1 00:00:04,839 --> 00:00:07,120 Speaker 1: What's going on? Thank you so much for listening to 2 00:00:07,160 --> 00:00:09,599 this podcast. It is heard live every day from noon 3 00:00:09,640 --> 00:00:12,480 to three on WBT Radio in Charlotte. And if you 4 00:00:12,519 --> 00:00:16,679 want exclusive content like invitations to events, the weekly live stream, 5 00:00:16,719 --> 00:00:19,199 my daily show prep with all the links, become a patron, 6 00:00:19,280 --> 00:00:22,559 go to dpeakclendershow dot com. Make sure you hit the 7 00:00:22,600 --> 00:00:25,120 subscribe button. Get every episode for free right to your 8 00:00:25,120 --> 00:00:27,640 smartphone or tablet, And again, thank you so much for 9 00:00:27,719 --> 00:00:32,679 your support. It's Tuesday noon. That means it's time to 10 00:00:32,759 --> 00:00:35,119 chat with Andrew Dunn. He is the publisher of long 11 00:00:35,200 --> 00:00:39,759 Leaf Politics longleafpol dot com. He's also a contributing columnist 12 00:00:39,799 --> 00:00:43,280 over at the McClatchy papers, including The Charlotte Observer. Andrew, 13 00:00:43,359 --> 00:00:44,920 Welcome to the show. How are you, sir? 14 00:00:45,799 --> 00:00:47,280 Speaker 2: Oh? I am fantastic. 15 00:00:47,320 --> 00:00:50,439 Speaker 1: How about I'm not quite fantastic, but I'm getting there. 16 00:00:50,479 --> 00:00:53,960 I'm getting there. So a couple of pieces you've got 17 00:00:54,000 --> 00:00:58,240 at long Leaf Politics, and I gotta say the first 18 00:00:58,240 --> 00:00:59,679 one here that I'm going to ask you about is 19 00:00:59,719 --> 00:01:04,159 the is your call to give North Carolina governors a 20 00:01:04,280 --> 00:01:08,319 line item veto? And this is an issue that I 21 00:01:08,400 --> 00:01:12,239 really have never cared really much about I don't think. 22 00:01:12,319 --> 00:01:14,560 I just like, if I lived in a state I 23 00:01:14,599 --> 00:01:17,079 think that had the line item veto, I would just adapt, 24 00:01:17,200 --> 00:01:21,599 you know, to whatever political realities are in place. But 25 00:01:21,640 --> 00:01:24,120 because North Carolina does not allow the governor to do 26 00:01:24,200 --> 00:01:27,840 a line item veto, I've never really thought about it, 27 00:01:27,879 --> 00:01:29,920 and there's never been, as far as I can recall, 28 00:01:29,959 --> 00:01:33,599 a serious push to do it. So why are you 29 00:01:33,719 --> 00:01:37,920 suggesting that this occur given that you've got a Republican 30 00:01:38,120 --> 00:01:40,799 super majority in the Senate, Republican majority in the House, 31 00:01:40,840 --> 00:01:43,560 and a Democrat in the governor's mansion. It seems like 32 00:01:43,599 --> 00:01:48,359 you're empowering the Democrat to try to undo Republican priorities. 33 00:01:49,959 --> 00:01:53,200 Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a great question, and you're absolutely right it is. 34 00:01:53,319 --> 00:01:57,920 It does sound a little counterintuitive, and North Carolina has 35 00:01:57,959 --> 00:02:01,319 always had a weak governor, one of the weakest governors 36 00:02:01,640 --> 00:02:04,000 in the country, and this is one of the reasons why, 37 00:02:04,239 --> 00:02:07,680 you know, forty four different forty four states give the 38 00:02:07,760 --> 00:02:11,039 governor a line item veto, North Carolina being then one 39 00:02:11,039 --> 00:02:14,560 of six that does not. But I started thinking about 40 00:02:14,599 --> 00:02:17,560 it because I was looking at all of Governor Josh 41 00:02:17,639 --> 00:02:21,879 Stein's vetos. You know, he vetoed fourteen different bills. Last 42 00:02:21,919 --> 00:02:25,960 week was the big veto override week. I'm sure that 43 00:02:26,439 --> 00:02:28,919 you guys talked a whole lot about that. Yeah, And 44 00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:30,960 I was looking as I was looking as the vetos. 45 00:02:31,319 --> 00:02:33,960 I was looking at House Bill ninety six, which was 46 00:02:34,280 --> 00:02:37,639 a bill that passed overwhelmingly. I was supposed to give 47 00:02:37,719 --> 00:02:40,759 property owners the ability to get squatters out of their 48 00:02:40,800 --> 00:02:44,759 property more easily. But then at the very end of 49 00:02:44,759 --> 00:02:48,199 the bill, one of the chambers in the General Assembly 50 00:02:48,319 --> 00:02:51,759 tacked on a bit about pet stores and said that 51 00:02:53,039 --> 00:02:57,159 cities in North Carolina can't regulate pet stores. Now, I'm 52 00:02:57,199 --> 00:03:00,000 not fully at the speed on pet stores. I didn't 53 00:03:00,159 --> 00:03:03,039 take the time to dive into whether that's a good 54 00:03:03,080 --> 00:03:06,039 idea or not. But what's clear is that it's not 55 00:03:06,120 --> 00:03:08,879 related to the bulk of the bill, and that's why 56 00:03:08,919 --> 00:03:12,560 Governor Stein vetoed it. I don't know if he took 57 00:03:12,599 --> 00:03:14,879 the time to see whether that was good policy or not, 58 00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:18,599 but basically he saw that and vetoed the entire bill. 59 00:03:19,599 --> 00:03:21,280 Speaker 1: Well, I can say I will say I'm going to 60 00:03:21,319 --> 00:03:23,680 go out on a limb here because if I recall correctly, 61 00:03:23,719 --> 00:03:27,080 the pet store issue is about and you mentioned the puppy, 62 00:03:27,159 --> 00:03:30,639 it's the puppy mill issue. And remember Pat McCrory when 63 00:03:30,639 --> 00:03:33,599 he got into office. I think his wife Ann tried 64 00:03:33,599 --> 00:03:37,439 to get some legislation to ban puppy mills, and there 65 00:03:37,479 --> 00:03:41,919 was like this massive pushback from legislators in like the 66 00:03:41,919 --> 00:03:44,080 more rural parts of the state. And so maybe this 67 00:03:44,199 --> 00:03:48,719 was this was a way to get at the protection 68 00:03:49,039 --> 00:03:52,840 of the puppy mills, and that's why Stein didn't want 69 00:03:52,879 --> 00:03:56,360 to do it, because he wanted to eliminate puppy mills. 