(The Center Square) – Sparks flew at a Monday afternoon meeting of the Hurricane Response and Recovery Subcommittee as committee members called for the resignation of Laura Hogshead, the chief operating officer of the state’s Office of Recovery and Resiliency, for the office’s poor response to Hurricanes Matthew and Florence.
The meeting was called after Hogshead’s office requested $175 million to cover a budget shortfall and continue operations throughout the state. It was unknown publicly until Gov. Roy Cooper slipped it into a request of $3.9 billion in a 99-page proposal for Hurricane Helene relief to western North Carolina.
“Y’all have failed miserably,” said Rep. Brenden Jones, R-Columbus, who chaired the meeting. “This should have been wrapped up. We’ve given you every opportunity and every dollar you’ve ever asked for. It’s going to be hard for this committee to swallow and go back to our respective chambers and ask for this money.”
The Hurricane Response and Recovery Subcommittee, led by cochairmen Sen. Brent Jackson, R-Sampson, and Rep. John Bell, R-Wayne, is a part of North Carolina’s Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations. Its genesis traces to Hurricanes Matthew (2016) and Florence (2018).
When asked if she would resign from her position, Hogshead said she accepted responsibility for the financial mismanagement, but refused to resign.
“We were not watching it close enough,” she said. “I am responsible.”
In her role, Hogshead oversees the expenditure of hurricane recovery funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for areas in the southeastern part of the state hit by Matthew and Florence. She was called to the meeting to account for the program and its lack of funding to complete the approved homes damaged by those hurricanes.
Of the 4,200 families approved for new homes in North Carolina, Hogshead reported that only 2,800 of those have been completed. These homes are primarily for low-income families. The project is moving at a rate of 115 homes completed per month.
Yet, the office still owes many millions of dollars to the different general contractors who are building the homes – approximately $37 million for projects already completed.
Hogshead said that, if they receive the funding they request, they expect to complete the homes currently approved from Matthew and Florence by the fall of 2025.
Committee members questioned the ability for the office to follow that timeline, given its track record.
“Talk is cheap,” said Sen. Buck Newton, R-Wilson. “Somebody needs to be held accountable for these decisions.”
Committee members also called into doubt if the office should be given authority to continue the program to help communities impacted most recently by Hurricane Helene.
Pryor Gibson, called by committee members Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s “fix-it man,” testified alongside Hogshead.
Gibson called the office’s current situation “dire” and a “nightmare,” but still called on the committee to move forward with funding.
“Please help us find a way to help us put these folks back in their homes,” Gibson said.