor, it is the entire Council of State, which is a mix of Democrats and Republicans. And it seems like that challenge is continuing in this case as well. That's right. The General Assembly, really ever since the days of Roy Cooper as governor, has changed the way that appointments to boards and commissions are done. And they've changed the makeup of the boards and commissions in different ways, some of which have survived the court's scrutiny, some of which have not.
The s the successful strategy so far seems to have been take appointments away from Josh Stein and give them to another member of the Council of State while ensuring that the executive branch as a whole Still has the majority appointments to the board.
Now, the argument from Stein and his lawyers is: wait a minute. The General Assembly is giving these appointments to Republican members of the Council of State. And they're basically saying that they can move these appointments to another member of the Council of State if they want to.
So the Council of State Republicans are beholden to the legislative Republicans. And so if you combine. legislative appointments With the Republican Council of State appointments, that's a majority that thwarts what the governor wants to do. But the courts haven't bought that argument. They basically said, no, the executive branch still has the majority of appointments.
Some of them are for the governor.
Some of them are for another member of the Council of State. And that is constitutional. It remains to be seen what the state Supreme Court is going to say about this, but that's what's going to be determined in these cases. The state Supreme Court will look at what the General Assembly did and say whether, yes, it complies with the Constitution or not. And along with that, there are three other boards and commissions involved here in which the State Court of Appeals struck down.
What the General Assembly did. And the General Assembly is asking the state Supreme Court to say, no, these other types of appointment changes where appointments are taken away from Josh Stein and given to some outside group, not a member of Council of State. The General Assembly is asking the state Supreme Court to say those sorts of changes are also okay. The one type of change that it's pretty clear the General Assembly is not going to be able to get away with is taking appointments from Stein and giving the appointments to themselves. That's one thing that the courts have struck down, but they're really testing.
What the state Supreme Court is going to allow in terms of taking appointments away from the governor and giving them to either another member of the Council of State or some other outside group. keeping the majority of appointments with the executive branch. Yeah, it's going to be fascinating to see not only what the state's high court rules on this, but how they go through the process of determining if they want to combine these cases, keep some of it separate, keep them completely separate. We'll be awaiting a decision on that. You can read more by visiting our website this morning, CarolinaJournal.com.
We appreciate the update. Mitch Kokai from the John Locke Foundation joins us on the Carolina Journal News Hour. Lots of places can expose you to identity theft. Oh no. That's why LifeFlock monitors hundreds of millions of data points a second for threats to your identity, which is way more than anyone can do on their own.
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It's 5:54. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, Charlotte's FM News Talk, 107.9 FM, WBT. As we have been talking about over the last couple of weeks, lawmakers are expected to make their way back to Raleigh, as we understand it right now, over the next week or two, as both the North Carolina House and Senate have sessions that are going to convene at noon today. It is not immediately clear whether both chambers will be hosting votes or if one or the other will have skeleton sessions. But over the next two weeks, we are expecting lawmakers to move on potentially some final pieces of legislation before we approach the November midterm election, looking at the calendars for both the House and Senate today.
In the Senate, at noon, when they are set to convene, House Bill 116, which is local board of education election changes, is on the calendar there. Over in the North Carolina House, Some unfinished business. Senate Bill 50, that is the Freedom to Carry NC, also known as Constitutional Carry, which has remained on the House calendar now for months, does remain there.
However, we still do not expect that House lawmakers, Republican leaders there have the votes to move that legislation forward.
Some other bills, House Bill 116, which is dealing with Jacksonville area annexation and confirming changes. Another piece of legislation, House Bill 199, authorizing multiple de-annexation requests across the state. There also remains that very lengthy. Elections bill that we've talked about over the last couple of months. Not immediately clear whether there will be any movement on that.
If lawmakers are going to move, they're going to have to do that in a pretty rapid fashion. Once we get through the first full week of August next week, we are expecting lawmakers to be done essentially with any sort of legislative action as we approach November. As every single member of the North Carolina General Assembly, every member of the House, every member of the Senate is up for re-election and will be on a November ballot if they, of course, won their primary and decided that they wanted to continue serving in that position.
So they will head back to their districts for the remainder of the summer and into the early fall as they go through the process of trying to win that seat. Republicans trying to hold their closest supermajority in the House, hold their supermajority in the Senate, while Democrats look to fracture and break that and gain control of the North Carolina House or Senate for the first time in now more than. 15 years. We'll have Andrew Pomerance and other members of our team down in the legislature this week. We'll keep you up to date over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com, and right here on the Carolina Journal NewsHour.
That's going to do it for a Monday edition. WBT News is next, followed by Good Morning BT. We're back with you tomorrow morning, 5 to 6, right here on Charlotte's FM News Talk, 107.9 FM, WBT.
