New: Yet another Mark Robinson misadventure – a troubled NC child care center | Opinion

As Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson runs for governor, questions are being raised about his past bankruptcies and his failures to pay taxes.

But there’s another problematic part of Robinson’s history that hasn’t received attention – how he and his wife were cited for numerous violations at the child care center they operated from 2000 to 2007, including a charge that the center presented falsified certification documents to state inspectors.

Robinson’s wife, Yolanda Hill, was the owner of Precious Beginnings Child Development Center in Greensboro. Robinson himself took over management of the center after his wife began a job elsewhere.

State inspectors made several unannounced visits to the center and cited it for dozens of violations. Some were minor and corrected. The violations included sanitary, safety and nutrition issues, but the most significant ones involved falsified documents.

According to state Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) records, the Robinsons presented documents attesting to their training certifications and the completion of criminal background checks that the state had no record of issuing.

A June 21, 2007, inspection report says “Files for the owner and the husband of the owner contain North Carolina Early Childhood Credential Certificates when the Work Force Unit of the Division of Child Development does not have a record of having issued credentials. Additionally, Criminal Records Qualifying letters are on file for the owner and the husband of the owner. The Criminal Records Unit of the Division does not have a record of having ever received criminal records forms nor issuing qualifying letters to you or your husband.”

The report added that an administrative action against the center’s license was underway because of “attempts to falsify information regarding Credential Certificates.”

DHHS has not retained records on the center beyond the inspection reports, a DHHS spokesperson said. The Robinsons sold the center in the midst of the investigation and the agency indicated at the time that it would not pursue the matter once the center changed hands.

Mike Lonergan, communications director for Robinson’s campaign, said reporting on these past violations “is just another attempt by liberals to dig up old news – some of it even by decades – to smear Mark Robinson.” Lonergan said reporting on the inspection records amounts to “cherry-picking a few minor violations and clerical errors to grind a political ax while ignoring visits that include ‘superior’ ratings.”

In his book recounting his upbringing and entrance into politics, “We are the Majority: The Life and Passions of a Patriot,” Robinson recalled his wife’s purchase of the child care center and his work there. He said caring for children was “a fantastic experience,” but government regulations made it difficult.

“It was hard at times to operate effectively because there were so many regulations and red tape,” he wrote.

Among the issues the inspector’s reports noted were: failure to put sleeping infants on their backs, a lack of proper refrigeration of infant formula, improper storage of medications, exposed electrical outlets, staff members talking on cell phones while supervising children and the absence of a certified administrator on site.

Robinson said the citations and record keeping demands moved his wife to get out of the business. He wrote, “She no longer wanted to deal with the frustrations of running the daycare under so much red tape.”

Exiting a business that had come under government scrutiny echoes Yolanda Hill’s recent response when a nonprofit she owned, Balanced Nutrition Inc., recently came under state review.

Balanced Nutrition administered a free lunch program for North Carolina children. The Associated Press reported that “The nonprofit received $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.”

As DHHS, which oversees the state-federal food program, began a compliance review of Balanced Nutrition, Hill announced in April that she was closing the operation. She cited the demands of her husband’s gubernatorial campaign. She did not respond to a DHHS request that she meet with state officials by June 30.

Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, have embraced Robinson despite his inflammatory statements on race, civil rights and LGBTQ people. But along with his MAGA swagger, Robinson brings a troubling personal history into the race that should have been disqualifying.

Instead, we don’t know what will turn up next about Robinson’s past, or what will emerge from his involvement in Balanced Nutrition.