70 00:03:57,319 --> 00:04:01,199 Speaker 2: Does that make sense, Maybe, yeah, it makes sense. I'm 71 00:04:01,240 --> 00:04:04,319 not really one hundred percent sure, But anyway, I mean 72 00:04:04,400 --> 00:04:06,159 the point I'm trying to make here, and I'll get 73 00:04:06,199 --> 00:04:08,479 to the point quicker. I know this is radio with 74 00:04:08,719 --> 00:04:12,280 precious airtime. You know what Stein could have done if 75 00:04:12,319 --> 00:04:14,039 you had the line on in Vito has just crossed 76 00:04:14,080 --> 00:04:16,560 that out and get the rest of the bill into law, 77 00:04:17,639 --> 00:04:20,319 and you know, property owners would get a good tool 78 00:04:20,360 --> 00:04:22,480 that they should probably have to get squatters out of 79 00:04:22,480 --> 00:04:25,720 their property. I just think that if the governor had 80 00:04:25,759 --> 00:04:29,720 a line item veto, we could have more honest conversations 81 00:04:29,800 --> 00:04:32,560 about some of these more controversial issues, and it would 82 00:04:32,560 --> 00:04:36,360 eliminate a lot of the gainsmanship there is on cramming 83 00:04:36,360 --> 00:04:39,720 a bunch of unrelated stuff together, and you know, giving 84 00:04:39,720 --> 00:04:42,240 the governor a poison to you know, you better pass, 85 00:04:42,399 --> 00:04:44,160 you know, you better sign this bill or we're going 86 00:04:44,240 --> 00:04:48,040 to say you're against X, Y or Z. We'd be 87 00:04:48,079 --> 00:04:50,639 able to have more honest conversations around veto's. 88 00:04:50,639 --> 00:04:53,160 Speaker 1: I think, do you think we would have honest conversations 89 00:04:53,199 --> 00:04:56,720 around standalone bills though, because like I don't think we 90 00:04:56,800 --> 00:05:00,879 have honest conversations at all on any legislation really any more. 91 00:05:01,839 --> 00:05:04,279 Speaker 2: Yeah, well, that's very true. I think this would help. 92 00:05:04,399 --> 00:05:06,639 I think it would be a good a good step, 93 00:05:07,040 --> 00:05:10,920 and I think, honestly, you know it, it helps Democrats 94 00:05:11,040 --> 00:05:13,959 and it helps Republicans about equally. I don't see this 95 00:05:14,199 --> 00:05:17,160 as as benefiting one side over the other. 96 00:05:17,720 --> 00:05:20,120 Speaker 1: And you also you make the case that this would 97 00:05:20,160 --> 00:05:23,800 benefit Republicans in the long term electorally. 98 00:05:26,160 --> 00:05:28,920 Speaker 2: I think so. And also, you know, I try to 99 00:05:28,959 --> 00:05:30,800 take the long view. I mean, I think that the 100 00:05:30,839 --> 00:05:34,079 General Assembly and a lot of what they do around 101 00:05:35,160 --> 00:05:38,240 divvying up power is pretty short sighted and kind of 102 00:05:38,279 --> 00:05:42,959 assumes that North Carolina will never have a popular Republican governor. 103 00:05:43,040 --> 00:05:46,759 And I think that's uh, I think that's short sided. 104 00:05:46,800 --> 00:05:49,439 I think that we need we should set things up 105 00:05:49,560 --> 00:05:52,120 so that when we have a good Republican governor, that 106 00:05:52,160 --> 00:05:54,879 they're able to do what's best for the state. 107 00:05:55,920 --> 00:05:59,839 Speaker 1: All right, let's move on to another class that can 108 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:08,240 servative position price caps, and this regards limitations on towing companies, 109 00:06:09,160 --> 00:06:11,000 which there have been a ton of stories out of 110 00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:14,480 the Charlotte area. I know, you know that of uh, 111 00:06:14,680 --> 00:06:19,639 these predatory towing companies, and so you make the case 112 00:06:19,680 --> 00:06:22,879 though that this isn't really a free market transaction. So 113 00:06:22,879 --> 00:06:24,839 why is it not a free market transaction? 114 00:06:26,319 --> 00:06:30,800 Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly. And you know, I'm not overly sympathetic to 115 00:06:30,920 --> 00:06:33,480 people who get their their cars toad. I mean, I 116 00:06:33,480 --> 00:06:36,959 feel like in most cases people who got towed were 117 00:06:36,959 --> 00:06:39,120 doing something wrong and you know, have to live with 118 00:06:39,160 --> 00:06:44,639 the consequences. All that said, Basically, how it works is 119 00:06:45,199 --> 00:06:49,199 if your car gets towed, you have to pay whatever 120 00:06:49,920 --> 00:06:52,279 fee that the towing company says you have to pay, 121 00:06:52,480 --> 00:06:54,600 or else you don't get your car back. I mean 122 00:06:54,639 --> 00:06:58,680 that I believe in competition, I believe in the free market. 123 00:06:59,639 --> 00:07:04,040 But customers here quote unquote customers have no say in 124 00:07:04,120 --> 00:07:06,560 what company tows their car. They have you know, they're 125 00:07:06,560 --> 00:07:09,319 not able to shop around. You know, basically they're at 126 00:07:09,360 --> 00:07:13,399 the whims of whichever towing company is in business over there. 127 00:07:13,839 --> 00:07:18,439 And you know, merchants don't really have much incentive to 128 00:07:18,439 --> 00:07:21,040 to price shop to do what's quote unquote best for 129 00:07:21,079 --> 00:07:22,040 their customers either. 130 00:07:22,319 --> 00:07:24,319 Speaker 1: They don't see them as their customers. They see them 131 00:07:24,319 --> 00:07:26,480 as people who are taking spots from their customers. 132 00:07:26,519 --> 00:07:31,319 Speaker 2: Probably exactly yeah, that's exactly right. But this is a 133 00:07:31,360 --> 00:07:33,959 classic case. You know, I'm not a libertarian. I don't 134 00:07:33,959 --> 00:07:37,199 believe I do believe that the government has a role 135 00:07:37,680 --> 00:07:42,639 in society, and I just feel like limiting price cap, 136 00:07:42,759 --> 00:07:44,959 you know, putting a price cap on towing is a 137 00:07:45,040 --> 00:07:46,480 legitimate use of government here. 138 00:07:47,360 --> 00:07:51,079 Speaker 1: Right, So you make the argument libertarianism resists all intervention 139 00:07:51,199 --> 00:07:55,879 on principle conservatism knows when to step in to preserve order, fairness, 140 00:07:56,160 --> 00:07:59,439 and trust in the system. And there was a bill, 141 00:07:59,519 --> 00:08:03,040 right this House, Bill one ninety nine, and it would 142 00:08:03,079 --> 00:08:06,120 create some sort of a commission. And so you're okay 143 00:08:06,160 --> 00:08:06,959 with that idea. 144 00:08:08,519 --> 00:08:11,680 Speaker 2: I am. You know, when I see the word commission 145 00:08:12,160 --> 00:08:14,600 or hear a proposal for a new commission, I immediately 146 00:08:14,680 --> 00:08:17,240 roll my eyes and think it's a dumb idea. But 147 00:08:17,399 --> 00:08:20,040 in this case, I actually think it could work. And 148 00:08:20,360 --> 00:08:22,319 you know, one of the big lobbyists, you know, Big 149 00:08:22,360 --> 00:08:24,759 Big Towing in North Carolina, is in favor of this 150 00:08:24,879 --> 00:08:26,879 kind of bill, and I think it makes a lot 151 00:08:26,879 --> 00:08:27,319 of sense. 152 00:08:27,560 --> 00:08:31,439 Speaker 1: We call it Big Lick. That's the Yeah, it wasn't 153 00:08:31,439 --> 00:08:33,639 that the Oh no, that was lizard Lick Towing. But 154 00:08:33,679 --> 00:08:37,120 Big Lick is a place actually near Oakboro, North Carolina. 