STATE AUDITOR HOLMES
DOING THE JOB, AND
REACHING OUT TO VOTERS
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
With the new energy Democrats here in North Carolina are feeling amid the surging presidential candidacy of Vice President Kamala Harris, there’s one Democratic candidate who hopes that energy will come her way.
State Auditor Jessica Holmes is running to keep her office, and thus far, she’s doing all she can to make sure that citizens know who she is, and hoping that voters like the job she’s doing for them.
“Today, I have the privilege of serving as your State Auditor,” Holmes says in a statement. “I’m unbossed, unbought and most importantly for this role, I understand the value of a dollar and impact of government services on our everyday lives. We are already seeing tangible results under my leadership.”
The state auditor’s office is responsible for ensuring that North Carolina’s tax dollars are spent honestly and responsibly by all state agencies, county and local governments.
State Auditor Holmes maintains that she leads her office with impartiality, “integrity, transparency and a focus on accountability.” That means it doesn’t matter which political party is in power, or who is leading a particular agency. If North Carolina tax dollars are being spent, her job as the state’s fiscal watchdog is to ensure that the letter of the law is being followed, and that citizens can have confidence in the services that are being rendered to them.
Since being appointed by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper last November, Holmes has led the auditor’s office in uncovering that the communications staff of Fayetteville State University misused university-issued credit cards, racking up nearly $692,000 in questionable charges on personal expenses; that people and pets were permitted to live in the Town Hall of Fremont, as well “…hundreds of thousands of dollars in local funds were misused or misreported,” according to the News and Observer, as well as pay records being falsified; and other pending investigations.
Holmes travels the state, meeting citizens, answering questions, and pledging that her office will help however it can. She told a local gathering last April at the Pasquotank County Courthouse that she wants her office to more than just uncover government fraud and inefficiency, but actually “…focus on people with disabilities and people who are most vulnerable across our state.”
“I have refocused this office to focus on services that impact our most vulnerable communities,” Holmes said. “Whether that’s hurricane dollars, COVID dollars, looking at nursing homes and things that impact children, particularly kids in the foster care system, I’m talking about real, real, real progress that we can keep for the next seven months or we can keep for the next several years.”
State Auditor Jessica Holmes is no political neophyte, and by all accounts, takes public service, especially to those who struggle day-to-day to survive, very seriously.
“I know what it’s like to struggle to make ends meet and to depend on government services for a sound basic education, free lunch programs, healthcare, affordable housing and hurricane disaster relief,” she says. “One of my most vivid memories involves sweeping flood water out of my childhood home and discarding irreplaceable family photos and molded possessions after our home was condemned.”
The Pender County native was born and raised in the rural Eastern North Carolina town of Maple Hill. She cites family, faith and community as the values that have shaped her as a public servant, as well educators in the Pender County Public School System with nurturing her love for working with children.
Holmes is a first generation college student, having graduated from UNC - Chapel Hill with a bachelor’s degree, and the UNC- Chapel Hill School of Law, where she earned a Juris Doctor, becoming an attorney.
She has since been honored as a Distinguished Young Alumni and Outstanding Recent Graduate.
Then in November 2014, Holmes made history becoming the youngest person ever elected as a Wake County commissioner at-large, where she served over one million citizens, making sure that their tax dollars appropriately funded much needed services like public education and public safety. She served two four year-terms, making history again, being elected by her fellow commissioners as chairman of the Wake Commission Board.
In November 2020, Holmes lost her bid in a close race to become state commissioner of labor, one of a plethora of Black women that year to lose statewide races.
In August 2021, Holmes was appointed a deputy commissioner on the North Carolina Industrial Commission.
Holmes also served as a board member and chair of the North Carolina Foundation for Public School Children.
Last November, in the wake of controversy surrounding then State Auditor Beth Woods, forcing her to step down, Gov. Roy Copper tapped Jessica Holmes to fill out the remainder of Woods’ term.
Holmes became the first black woman ever to serve on the NC Council of state. As a trailblazer, she pays tribute to the first African-American to serve as North Carolina State auditor, Ralph Campbell Jr. through the Legacy Circle.
“The gravity of being the first Black woman on the North Carolina Council of State, in a state where my ancestors were slaves, is a humbling honor, Holmes says. “I stand on the shoulders of leaders who have come before me such as former State Auditor Ralph Campbell, Jr., who made history in 1992 as the first African American elected to a statewide constitutional office in North Carolina.”
