Top official is out at agency responsible for rebuilding after Eastern NC hurricanes

Laura Hogshead, the chief operating officer of North Carolina's Office of Recovery and Resiliency, which oversees rebuilding efforts following Hurricanes Florence and Matthew, is no longer employed by the embattled agency.

A spokesperson for the state’s Department of Public Safety, which houses NCORR, confirmed to The News & Observer that Hogshead is no longer employed by the department.

Pryor Gibson, who is deputy legislative counsel to Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and was previously assigned to monitor NCORR, has been named interim director of the agency, the spokesperson said in an email.

The N&O reached out to Cooper’s office Wednesday evening but did not immediately hear back.

NCORR, also known as Rebuild NC, has faced heavy criticism for its failure to get Eastern North Carolina hurricane survivors back into their homes in a timely manner. Hogshead has borne the brunt of public scrutiny, most recently during a hearing at the General Assembly, where Rep. Brenden Jones, a Republican from Columbus County, called on her to resign after she accepted responsibility for agency shortcomings.

During this hearing, lawmakers questioned how the agency had run through allotted federal dollars — it’s now requesting state funding — and why it had failed to pay contractors who had completed work. Members of Congress from North Carolina’s delegation have also called for a federal probe of the troubled agency.

It was not the first time Hogshead had been asked to resign before a subcommittee of the legislature’s Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations. Known as Gov Ops, the committee is chaired by Senate leader Phil Berger and House Speaker Tim Moore.

While NCORR was created by the legislature, it is overseen by Cooper.

Hogshead previously worked as the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as chief operating officer from 2013 to 2017.

The state’s Department of Public Safety is led by Secretary Eddie Buffaloe Jr., who is part of Cooper’s cabinet. In her leadership role within NCORR, Hogshead reported to DPS Chief of Staff Jane Gilchrist. Richard Trumper, former executive director of disaster recovery with the Office of State Budget and Management, joined DPS last year as senior adviser for disaster recovery.

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