155 00:08:37,159 --> 00:08:40,320 But yeah, I thought lizard Lick was the towing. Was 156 00:08:40,360 --> 00:08:43,399 the reality show with those friends that would run around 157 00:08:43,440 --> 00:08:46,600 and tow people in central North Carolina. Oh that's right, Yeah, 158 00:08:46,639 --> 00:08:50,759 lizard Lick towing. That was it. Crazy show. I feel 159 00:08:51,000 --> 00:08:54,240 probably more scripted than not, but what do I know? 160 00:08:54,919 --> 00:08:57,960 All right, well they all are, yeah, exactly, exactly all right. 161 00:08:58,240 --> 00:09:00,600 Andrew Dunn, thanks for joining us today. You could read 162 00:09:00,639 --> 00:09:04,360 his work at longleafpol dot com Longleaf Politics, and he's 163 00:09:04,399 --> 00:09:07,440 also a contributing columnist over at the Charlotte Observer. Thanks Andrew, 164 00:09:07,440 --> 00:09:08,279 we'll talk to you next week. 165 00:09:09,039 --> 00:09:09,440 Speaker 2: Thank you. 166 00:09:09,639 --> 00:09:11,919 Speaker 1: Hi buddy. All right, if you're listening to this show, 167 00:09:11,960 --> 00:09:13,519 you know I try to keep up with all sorts 168 00:09:13,519 --> 00:09:15,559 of current events, and I know you do too, and 169 00:09:15,639 --> 00:09:19,080 you've probably heard me say get your news from multiple sources. 170 00:09:19,559 --> 00:09:22,840 Why Well, because it's how you detect media bias, which 171 00:09:22,840 --> 00:09:25,759 is why I've been so impressed with ground News. It's 172 00:09:25,879 --> 00:09:29,240 an app, and it's a website, and it combines news 173 00:09:29,320 --> 00:09:31,240 from around the world in one place so you can 174 00:09:31,320 --> 00:09:34,679 compare coverage and verify information. You can check it out 175 00:09:34,679 --> 00:09:39,320 at check dot ground, dot news slash pete. I put 176 00:09:39,320 --> 00:09:42,279 the link in the podcast description too. I started using 177 00:09:42,279 --> 00:09:45,200 ground News a few months ago and more recently chose 178 00:09:45,240 --> 00:09:47,200 to work with them as an affiliate because it lets 179 00:09:47,200 --> 00:09:50,799 me see clearly how stories get covered and by whom. 180 00:09:51,080 --> 00:09:54,039 The blind spot feature shows you which stories get ignored 181 00:09:54,080 --> 00:09:57,000 by the left and the right. See for yourself. Check 182 00:09:57,120 --> 00:10:01,559 dot ground, dot news slash p Subscribe through that link 183 00:10:01,639 --> 00:10:04,519 and you'll get fifteen percent off any subscription. I use 184 00:10:04,559 --> 00:10:07,679 the Vantage plan to get unlimited access to every feature. 185 00:10:07,879 --> 00:10:10,639 Your subscription then not only helps my podcast, but it 186 00:10:10,679 --> 00:10:13,840 also supports ground News as they make the media landscape 187 00:10:13,879 --> 00:10:19,039 more transparent. All right, so full disclosure here. I am 188 00:10:19,039 --> 00:10:23,240 not sure if this is true. It's in the UK 189 00:10:23,440 --> 00:10:28,200 Daily Mail, which is kind of as the kids say, suss, 190 00:10:29,559 --> 00:10:32,519 the Daily Mail will have they do get stories, they 191 00:10:32,519 --> 00:10:37,120 do get exclusives, but it's kind of tabloidy over there 192 00:10:37,200 --> 00:10:44,559 in the UK. But in this case, they have a story, 193 00:10:45,039 --> 00:10:53,559 an exclusive about my good friend Ray Roy Cooper, and 194 00:10:54,519 --> 00:10:57,879 it kind of ties into something I got in an 195 00:10:57,919 --> 00:11:02,000 email or a text I forget last week or so, 196 00:11:02,080 --> 00:11:05,480 when we were talking about Roy Cooper's entrance into the 197 00:11:05,600 --> 00:11:11,000 US Senate race, and the person who messaged me said 198 00:11:11,039 --> 00:11:15,960 that there I think he said their cousin or something 199 00:11:18,200 --> 00:11:22,240 had dated Roy Cooper and then he just dropped her. 200 00:11:24,120 --> 00:11:26,960 And she was like really into politics and whatever. But 201 00:11:27,000 --> 00:11:29,879 then he and so he but she didn't want kids 202 00:11:29,919 --> 00:11:32,399 and apparently he did, and so then he dropped her 203 00:11:32,440 --> 00:11:35,600 and got married to somebody else. So now like this 204 00:11:35,639 --> 00:11:38,200 is why I'm not sure if this story is true, 205 00:11:38,240 --> 00:11:41,720 but they've talked to a woman. The UK Daily Mail 206 00:11:42,120 --> 00:11:47,559 has talked to a woman named George Anne Rice, who 207 00:11:47,639 --> 00:11:54,519 purports to be his college sweetheart and says they were married. 208 00:11:57,120 --> 00:11:59,840 I was not aware Roy Cooper was ever married before. 209 00:12:01,960 --> 00:12:05,840 So here's what the UK Daily Mail says. The revelation 210 00:12:06,240 --> 00:12:08,720 may come as a surprise for a squeaky clean leader 211 00:12:08,840 --> 00:12:12,200 once described by left leaning politics magazine The New Republic 212 00:12:12,200 --> 00:12:16,919 as the living breathing antonym of controversy at the opposite. 213 00:12:17,000 --> 00:12:22,120 Before his marriage to current wife Kristen sixty nine, Cooper 214 00:12:22,240 --> 00:12:25,519 was wed to his college sweetheart, Georgie Anne Rice, now 215 00:12:25,600 --> 00:12:30,000 sixty five, but Rice says he ditched her for a 216 00:12:30,120 --> 00:12:35,840 career in politics without warning. Quote. He was my orientation 217 00:12:36,120 --> 00:12:39,120 counselor when I was a freshman and started at UNC 218 00:12:39,279 --> 00:12:43,480 Chapel Hill. We dated starting my sophomore year of college, 219 00:12:43,600 --> 00:12:46,399 and then we got married two weeks after I graduated 220 00:12:46,480 --> 00:12:50,759 from college. In nineteen eighty one, former North Carolina governor 221 00:12:50,799 --> 00:12:55,519 and Senate candidate Roy Cooper secretly divorced his college sweetheart 222 00:12:55,559 --> 00:12:59,279 and began dating his second wife before she had finalized 223 00:12:59,480 --> 00:13:05,960 her own divorce. But things would go awry suddenly after 224 00:13:06,000 --> 00:13:08,639 he informed Georgie Anrice that he would be running for 225 00:13:08,759 --> 00:13:13,279 state representative, splitting with her secretly before moving on to 226 00:13:13,320 --> 00:13:16,399 his current wife, who worked as a staff attorney for 227 00:13:16,519 --> 00:13:21,039 the North Carolina General Assembly in the nineteen eighties. Quote. 228 00:13:21,240 --> 00:13:23,879 I thought everything was great until one day he came 229 00:13:23,919 --> 00:13:25,720 home and told me that he had signed up to 230 00:13:25,799 --> 00:13:29,559 run for state representative. We had not discussed it or anything. 