NC auditor finally addresses hit-and-run, but more answers are needed | Opinion

As North Carolina’s state auditor, Beth Wood knows all about mistakes. She also knows that how you handle those mistakes matters — and she has handled her own quite poorly.

The public has known for days that Wood is facing charges for a December hit-and-run, in which Wood crashed a vehicle paid for by taxpayers and left it behind. Only now is she addressing it publicly for the first time. In a statement Monday, Wood confirmed that she hit a parked car in downtown Raleigh on Dec. 8 and subsequently fled the scene, which she acknowledged was a “serious mistake.”

News of the crash — and the misdemeanor charge Wood is facing — did not emerge until last week, when Axios Raleigh was the first to report it. Wood was driving a state-owned vehicle, which “overrode up onto the hood” of the parked car and was left at the scene with the engine running, according to a police report. In 911 calls obtained by local media, witnesses observed that “two of the wheels are no longer on the ground. The other two are on the ground, and the car is on, and nobody is in it.”

Of course, this would be a bad look for any public official. But it’s particularly mind-boggling that the elected official who scrutinizes the conduct of state agencies was not more forthcoming about her own actions.

Wood, a Democrat, has served capably as state auditor since 2009. Her office oversees spending by all state government agencies and investigates any misuse of state funds or property — which, in short, means Wood’s job is about holding people accountable in a very public manner. Yet, when confronted with a situation where she’s fallen short, she hasn’t responded in the same way.

A car accident is just that: an accident. But the decision to walk away from the scene was not an accident, though perhaps the public may have been willing to forgive that if she had owned up to it from the start. And the lack of transparency and accountability from Wood in the aftermath is not an accident, either, which has led to more questions and fed speculation that there’s more involved here than a fender bender.

It took far too long for Wood to even publicly admit the incident had occurred, and her lone public statement still leaves important questions unanswered. It does not, for example, explain what led to the accident, except to say that she took a “sharp right turn” and “inadvertently hit” a parked car. Nor does it offer any real explanation of why she chose to abandon the scene — and her vehicle — without reporting the incident.

And where did Wood go after the crash? Who did she speak with, if anyone, at the state? Why did it take four days before Raleigh police filed charges? Should the Raleigh police or the Wake County District Attorney have called attention to a case involving a statewide elected official? Why didn’t it come to light until more than a month later, when the media uncovered it? And if the media hadn’t reported it, would the public ever have known it occurred?

That Wood’s behavior was wrong is obvious. What’s not clear is whether others in official roles shared in an attempt to make the case go away quietly. Perhaps Attorney General Josh Stein should seek answers.