It is time to resolve the controversies regarding the N.C. Ferry Division. Is it a nest of nepotism and payroll padding, as a former division director contended when he was fired with less than two months on the job? Or, is it, as the Department of Transportation says, an agency simply in need of better management and a few tweaks?
State Auditor Beth Wood will now be responsible for answering that question. DOT has called her in to audit the division after conducting its own investigation.
The DOT explained its controversial June firing of former U.S. Coast Guard officer Harold "Buddy" Finch by saying he had personality conflicts with staff and that he had fallen behind schedule on a 60-day division-improvement plan.
It was not a persuasive explanation, considering Finch's resume. First, it is almost unprecedented for a state employee to be fired so quickly short of a grievous infraction by the employee. Second, the firing smelled of political influence given that Finch's "personality conflicts" came with employees who are politically connected.
In less than two months on the job, Finch raised some impolite questions about the politically insular Ferry Division. He found nepotism in hiring, payroll padding and what he called out-of-control spending.
The division has long been considered a patronage fiefdom for coastal politicians. Its 600 steady jobs pay well in an area that hurts for year-round employment. The division is out of sight and out of mind for the rest of the state, and a great many of the jobs require either limited skills or skills that only people who have lived in seafaring areas would have.
Turns out that Finch was right. DOT's own internal investigation of the division found evidence to justify much of what Finch was saying about nepotism and pay anomalies. DOT, however, put a "this is not so bad" spin on the findings and says it is already correcting problems. On matters of proper budget control, DOT and Finch still disagree, but it is hard to ascertain whether either side is wrong or if there is just a difference of opinion on what makes for writing a good spending plan.
As for Finch, he says that the department simply whitewashed the problems and maintains his charge that he was fired for stepping on political toes.
Now State Auditor Beth Wood must conduct a complete audit and fully investigate every allegation that Finch made. Wood might confront powerful eastern politicians on this audit, but her job is to serve the people of North Carolina independent of that kind of pressure.
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