231 00:13:30,080 --> 00:13:31,960 We were in our mid twenties and I wanted to 232 00:13:32,000 --> 00:13:35,799 start a family. I was completely flabbergasted that he would 233 00:13:35,840 --> 00:13:38,559 decide to run. He wouldn't even discuss it with me. 234 00:13:38,639 --> 00:13:41,799 He just came home and told me. I told Roy, 235 00:13:42,159 --> 00:13:44,720 I don't want this life. We did not discuss this. 236 00:13:45,240 --> 00:13:50,840 It was a pretty major life decision. Yeah. I mean, well, 237 00:13:51,200 --> 00:13:54,080 meet state representative back in the eighties at that time, Like, 238 00:13:55,679 --> 00:13:57,559 it is a big life decision. I don't want to 239 00:13:57,559 --> 00:13:59,799 minimize that, but it but it's not like he said 240 00:13:59,799 --> 00:14:03,720 I'm to run for president at that time, right, But 241 00:14:03,799 --> 00:14:05,960 maybe they had a discussion or something after he had 242 00:14:06,000 --> 00:14:08,320 filed to run and he said that he wanted to 243 00:14:08,360 --> 00:14:11,240 do politics or something. But see, this is what I 244 00:14:11,240 --> 00:14:16,039 mean this, This does not square with the message I 245 00:14:16,080 --> 00:14:18,279 got from the listener last week. Now. I don't know 246 00:14:18,320 --> 00:14:20,279 who that listener. I don't remember who they were, And 247 00:14:20,320 --> 00:14:23,679 they could have been telling me a story that somebody 248 00:14:23,720 --> 00:14:25,399 told them, and so I don't know if that was 249 00:14:25,440 --> 00:14:29,360 true either. In this case, we have somebody on the 250 00:14:29,399 --> 00:14:38,840 record with a name giving an interview. So as the 251 00:14:38,879 --> 00:14:43,000 young attorney, Cooper ran his campaign for a state House 252 00:14:43,039 --> 00:14:46,320 seat in Raleigh in nineteen eighty five and nineteen eighty six. 253 00:14:46,679 --> 00:14:51,399 He and Georgian secretly split. She says, quote, I took 254 00:14:51,399 --> 00:14:54,919 a promotion and moved to Greenville, North Carolina. I still 255 00:14:54,919 --> 00:14:57,320 came back and went to campaign events for him, but 256 00:14:57,399 --> 00:15:00,639 he did not want anybody to know. But the day 257 00:15:00,679 --> 00:15:04,440 he won the election, I told him, if you lose, 258 00:15:05,120 --> 00:15:07,840 then we can talk about our marriage. But if you win, 259 00:15:08,519 --> 00:15:11,200 I did not sign up for this. Well, he won, 260 00:15:11,679 --> 00:15:14,600 and he's been in politics ever since. When he first 261 00:15:14,720 --> 00:15:17,080 ran for governor, he called me and said, if somebody 262 00:15:17,120 --> 00:15:23,360 contacts you, please don't say anything negative, which of course 263 00:15:23,399 --> 00:15:29,720 is hilarious because nobody ever contacted her. Right, North Carolina 264 00:15:29,759 --> 00:15:33,720 Press did nothing to track this story down. And it's 265 00:15:33,759 --> 00:15:37,840 not like I'm holding the North Carolina political press and 266 00:15:37,399 --> 00:15:42,279 the veterans of the Raleigh Press Corps to some unimaginably 267 00:15:42,399 --> 00:15:46,720 high standard. Here Roy went to UNC Chapel Hill, and 268 00:15:46,799 --> 00:15:50,759 about I don't know, ninety eight percent of the people 269 00:15:50,840 --> 00:15:53,679 covering state politics, and in that world, they all went 270 00:15:53,720 --> 00:15:59,120 to UNC Chapel Hill too. Right, the UNC journalism school 271 00:15:59,279 --> 00:16:03,120 cranks out a ton of journalism majors. You might even 272 00:16:03,120 --> 00:16:09,159 say it's an overproduction of these diplomas. And there were 273 00:16:09,240 --> 00:16:15,279 never any rumblings, never any discussions, nothing ever about Roy 274 00:16:15,320 --> 00:16:18,919 Cooper divorcing his first wife. They just left it alone. 275 00:16:19,080 --> 00:16:22,159 I guess it was the eighties, he was a Democrat, 276 00:16:22,559 --> 00:16:24,919 it was a different time. You know, we just don't 277 00:16:24,919 --> 00:16:29,279 ask about that sort of thing. But obviously people had 278 00:16:29,320 --> 00:16:32,840 to have known that he had that Kristen is his 279 00:16:32,960 --> 00:16:35,799 second wife. I had never thought to look into it. 280 00:16:35,799 --> 00:16:38,519 And maybe I'm just as guilty as everybody else, but 281 00:16:38,960 --> 00:16:40,639 I mean, I just find it kind of surprising that 282 00:16:40,679 --> 00:16:44,639 nobody ever mentioned anything about any of this, like a 283 00:16:44,720 --> 00:16:49,200 time well yeah, I don't know, know, like it never 284 00:16:49,279 --> 00:16:57,600 comes up in any bio pieces about him, nothing. She says. 285 00:16:57,679 --> 00:17:00,759 I don't wish anything bad on Roy, but my friends 286 00:17:00,799 --> 00:17:03,279 think it's funny that it's never mentioned that he was 287 00:17:03,360 --> 00:17:06,599 married before. I do not know her. I'm not her friend, 288 00:17:06,640 --> 00:17:10,119 but I do too. I've been covering North Carolina politics 289 00:17:10,119 --> 00:17:12,160 for twenty five years. I've never heard that he was 290 00:17:12,160 --> 00:17:16,240 married before, let alone any of these details. After they split, 291 00:17:17,319 --> 00:17:20,680 she took a promotion and moved to Greenville, but continued 292 00:17:20,680 --> 00:17:25,680 attending his campaign events. As I mentioned, his estranged wife 293 00:17:25,720 --> 00:17:27,440 then told him that if he lost, they could work 294 00:17:27,440 --> 00:17:29,599 on their marriage, but since he won, she felt she 295 00:17:29,599 --> 00:17:32,440 hadn't signed up for a life overshadowed by his political career. 296 00:17:32,720 --> 00:17:34,559 She said, I have a lot of people texting me 297 00:17:35,039 --> 00:17:38,000 when his name was mentioned for vice president last year, 298 00:17:38,319 --> 00:17:41,640 going quote, do you think he's ever going to acknowledge 299 00:17:41,640 --> 00:17:47,400 that y'all were married for over five years? Well, if 300 00:17:47,400 --> 00:17:49,960 he were tapped for vice president, I suspect people would 301 00:17:49,960 --> 00:17:53,119 have started asking that question. Is what this is? What 302 00:17:53,200 --> 00:17:55,880 I mentioned last week or a week and a half 303 00:17:55,920 --> 00:18:00,039 ago when Roy Cooper, my good friend Ray, when he 304 00:18:00,079 --> 00:18:02,480 announced that he was going to run for US Senate, 305 00:18:03,119 --> 00:18:06,960 I said, he has not had to face the kind 306 00:18:06,960 --> 00:18:14,000 of scrutiny and media barrage that he's going to now face. 307 00:18:15,319 --> 00:18:18,039 And so everybody points to Roy Cooper's never lost a 308 00:18:18,160 --> 00:18:22,519 state wide race. He's never lost an election, right, Yeah, 309 00:18:22,559 --> 00:18:26,480 those were different types of campaigns, Those are different level races. 