Jessica Holmes has been endorsed by many of the state’s top Democrats like Congresswoman Alma Adams, state Senate Democratic Leader Dan Blue, and of course, Governor Roy Cooper.
Organizations that have endorsed her include Equality North Carolina Action Fund PAC, Pro-Choice North Carolina, the NC State AFL-CIO, Lillian’s List and the NCAE
Her Republican opponent, Dave Boliek, is a member of the UNC Board of Trustees, and voted to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion policies from the UNC System.
State Auditor Holmes says she’s committed to continuing to serve the people of North Carolina, and hopes to gain their support at the polls come November 5th.
“As state auditor, I will ensure that every taxpayer dollar gets to the people and the causes that we all care about,” she says. “My administration will focus on accountability, eliminating wasteful spending and ensuring that all money allocated goes where it’s supposed to go.”
-30-
EDITORS - I'VE HIGHLIGHTED A NEW STATEMENT FROM THE ROBINSON CAMPAIGN ON THIS THAT WAS ISSUED MONDAY AFTER THIS STORY WAS COMPLETED.
CONTROVERSY NOW
ENVELOPES MARK
ROBINSON’S WIFE
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
First, it was explosive past social media postings about Jews, Muslims, women, Blacks and LGBTQ+ people.
After he was elected, videos of fiery speeches where he was seen and heard saying that “Some folks need killing,” and that he wishes America “…could go back to the days when women couldn’t vote.”
But now Republican gubernatorial nominee and Greensboro native, Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson has more trouble than just outrageous Facebook posts and damning church videos plaguing his campaign.
Now, a nonprofit owned and operated by his wife, Yolanda Hill, has been ordered to pay back over $132,000 to the NC Dept. of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS), and must do so by the middle of this month, or appeal the decision.
Ms. Hill operated Balanced Nutrition, a government-funded nonprofit that helped child care facilities obtain federal funding for nutrition programs. But NCDHHS alleges that Ms. Hill submitted excess claims for funding, beyond what her group would normally claim to pay salaries and other expenses.
Tax records show Balanced Nutrition paid out over $700,000 in salaries and wages from 2018 to 2022, according to published reports, with salaries ranging from $80,00 to $173,000 a year.
“The only employees listed in tax records during those years were Hill, her son, and Cassaundra Spinks — a woman identified as Hill’s mother,” WRAL reported. “Hill appears to have earned the majority of the wages — a combined $319,000 in 2018, 2019 and 2020, which is more than three-quarters of the group’s total salary payout in those years.”
In a recent letter to Ms. Hill, NCDHHS said it "has made multiple attempts to schedule an in-person exit conference, by email, telephone, and written communication, with no response."
Even though Balanced Nutrition is accused of abusing federal funding, NCDHHS, a state agency, is responsible for managing where that funding goes.
A new report alleges “erroneous billing and possible record-keeping, bookkeeping and monitoring violations.”
Hill reportedly closed her business earlier this year to help her husband’s campaign for governor, and has not responded to numerous recent press inquiries about the NCDHHS allegations. Neither has the office of the lt. governor.
However, last April, she told WRAL that allegations about how she ran her business were actually targeted to hurt her husband’ political career.
“We felt like we were being targeted from the beginning,” Hill said.
And on Monday, the Robinson campaign addressed the controversy for the first time.“These findings are politically motivated at the core," Robinson campaign spokesman Mike Lonergan said in a statement. "Last year, an independent auditor issued a report on Balanced Nutrition, Inc. (BNI) with no material findings. Yet as soon as Mark Robinson announced his campaign for governor in April 2023, the Democrat-run state agency started moving the goalposts."
Some critics have blasted Robinson for criticizing federal aid to the needy, all the while his wife was running a business which depended on exactly that situation to make money.
“It’s a curious career choice for a man who is a vocal and frequent critic of the social welfare state,” Brant Clifton, a conservative blogger, wrote last March.
An attorney for Ms. Hill, Tyler Brooks, issued a statement earlier this year stating, “Balanced Nutrition has aided community partners in providing hundreds of thousands of nutritious meals to some of North Carolina's most vulnerable populations. Balanced Nutrition is proud of its accomplishments and is actively working to ensure a smooth transition for each of its partner facilities, as it turns the page to a new chapter.”
-30-
