(The Center Square) – Calling it the “biggest sham ever” on North Carolina taxpayers, Republican state Rep. Brendan Jones said pace of recovery from a hurricane more than six years ago is unacceptable.
He let the embattled office created by the former Democratic governor know how his home of Columbus County felt in a Thursday joint legislative meeting.
“Money, money, money,” Jones said to Pryor Gibson representing the North Carolina Office of Resiliency and Recovery. “Nobody ever seems to be able to do correct arithmetic. Nobody can get the estimates correct. Nobody is even close. This has been one of the biggest shams on the North Carolina taxpayer that has ever taken place.”
Gibson was former Gov. Roy Cooper’s pick to replace Laura Hogshead, former director of the recovery office. She resigned after a November meeting in front of the full committee panel with a budget deficit of more than a quarter-billion dollars; projects for only 2,800 of 4,200 families completed since major hurricanes Matthew and Florence eight and six years ago, respectively; and the agency in debt $37 million for completed projects.
Gov. Josh Stein, Cooper’s buddy in litigation as attorney general the last eight years before winning succession to his seat, opted not to continue the office. Gibson is the interim wrapping up for an office also known as RebuildNC. Stein created two new offices – Recovery Office for Western North Carolina, also known as GROW NC, and the Division of Community Revitalization within the state Department of Commerce – to begin work with recovery from Hurricane Helene, which ravaged the mountains last fall.
Gibson reported to the subcommittee of the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations successful rebuilds of 3,200 homes in southeastern North Carolina with 1,150 left to go.
“Just last week, two families stopped me in Columbus County, begging with tears in their eyes,” Jones said. “Another family stopped me and wanted to know why they couldn’t get their septic tank. They’ve been at the Quality Inn for months upon months.”
Jones compared the recovery effort to the movie “Groundhog Day” in which the same events occur day after day. The same slow pace should not be repeated as the state works to rebuild damage in the western part of the state from Helene, Jones said.
Gibson replied that Jones was criticizing the agency for spending too much money but at the same time for not moving fast enough on rebuilding projects.
Gibson thanked the Legislature for $80 million it appropriated late last year.
“But for that, we would be in a much deeper dilemma,” said Gibson.
He hopes to have the eastern recovery largely completed this year, if the agency is provided adequate funding.
“All I am asking, all we are asking, is let us finish the job,” Gibson said.
His plea presents an interesting twist mixed with President Donald Trump’s visit to Asheville and Swannanoa last Friday. He mused the possible demolition of FEMA, the federal agency that has assisted in disaster recovery operations since President Jimmy Carter created it in 1979.
Trump said states are better-suited to manage than outsiders coming in. Cooper, Hogshead and Gibson offer a contrasting testimony, the former remaining silent about the budget woes until slipping in a request for $175 million to the office within his $3.9 billion proposal to the Legislature for Helene recovery.
After Hurricanes Matthew (2016) and Florence (2018) struck southeastern North Carolina, Cooper created the office. The southeastern part of the state eventually endured four hurricanes in 47 months, though Dorian (2019) and Isaias (2020) were of lesser damaging strength.