310 00:18:26,920 --> 00:18:29,920 This is a much bigger deal, right. There is more 311 00:18:29,960 --> 00:18:33,640 on the line than just representing the people of North 312 00:18:33,640 --> 00:18:36,559 Carolina in the US Senate. It is the direction of 313 00:18:36,599 --> 00:18:42,640 the country, right, crafting foreign policy. So it is more 314 00:18:42,640 --> 00:18:46,880 of a national stage. And our results because we're a 315 00:18:46,880 --> 00:18:50,480 purple state, right, our results matter to the rest of 316 00:18:50,519 --> 00:18:52,880 the country. And so now you're going to get the 317 00:18:52,960 --> 00:18:57,200 kind of examination that Roy Cooper has heretofore avoided. And 318 00:18:57,279 --> 00:19:00,759 this story, if true, is a perfect example of what 319 00:19:00,799 --> 00:19:03,799 I was saying. Here's a great idea. How about making 320 00:19:03,799 --> 00:19:06,880 an escape to a really special and secluded getaway in 321 00:19:06,920 --> 00:19:09,599 western North Carolina. Just a quick drive up the mountain 322 00:19:09,680 --> 00:19:13,039 and Cabins of Asheville is your connection. Whether you're celebrating 323 00:19:13,079 --> 00:19:15,519 an anniversary, a honeymoon, maybe you want to plan a 324 00:19:15,559 --> 00:19:18,279 memorable proposal, or get family and friends together for a 325 00:19:18,319 --> 00:19:21,759 big old reunion, Cabins of Asheville has the ideal spot 326 00:19:21,839 --> 00:19:24,400 for you where you can reconnect with your loved ones 327 00:19:24,440 --> 00:19:27,400 and the things that truly matter. Nestled within the breath 328 00:19:27,440 --> 00:19:31,039 taking fourteen thousand acres of the Pisga National Forest, their 329 00:19:31,079 --> 00:19:33,720 cabins offer a serene escape in the heart of the 330 00:19:33,720 --> 00:19:37,039 Blue Ridge Mountains. Centrally located between Ashville and the entrance 331 00:19:37,039 --> 00:19:40,039 of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. It's the perfect 332 00:19:40,079 --> 00:19:44,319 balance of seclusion and proximity to all the local attractions, 333 00:19:44,519 --> 00:19:49,119 with hot tubs, fireplaces, air conditioning, smart TVs, Wi Fi grills, 334 00:19:49,240 --> 00:19:52,440 outdoor tables, and your own private covered porch. Choose from 335 00:19:52,559 --> 00:19:56,720 thirteen cabins, six cottages, two villas, and a great lodge 336 00:19:56,759 --> 00:20:00,400 with eleven king sized bedrooms. Cabins of Ashville has the 337 00:20:00,519 --> 00:20:03,799 ideal spot for you for any occasion, and they have 338 00:20:03,880 --> 00:20:07,440 pet friendly accommodations. Call or text eight two eight three 339 00:20:07,559 --> 00:20:10,599 six seven seventy sixty eight or check out all there 340 00:20:10,680 --> 00:20:13,319 is to offer at Cabins of Ashville dot com and 341 00:20:13,359 --> 00:20:18,799 make memories that'll last a lifetime. Joseph says, regarding the 342 00:20:18,880 --> 00:20:22,920 topic of the the line item veto, why should we 343 00:20:22,960 --> 00:20:25,480 give the governor a line item veto? When goofball North 344 00:20:25,519 --> 00:20:27,920 Carolina voters keep electing the likes of our good friend 345 00:20:28,039 --> 00:20:32,039 Ray and little Roy Josh Stein. I call him Ray 346 00:20:32,039 --> 00:20:36,240 two D two. Imagine what a disaster this state would 347 00:20:36,279 --> 00:20:39,160 be if we had a strong governor position. That's what 348 00:20:39,200 --> 00:20:42,519 I mean. Like I the line ONEm veto wasn't any 349 00:20:42,640 --> 00:20:47,240 It was never anything that I ever considered. Haven't thought 350 00:20:47,279 --> 00:20:50,200 about it. It doesn't exist at the national level. I've 351 00:20:50,400 --> 00:20:54,759 not covered state politics where it's allowed, so it's just 352 00:20:54,759 --> 00:20:57,359 not anything I ever considered. So when I saw this, 353 00:20:57,440 --> 00:20:59,599 I was like, huh, yeah, I can see this. I 354 00:20:59,599 --> 00:21:01,359 can see I could see the pros and cons It's 355 00:21:01,359 --> 00:21:04,319 like Thomas Sole says, there are no solutions, there are 356 00:21:04,319 --> 00:21:10,359 only trade offs. Here's a seven oh four number. Here's 357 00:21:10,400 --> 00:21:13,920 an idea on the towing issue. Let towing companies charge 358 00:21:13,920 --> 00:21:18,079 whatever they want on the condition that they invoice the 359 00:21:18,160 --> 00:21:22,759 company that they contracted with, and that company collects from 360 00:21:22,759 --> 00:21:27,319 the person that got towed. So the toee has no 361 00:21:27,440 --> 00:21:32,839 contract with the tower. I don't know that would that 362 00:21:32,839 --> 00:21:39,000 would make it quite dangerous, I suspect for the business 363 00:21:39,000 --> 00:21:42,119 that had the people towed, right. I mean, I do 364 00:21:42,160 --> 00:21:43,799 think it should only be fair that you put up 365 00:21:43,799 --> 00:21:46,400 a sign in your parking lot that says, like, here's 366 00:21:46,440 --> 00:21:51,559 the cost of the towing, because like this predatory towing issue, 367 00:21:51,880 --> 00:21:53,880 like it is a real issue. You got companies out 368 00:21:53,880 --> 00:21:57,079 there that I remember, they would line up in right 369 00:21:57,079 --> 00:22:00,519 outside of the Government Center and at four pm, I'm sharp, 370 00:22:00,680 --> 00:22:02,400 there's like a dozen of these tow trucks and they 371 00:22:02,400 --> 00:22:05,960 would just haul everybody away. Indeed, I got the WBT 372 00:22:06,000 --> 00:22:10,240 News vehicle towed because the Transportation committee that I was 373 00:22:10,279 --> 00:22:14,119 covering went long. I went out there at like three 374 00:22:14,480 --> 00:22:21,599 or four h five rather and Carr was gone. Andy 375 00:22:21,640 --> 00:22:25,480 says am I surprised he was married before. No, I 376 00:22:25,519 --> 00:22:27,759 am more surprised that he was married to a woman. 377 00:22:27,799 --> 00:22:33,039 Toy Okay, that's not that's not Allan says, I can't 378 00:22:33,079 --> 00:22:36,279 wait until Cooper's wife is exposed nationally for flipping off 379 00:22:36,319 --> 00:22:39,799 a little kid back in twenty nineteen. Neither one has 380 00:22:39,839 --> 00:22:43,160 any class whatsoever. Yeah, I don't know. And reading through 381 00:22:43,160 --> 00:22:45,559 some of the details in this article too, it it 382 00:22:46,079 --> 00:22:49,480 like she was It seems like she was legally separated 383 00:22:49,519 --> 00:22:52,839 from her husband, who was apparently in the military. They 384 00:22:52,880 --> 00:22:57,759 were separated, had been separated for like two years. They 385 00:22:58,160 --> 00:23:03,039 ended up finalizing their divorce in nineteen ninety one. But 386 00:23:03,119 --> 00:23:05,640 according to there was a story done in the News 387 00:23:05,640 --> 00:23:08,519 and Observer in nineteen eighty nine and it said that 388 00:23:09,000 --> 00:23:12,079 she met she was an attorney in the General Assembly 389 00:23:12,359 --> 00:23:16,400 staff and she met Roy when he was in leadership. 