With Beth Wood avoiding public questions, Cooper and Stein will let process ‘play out’

Facing hit-and-run charges from a December car crash, North Carolina Auditor Beth Wood sent her attorney to her first court date and has not appeared in public recently. When it came time for the monthly Council of State meeting on Tuesday, she didn’t go to that, either.

Instead, Wood called in remotely from a different office.

Gov. Roy Cooper told reporters after the meeting that he still has not talked with Wood about the downtown Raleigh crash of Wood’s state-owned car.

“I have not. I have not spoken with her,” Cooper said.

Wood has spoken publicly about the incident only through statements, including an apology for her “serious mistake” of leaving the scene of the crash.

“This case is still under investigation,” Cooper said Tuesday, and “still has a court date. And we’ll let that play out.”

Asked if Wood should be more transparent about what happened, Cooper said “she’s spoken about the matter publicly.”

“The matter is still under investigation,” he said.

Wood, however, has not spoken publicly beyond statements from her office.

After the meeting, The News & Observer asked Attorney General Josh Stein about Wood’s absence.

“Well, I’ve had to call into meetings before. I have no idea what her daily schedule is. And it’s perfectly appropriate to participate virtually,” Stein said.

Though asked separately, Stein’s answer mirrored Cooper’s in responding to the same questions about Wood’s transparency.

“It is an issue for Auditor Wood. It’s being investigated, and we’ll let the process play out,” Stein said.

Wood is one of the 10 statewide elected officials in the executive branch who sit on the Council of State. All 10 of their four-year terms are up in 2024. Stein, a Democrat like Wood and Cooper, is running for governor. Cooper is in his second term and is term-limited from running again for the seat in 2024.

Multiple Council of State members call in

The business of Council of State meetings is generally brief, and members then take turns sharing updates. Some are about their agency; some are about themselves. At a fall meeting, Labor Commissioner Josh Dobson used his time to say he was not running for reelection.

During Wood’s time on Tuesday, via a remote video screen, she talked about office space and recruiting auditing staff.

The council meets the first Tuesday of the month, most months of the year, in a downtown state government building. For the past several months, meetings have been held at the N.C. Department of Transportation building that faces the State Capitol. Most Council of State members make the short walk or drive from their agency offices.

During the coronavirus pandemic, meetings were held remotely, to the consternation of some council members. But when they returned to in-person meetings, some of them still called in. Now one or two members usually don’t come in person. On Tuesday, it was Wood, Dobson and Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey who called in. Secretary of State Elaine Marshall neither attended nor called in.

Other Council of State members are Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, Treasurer Dale Folwell, Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler and Superintendent Catherine Truitt.

The hit-and-run crash

A police report says Wood turned to the right while driving on South Salisbury Street and crashed into a parked car, The N&O reported. She said in her statement that she had just left a holiday gathering downtown, that the crash left her “shaken” and that she left the scene after she couldn’t move her car.

Video from the Dec. 8 incident shows Wood entering the law office of Rufus Edmisten as her car was left outside resting on top of another car. Edmisten, a Democrat, is a former state attorney general and secretary of state.

On Jan. 24, Cooper’s office said that he had “not communicated” with Wood about the crash and that it was a “troubling incident.” Stein’s office told The N&O last month that he had only learned about the incident through news coverage.

If Wood were to resign, according to the state constitution, the governor would appoint a replacement to finish her term, which ends in 2024.

Republican leaders in the General Assembly have not called for her resignation, though the state Republican Party has done so. Senate leader Phil Berger, an Eden Republican, said it was ultimately up to the voters. House Speaker Tim Moore, a Kings Mountain Republican, said Wood deserves to have her day in court.

That next court date is March 23. There will be another Council of State meeting in early March.