By Katherine Zehnder
Carolina Journal
On Wednesday, Dave Boliek was sworn in as the new state auditor of North Carolina and announced his hires for senior staff and says he will start work with an audit of the Department of Motor Vehicles.
“It’s an incredible honor to be sworn in and serve as the State Auditor of our great state,” said Boliek in a press release. “Now, it’s time we finally get under the hood and start working. Our office will use every resource we have to ensure that tax dollars aren’t wasted, and all levels of government are held accountable for their actions. Whether it’s fraud, corruption, or bad return on investment, we won’t stop until the job is done.”
Boliek’s senior staff includes Brent Woodcox as chief of staff and Randy Brechbiel as public information manager. Charles Dingee and Beth Ray will both serve in leadership roles as well.
Woodcox has over a decade of experience working in the office of the President Pro Tempore of North Carolina Senate, most recently serving as senior policy counsel. He was also the lead policy advisor for tax reform and worked on electoral and judiciary policy.
Brechbiel is also transitioning from the office of the President Pro Tempore of the state senate, where he served as communications advisor. Previously, he worked in the private sector, managing communications projects for public affairs firms in Raleigh.
Dingee is a small business owner with extensive experience in finance and management.
Beth Ray has worked for over 20 years as an attorney in the Cumberland County District Attorney’s office. She most recently oversaw case management for all pending felony cases charged within the county. She also worked as a litigator and previously trained and advised law enforcement and fellow attorneys on criminal procedure.
Boliek won the November election with 49.46% of the vote, beating out Democrat incumbent Jessica Holmes. He won with over 2.7 million votes compared to Holmes’s 2.6 million. Former governor Cooper appointed Holmes in Dec 2022 following the resignation of former auditor Beth Wood.
In May, Boliek became the Republican nominee when he won the run-off election against his opponent, Jack Clark. Boliek received 53% of the vote, beating out Clark, who received only 46.7%.
“We’re going to start day one with a comprehensive audit of the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), and I’m not backing off that,” Boliek told the Carolina Journal after he won the election. “I think the people of North Carolina deserve a well-functioning, efficient DMV. It hasn’t been addressed in many, many years. Because of that, I will conduct a comprehensive financial and economic efficiency audit of the DMV, and we will come up with some solid recommendations to the legislature and the governor’s office on how to make that agency work better for the people.”
Boliek also emphasized his second priority of examining the process of appropriating funding for western North Carolina. He promised to examine how the funds are spent and find clear answers as to the return on the investment of funds.
“We’re going to take a hard look at how the dollars appropriated for disaster relief in western North Carolina,” Boliek told the Carolina Journal. “We anticipate being able to send teams into western North Carolina to ask the people on the ground at the impact level what they need, what they received, and what they have not received so that we can get a full picture and a debrief.”
Newly sworn-in Gov. Josh Stein’s first two executive orders, issued Thursday, will temporarily waive procurement regulations to increase the supply of temporary housing in western North Carolina (Executive Order 1) and enable the state to accelerate the repair of private roads and bridges necessary to access homes (Executive Order 2).
“Winter is here in western North Carolina, and we must act quickly to get people in temporary housing, repair private roads and bridges, and keep people safe,” said Gov. Stein in a press release. “I will do everything in my power to make sure we are both thinking creatively and acting swiftly to help our neighbors recover.”
Both executive orders received concurrence from the Council of State, according to a press release.
“You and I agree that there is much that needs to be done in Western North Carolina, and I trust recovery will remain a priority throughout your tenure,” responded Boliek in a press release. “That said, we intend to hold your office accountable. Through the executive authority granted to the State Auditor’s Office by the North Carolina Constitution, and the legislative charge contained in Senate Bill 382, I will be instructing my office to account for every dollar that is spent in fulfillment of these orders, and to report on the effectiveness and efficiency of these orders.”
Boliek also stated that the executive orders would be examined with a focus on accountability.
Maybe NCDOT will be next and get rid of all the good ole boys made up jobs.