390 00:23:17,079 --> 00:23:22,839 So like there's kind of an employer employee relationship thing 391 00:23:22,920 --> 00:23:26,160 going on there. And they were married after the divorce 392 00:23:26,319 --> 00:23:34,200 was finalized, but she was separated, so and her ex 393 00:23:34,279 --> 00:23:37,920 husband only got like fourteen days annually of visitation and 394 00:23:38,559 --> 00:23:42,519 like that's that indicates something was going on there, and 395 00:23:42,599 --> 00:23:44,880 like that's all personal stuff, and like, I don't it 396 00:23:44,880 --> 00:23:48,200 doesn't have any impact on his ability to govern. But 397 00:23:48,279 --> 00:23:50,279 if like, that's just what I'm reading from the story. 398 00:23:50,359 --> 00:23:52,839 So I don't know if this is a huge scandal 399 00:23:53,039 --> 00:23:55,720 or not. It's just huh. I was not aware of that, 400 00:23:55,920 --> 00:23:59,000 and obviously his first wife. I think the more important 401 00:23:59,039 --> 00:24:00,720 point was that he just went and filed to run 402 00:24:00,759 --> 00:24:03,559 for election and never talked to her about it. That's 403 00:24:03,640 --> 00:24:07,279 kind of crummy. All right. Let me get to the 404 00:24:07,359 --> 00:24:10,640 DMV here, so I'll catch you later. No, I'm kidding. 405 00:24:12,039 --> 00:24:17,240 The state auditor Dave Bullock released the long awaited audit 406 00:24:17,319 --> 00:24:21,440 of the North Carolina DMV yesterday. He equated it to 407 00:24:21,559 --> 00:24:24,799 Hurricane Helene. With the release of his office's long awaited audit. 408 00:24:25,039 --> 00:24:29,319 Teresa Opeka at Carolina Journal dot Com quotes him thusly, 409 00:24:29,759 --> 00:24:32,400 we have seen, for example, the response that our legislature 410 00:24:32,400 --> 00:24:34,720 and our citizens have given to western North Carolina for 411 00:24:34,799 --> 00:24:38,680 Hurricane Helene. When we have a disaster and the DMV is, oh, 412 00:24:38,839 --> 00:24:41,319 oh sorry. When we have a disaster and the DMV 413 00:24:41,519 --> 00:24:43,759 is at that level of emergency in the state of 414 00:24:43,799 --> 00:24:47,680 North Carolina, our DMV affects the economy. It affects people 415 00:24:47,759 --> 00:24:50,400 having to take off work unnecessarily. I had to do 416 00:24:50,440 --> 00:24:53,400 that it takes our students out of the classroom. This 417 00:24:53,480 --> 00:24:55,400 has to be fixed, and it has to be a 418 00:24:55,440 --> 00:25:01,079 top priority that includes DMV, the North Carolina Dot and 419 00:25:01,160 --> 00:25:09,559 the Governor's office. The headline, according to Bullock, is no, 420 00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:12,680 hang on a second, where did my well, I don't 421 00:25:12,680 --> 00:25:14,359 have Oh there it is. I was looking for the 422 00:25:14,400 --> 00:25:16,759 clip here. Clip number one should be the top of 423 00:25:16,759 --> 00:25:19,160 the list, but it was not. He says, the lack 424 00:25:19,200 --> 00:25:21,240 of metrics is the headline here. 425 00:25:21,799 --> 00:25:24,680 Speaker 3: One thing to note as an overall issue that our 426 00:25:24,680 --> 00:25:28,440 audit found, and that is a lack of detailed and 427 00:25:28,640 --> 00:25:34,640 measurably relevant metrics at the DMV. That really should be 428 00:25:34,640 --> 00:25:37,759 a headline across the state of North Carolina. As we've 429 00:25:37,799 --> 00:25:40,839 been I've been in office now seven months. We started 430 00:25:40,880 --> 00:25:43,279 this audit six months ago, so this is a six 431 00:25:43,359 --> 00:25:46,359 month work product. We started the first of February with this. 432 00:25:47,039 --> 00:25:52,680 You know, we need measurable data so that managers can 433 00:25:52,799 --> 00:25:56,079 know what they're doing right and what they're doing wrong, 434 00:25:56,160 --> 00:25:59,799 and so they can look at it and see it 435 00:26:00,119 --> 00:26:03,160 exactly what needs to be done to move to use 436 00:26:03,160 --> 00:26:07,640 the sports analogies ball down the field and you know 437 00:26:07,720 --> 00:26:11,839 private business uses metrics in a day in this day 438 00:26:11,839 --> 00:26:15,440 of data analytics and the use of high speed computers, 439 00:26:15,720 --> 00:26:18,240 the state of North Carolina's got to get on board 440 00:26:18,240 --> 00:26:21,799 with data analytics and metrics across the state. 441 00:26:22,160 --> 00:26:24,400 Speaker 1: So he says also in their audit that they found 442 00:26:24,480 --> 00:26:30,240 the average customer service visit exceeds one hour and fifteen minutes. 443 00:26:30,319 --> 00:26:32,039 That is the average visit. 444 00:26:32,440 --> 00:26:34,960 Speaker 3: Now, I want to note here that this is DMV 445 00:26:35,200 --> 00:26:40,799 data based on when individuals actually check in the license office, right. 446 00:26:41,119 --> 00:26:43,640 This doesn't include how long you have to wait outside 447 00:26:43,680 --> 00:26:46,359 if you're there for a show up. We also found 448 00:26:46,400 --> 00:26:50,279 that thirteen point eight percent of customer visits exceeded two 449 00:26:50,319 --> 00:26:53,200 and a half hours in the year twenty twenty five, 450 00:26:53,279 --> 00:26:56,039 which is a seventy nine percent increase statewide. 451 00:26:56,240 --> 00:27:00,640 Speaker 1: That's insane. So the one hour and fifteen teen minute 452 00:27:02,119 --> 00:27:07,960 average customer service visit only starts when you check in. 453 00:27:09,839 --> 00:27:14,240 You can wait outside. And I have seen the lines. 454 00:27:14,279 --> 00:27:17,240 I've waited in some of these lines over the last 455 00:27:17,240 --> 00:27:19,920 few years because we moved so I had to get 456 00:27:19,920 --> 00:27:22,880 my license updated. Christy had to get her license updated. 457 00:27:22,920 --> 00:27:25,839 So like waiting in the line and trying to make appointments, 458 00:27:25,880 --> 00:27:29,559 and we've gotten we've had a lot of appointments and 459 00:27:29,599 --> 00:27:32,359 a lot of visits to DMVs over the last three 460 00:27:32,480 --> 00:27:36,680 or four years. And that one hour fifteen minute average 461 00:27:36,680 --> 00:27:38,799 waytime is only after you check in. You could be 462 00:27:38,839 --> 00:27:41,839 out in that line for four hours before you ever 463 00:27:41,920 --> 00:27:46,000 check in, and the average service time is over two 464 00:27:46,079 --> 00:27:54,119 and a half hours. I mean, that's just insane. That's insane. 