Saturday's Internet Edition, May 17, 2008.
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“I’m very excited about this campaign,” Wood said. “It’s rare when an incumbent has been unseated in the N.C. State Auditor election. It’s going to take a very strong person to unseat the Republican who is in that seat now. I have the background, experience and credentials to be able to unseat him.”
Some prominent local Democrats hope Wood is able to accomplish this.
“North Carolina needs a state auditor with the experience and professional training that Beth brings to the position,” said Loretta Martin, former chairperson of the Davidson County Democratic Party. “I’m excited about supporting her candidacy.”
If she wins in November, Wood would be the first woman elected N.C. State Auditor. More importantly, Wood feels, is the fact that she would be, as far as she knows, the first person with the experience of working in the state auditor’s office to be elected N.C. State Auditor. She spent 10 years working in that office before resigning last August so that she could begin campaigning for the position. Monday was the first day candidates could file to run for office.
“I think Beth is the most qualified person we have across the state for the job of state auditor,” said Voncile Moser, precinct chairman of East Davidson and member of the state executive committee of Davidson County. “She knows what’s going on in that department.”
Wood pointed out that she is a CPA, and that her opponent for the nomination is not.
“Running the state office is indeed rocket science,” Wood said. “When I go into that office, I won’t need a learning curve. I already know it like the back of my hand. I have a plan and will be able to make a difference as soon as I hit the door.”
Wood joined the state auditor’s office in 1996, when Democrat Ralph Campbell was state auditor. In 2004, late in his third term, Campbell was defeated in his re-election bid by Merritt.
“We need to return that office to its former standards,” Wood said of the office she is seeking. “I will be a full-time state auditor. It’s a full-time job — and then some.”
Wood grew up on a farm in Cove City, just outside of New Bern.
“We didn’t hire farmhands,” Wood remembered. “We were the farmhands.”
After graduating from West Craven High School, Wood studied to be a dental hygienist at Wayne Community College. After about 10 years in that profession, she earned an accounting degree at East Carolina University and eventually obtained her CPA. With her accounting skills and degrees, Wood worked in the private sector in positions with Rayovac Corp., the battery company, McGladrey & Pullen, LLP, an international accounting firm, and Turner Tolson Inc., a furniture company that was a client of McGladrey & Pullen. Eventually, Wood decided to move on to state government.
“They were great companies to work for, but it was all about the money,” she said.
Wood started off in the state treasurer’s office, and didn’t much like it. In 1996, when she joined Campbell in the training division of his state auditor’s office, Wood felt like she had finally found her calling.
“I realized that they were auditing taxpayers money and that I could really make a difference there,” Wood said. “I got really involved in the performance of the state auditors and how we could do a better job of training them. Then I realized that I had made a difference as training director. I felt like I could make even more of a difference as state auditor.”
Since leaving the office in August to campaign for its top position, Wood has been working part-time as a case investigator for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. She also plans to spend the months ahead campaigning at a feverish pace.
“It is my desire to get across the state and talk to every group that will have me,” Wood said. “Whether it be two people or 100 people, I would like to explain to them how this works and why they need me.”
Wood feels that many think the state auditors office audits tax returns. That is not the case. State tax returns are audited by the N.C. Department of Revenue. The state auditor’s office, in turn, audits the revenue department — and every other department, university, community college and other entity that receives state funds.
“Last year the General Assembly appropriated $20 billion in state funds,” Wood pointed out. “It is up to the state auditor to make sure this money has been allocated properly.”
Wood believes that funds have a better chance of being allocated properly if the auditors office had a better relationship with the General Assembly.
“We put out all these audit reports, but not enough members of the General Assembly even read them,” Wood said. “I want to help the General Assembly understand the performance of the state agencies, so they can have a better idea on whether to increase or decrease their budgets.”
The candidate feels that her entire life has led to the campaign she has begun to undertake.
“Early in life, I was taught the value of a dollar,” the farmer’s daughter said. “Then I had a chance to come to Raleigh and see how our tax dollars are being spent. We need to make sure they’re being spent efficiently.”
Staff Writer Kevin Reid can be reached at 472-9500, ext. 230, or at reid@tvilletimes.