The Case Against Mark Robinson

Social conservatives swooned over [Mark] Robinson because he is adamant about gun rights, opposed to abortion rights, critical of gay and transgender people, skeptical about the Civil Rights Movement and willing to say that public school teachers are indoctrinating children with liberal ideology.

--NewsAndObserver Editorial Board, 30 July 2024 

While they were swooning, they certainly had their eyes closed to the sketchiness of Robinson's past brushes with the authorities. He has been evicted for nonpayment of rent, declared bankruptcy three times, and failed to file federal income taxes for the taxable years 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2002. "Robinson and his wife ran a Greensboro child care center in the early 2000s that was cited for a raft of violations. Those violations included claims that the center presented falsified documents showing that staff had passed training requirements and criminal background checks. DHHS took no further action after Robinson and his wife gave up the business in 2007."

The more recent revelations about Robinson and his wife Yolanda Hill's nonprofit, Balanced Nutrition, documented that the couple "collected roughly $7 million in government funding since 2017, while paying out at least $830,000 in salaries to Hill, Robinson and other members of their family." Some of that "employment" looks like it was essentially under the table. The state Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) announced that Balanced Nutrition (Yolanda is CEO on the paperwork) must repay $132,000 for disallowed expenses submitted to a federally funded child care meal program. "The causes of the overcharges are suspicious. In one case, Balanced Nutrition billed the government for more than $10,000 for food and related items it purchased for Gingerbread Learning Academy in Fuquay-Varina, but the child care center says it did not receive any resources from Balanced Nutrition."

When Balanced Nutrition came up for audit a couple of months back, Yolanda Hill abruptly closed the business, mouthing what has become the company line -- that Balanced Nutrition is being targeted for political reasons and only because Yolanda is married to Mark. Mark, of course, has echoed that red herring -- apparently, North Carolina has its own Deep State that is targeting Robinson. Robinson, for his part, added pathos: "Robinson says shirking his obligations is some sort of everyman trait, just the financial bumps and bruises endured by all people of limited means. He says in a recent campaign ad, 'I’m running for governor because we deserve to be represented by someone who’s actually lived like us.' ”

The Editorial Board of the News and Observer responded:

[No!] Most people don’t live like Robinson. They pay their rent. They pay their debts. They pay their taxes. And when they are questioned, they come forward. They don’t stonewall or repeatedly walk away from what they owe.