465 00:27:54,559 --> 00:28:01,599 It is completely broken. Twenty audit in Bullock's office worked 466 00:28:01,599 --> 00:28:04,519 in the past six months in conjunction with the Institute 467 00:28:04,559 --> 00:28:09,599 for Transportation Research North Carolina State University, the Brian School 468 00:28:09,640 --> 00:28:12,960 of Business and Economics at UNC Greensboro, and the UNC 469 00:28:13,119 --> 00:28:16,680 School of Government to do the audit. Additional audits of 470 00:28:16,839 --> 00:28:21,039 groups like license plate agencies will also be released in 471 00:28:21,119 --> 00:28:28,480 the coming months, and again, the overall issue is measurably 472 00:28:28,799 --> 00:28:32,640 relevant metrics, he says. We need to do that so 473 00:28:32,759 --> 00:28:34,759 the managers know what they're doing right and what they 474 00:28:34,759 --> 00:28:38,119 are doing wrong. You know, stories are powerful. They help 475 00:28:38,240 --> 00:28:41,960 us make sense of things, to understand experiences. Stories connect 476 00:28:42,000 --> 00:28:44,920 us to the people of our past while transcending generations. 477 00:28:44,920 --> 00:28:47,359 They help us process the meaning of life, and our 478 00:28:47,519 --> 00:28:51,640 stories are told through images and videos. Preserve your stories 479 00:28:51,680 --> 00:28:54,880 with Creative Video started in nineteen ninety seven and Minhill, 480 00:28:54,960 --> 00:28:57,640 North Carolina. It was the first company to provide this 481 00:28:57,759 --> 00:29:01,960 valuable service, converting images, foos and videos into high quality 482 00:29:02,039 --> 00:29:06,039 produced slide shows, videos and albums. The trusted, talented and 483 00:29:06,119 --> 00:29:08,759 dedicated team at Creative Video will go over all of 484 00:29:08,799 --> 00:29:12,759 the details with you to create a perfect project. Satisfaction guaranteed. 485 00:29:13,000 --> 00:29:14,920 Drop them off in person or mail them. They'll be 486 00:29:14,960 --> 00:29:17,200 ready in a week or two. Memorial videos for your 487 00:29:17,240 --> 00:29:23,039 loved ones, videos for rehearsal, dinners, weddings, graduations, Christmas, family vacations, birthdays, 488 00:29:23,119 --> 00:29:26,920 or just your family stories, all told through images. That's 489 00:29:26,960 --> 00:29:30,240 what your photos and videos are. They are your life 490 00:29:30,319 --> 00:29:32,960 told through the eyes of everyone around you and all 491 00:29:33,000 --> 00:29:35,160 who came before you, and they will tell others to 492 00:29:35,200 --> 00:29:39,799 come who you are. Visit Creative video dot com. The 493 00:29:39,960 --> 00:29:42,759 North Carolina auditor out with the audit of the North 494 00:29:42,759 --> 00:29:47,839 Carolina DMV went over some of the customer service declining 495 00:29:48,039 --> 00:29:53,519 performance findings. Next up, he talked about employees struggling with 496 00:29:53,599 --> 00:29:59,440 workload and burnout. Forty three percent express negative views of 497 00:29:59,519 --> 00:30:05,319 prior li leadership support. Employee cited low salary, burnout, security concerns, 498 00:30:05,519 --> 00:30:10,079 lack of support, and inadequate training. Average salaries are below 499 00:30:10,119 --> 00:30:15,319 fifty thousand dollars for examiners in both rural and urban areas. 500 00:30:16,160 --> 00:30:22,079 Dave Bullock, the Auditor, recommended market based pay for licensed 501 00:30:22,319 --> 00:30:25,920 examiners based on cost of living in the different areas 502 00:30:26,039 --> 00:30:26,759 of the state. 503 00:30:27,519 --> 00:30:30,640 Speaker 3: The DMV has to have more employees in its office, 504 00:30:30,640 --> 00:30:33,240 and those vacant positions need to be filled. You know, 505 00:30:33,279 --> 00:30:34,799 one of the things we did in the State Orders 506 00:30:34,839 --> 00:30:39,599 Office we hired a we redesigned an administrative position to 507 00:30:39,640 --> 00:30:42,200 be a full time recruiter, and I think that's a 508 00:30:42,200 --> 00:30:44,920 great idea for d and V as well. We want 509 00:30:44,960 --> 00:30:46,799 to make sure we have the best and brightest working 510 00:30:46,880 --> 00:30:49,200 in the State Auditor's Office, and we want somebody full 511 00:30:49,279 --> 00:30:54,440 time recruiting folks to come work for the state. Specifically, however, 512 00:30:54,519 --> 00:30:58,400 we identified twelve service areas where recruitment and retention efforts 513 00:30:58,720 --> 00:31:01,279 should be focused for maximum impact. 514 00:31:01,519 --> 00:31:04,640 Speaker 1: So he pointed out, the state's population has grown by 515 00:31:04,759 --> 00:31:08,039 twenty nine percent by two point five million people over 516 00:31:08,039 --> 00:31:11,880 the last twenty years, but driver license examiner positions have 517 00:31:11,960 --> 00:31:14,960 only increased by fifty two positions, or ten percent. So 518 00:31:15,400 --> 00:31:19,480 population up like thirty percent, but the positions of examiners 519 00:31:19,599 --> 00:31:22,480 only up ten percent. He says, only five hundred and 520 00:31:22,519 --> 00:31:26,599 five of the seven hundred and ten examiner positions are filled, 521 00:31:26,640 --> 00:31:29,400 so that it's one hundred and sixty vacancies, which means 522 00:31:29,400 --> 00:31:31,519 you can't get your road tests done. And he pointed 523 00:31:31,559 --> 00:31:35,119 to one most the most egregious example is in Harnett County, 524 00:31:35,599 --> 00:31:42,640 one examiner serving over fifty six thousand residents. The findings 525 00:31:42,640 --> 00:31:47,200 in the performance audit point towards a dysfunctional relationship between 526 00:31:47,319 --> 00:31:51,200 DMV and the DOT. He says, this is a major, 527 00:31:51,319 --> 00:31:52,799 if not the major issue. 528 00:31:53,200 --> 00:31:57,319 Speaker 3: This is a governance structure issue that adds too much 529 00:31:57,359 --> 00:32:01,440 bureaucratic red tape to the equation. There are four systematic 530 00:32:01,519 --> 00:32:05,200 challenges stemming from the DMV's governance structure as a division 531 00:32:05,200 --> 00:32:07,440 of DOT. And let me stop here and say I 532 00:32:07,480 --> 00:32:11,480 am aware, and I certainly respect Commissioner Time and Setia 533 00:32:11,519 --> 00:32:16,400 Hopkins disagreement with this recommendation. Actually, if you look at 534 00:32:16,400 --> 00:32:19,680 their response, they agree with every single recommendation we make 535 00:32:19,799 --> 00:32:22,720 except this one. And I certainly understand and respect that. 536 00:32:22,920 --> 00:32:28,480 But the current structure limits the strategic input of the 537 00:32:28,559 --> 00:32:32,039 DMV of the forty five performance milestones and the DOT 538 00:32:32,200 --> 00:32:35,319 strategic plan for twenty twenty three to twenty five. Only 539 00:32:35,440 --> 00:32:40,880 two of the forty five directly pertain to DMV operations. 540 00:32:41,519 --> 00:32:46,440 They have restricted budgetary autonomy. DMV relies on DOT to 541 00:32:46,480 --> 00:32:49,640 submit budget requests, but only thirty one percent of DMV 542 00:32:49,799 --> 00:32:55,200 staffing requests were included in dot's budget requests. Insufficient performance data. 543 00:32:55,519 --> 00:32:59,279 DOT left out DMV customer service satisfaction data in its 544 00:32:59,279 --> 00:33:04,759 performance for work. Exclusion from key process modernization initiatives. DMV 545 00:33:04,960 --> 00:33:09,200 was excluded from planning and procurement phases of improvement efforts 546 00:33:09,279 --> 00:33:13,079 led by the DOT. Again, it's not personality base and 547 00:33:13,160 --> 00:33:16,400 I'm fully aware that Secretary Hopkins is new to the 548 00:33:16,480 --> 00:33:20,200 job over the last six months and Commissioner Time is 549 00:33:20,240 --> 00:33:22,440 new to the job. But this is This has been 550 00:33:22,480 --> 00:33:27,480 a legacy issue at the DMV between the d and 551 00:33:27,559 --> 00:33:28,279 V and the DOT. 552 00:33:28,559 --> 00:33:30,559 Speaker 1: Yeah, this has been going on for a long time. 553 00:33:30,640 --> 00:33:34,680 North Carolina DOT is in charge of the North Carolina 554 00:33:34,759 --> 00:33:39,160 d MV and so DMV has to go through DOT 555 00:33:40,079 --> 00:33:43,240 for its funding and for and to be included in 556 00:33:43,279 --> 00:33:45,920 its you know, long term planning and oh please, SI, 557 00:33:46,079 --> 00:33:49,000 can I have some more positions? Well? DT is also 558 00:33:49,519 --> 00:33:55,440 doing what roads right train stuff, shipping stuff like that. 559 00:33:55,640 --> 00:33:59,960 DOT has got this massive footprint and it seems like 560 00:34:00,279 --> 00:34:02,000 they don't really pay a whole lot of attention to 561 00:34:02,039 --> 00:34:04,599 the Division of Motor Vehicles. And so that's why the 562 00:34:04,640 --> 00:34:09,199 auditor is recommending that the DMV be set up as 563 00:34:09,239 --> 00:34:13,880 an autonomous agency or authority with direct control over its 564 00:34:13,880 --> 00:34:22,320 own budget, its own planning, its own operations. And he 565 00:34:22,360 --> 00:34:26,639 pointed out on some of the funding levels that they 566 00:34:26,760 --> 00:34:33,320 like DMV contributes. Yeah, generates thirty percent of all DOT 567 00:34:34,400 --> 00:34:38,559 overall revenue, so a third of all the DOT funds 568 00:34:39,280 --> 00:34:43,840 come from the Motor Vehicle's Division. But what do they 569 00:34:44,000 --> 00:34:48,760 spend on DMV two point eight percent of their expenditures, 570 00:34:50,000 --> 00:34:53,760 Like this is a cash cow for the Department of Transportation, 571 00:34:54,039 --> 00:34:57,800 and they don't fund this cash cow to the service 572 00:34:57,880 --> 00:35:00,800 level that it needs. This is why people say, oh, 573 00:35:00,840 --> 00:35:04,719 it's the legislature or whatever. Look, legislature has already moved 574 00:35:04,719 --> 00:35:06,719 a bill sitting on the Governor's desk right to give 575 00:35:06,719 --> 00:35:09,880 more money, hire more positions for DMV. To be sure, 576 00:35:09,960 --> 00:35:14,559 the legislature has got fingerprints on this mess too. But 577 00:35:14,719 --> 00:35:20,119 DOT has been raking in the money from DMV and 578 00:35:20,199 --> 00:35:25,360 not allocating the money back down to this cash cow 579 00:35:25,840 --> 00:35:30,360 final clip here, he recommended incentives for more online transactions. 580 00:35:30,440 --> 00:35:33,000 Right now, it costs more money to actually do stuff online, 581 00:35:33,000 --> 00:35:37,480 which is absurd. Pop up locations in regional locations, in 582 00:35:37,559 --> 00:35:40,280 empty big box stores, just do a pop up, be 583 00:35:40,360 --> 00:35:43,679 there for two weeks or something, right, and then offer 584 00:35:43,719 --> 00:35:47,760 a sort of like an easy pass lane, a premier service, 585 00:35:47,800 --> 00:35:50,360 so you get faster check ins, but you pay more 586 00:35:50,440 --> 00:35:53,480 money for the accelerated service. Like, oh, but what about 587 00:35:53,480 --> 00:35:56,119 the poor, Well, they won't be having to now compete 588 00:35:56,159 --> 00:35:59,079 with the people who pay. Right, people who pay will 589 00:35:59,119 --> 00:36:01,000 now clear out of the line, and your line should 590 00:36:01,000 --> 00:36:03,079 move faster too. That's the idea. 591 00:36:04,280 --> 00:36:07,880 Speaker 3: We also have talked with commissioners time and I will 592 00:36:08,239 --> 00:36:10,440 tell you that the D and D is working really 593 00:36:10,480 --> 00:36:16,000 hard to authorize third party testers to administer the skills test. 594 00:36:17,199 --> 00:36:21,840 We found that, for example, in South Carolina, look, there 595 00:36:21,920 --> 00:36:26,159 is a complete regulatory and licensing scheme for folks that 596 00:36:26,440 --> 00:36:29,440 train drivers on how to drive. Whether it's at the 597 00:36:29,440 --> 00:36:32,159 public schools or whether if you're out of private school. 598 00:36:32,239 --> 00:36:35,199 There's no reason why those individuals who spend several hours 599 00:36:35,199 --> 00:36:38,320 minimum of six hours with those individuals in the car 600 00:36:38,719 --> 00:36:43,400 can't certify that they've actually passed the driver's test. We found, 601 00:36:43,440 --> 00:36:46,800 for example, that an examiner can process four to five 602 00:36:47,119 --> 00:36:52,000 renewals or real IDs in an hour, but that road 603 00:36:52,039 --> 00:36:54,719 test for the sixteen year old typically takes a minimum 604 00:36:54,719 --> 00:36:58,599 of thirty five minutes, and for a commercial driver's driver 605 00:36:58,679 --> 00:37:01,960 it takes a minimum of forty five minutes. So eliminating 606 00:37:02,000 --> 00:37:04,840 that thirty five minute timeframe and that forty five minute 607 00:37:04,840 --> 00:37:08,800 timeframe are really actionable steps. And by the way, the 608 00:37:08,880 --> 00:37:11,519 DMV can do that without statutory change. 609 00:37:11,719 --> 00:37:14,119 Speaker 1: Okay, so they can do that. If you look, I 610 00:37:14,159 --> 00:37:16,800 did this. I had a sign up for a course, 611 00:37:17,360 --> 00:37:19,800 I got to drive this guy's car. He trained me 612 00:37:20,000 --> 00:37:22,119 and then went to take the test up in New 613 00:37:22,199 --> 00:37:24,880 York and pass the test. So let those third party 614 00:37:25,320 --> 00:37:31,480 training people be certified to give the tests too. All right, 615 00:37:31,519 --> 00:37:33,880 that'll do it for this episode. Thank you so much 616 00:37:33,880 --> 00:37:35,960 for listening. I could not do the show without your 617 00:37:36,000 --> 00:37:38,760 support and the support of the businesses that advertise on 618 00:37:38,800 --> 00:37:41,599 the podcast, So if you'd like, please support them too 619 00:37:41,639 --> 00:37:43,320 and tell them you heard it here. You can also 620 00:37:43,360 --> 00:37:45,920 become a patron at my Patreon page or go to 621 00:37:46,079 --> 00:37:49,800 thepetecleanershow dot com. Again. Thank you so much for listening, 622 00:37:49,880 --> 00:37:56,119 and don't break anything while I'm gone.