Real ID deadline creates one last challenge for beleaguered DMV commissioner | Opinion

Just as Wayne Goodwin is preparing to leave as commissioner of the state Division of Motor Vehicles, there’s a surge of people trying to get into a DMV office to obtain a REAL ID driver’s license.

A REAL ID will be needed to board domestic flights and enter certain federal buildings starting on May 7, though a passport and some other forms of military and tribal IDs will also be acceptable.

For most people, there’s no need to rush to the DMV offices. Real IDs will continue to be issued after May 7. But it’s fitting that Goodwin will face one last challenge before he exits. He’s ordered more driver’s license offices to open an hour early — at 7 a.m. — to meet the demand.

“It’s a lot more challenging than folks may realize,” Goodwin said of leading the DMV amid complaints of slow service during his three-year tenure.

In 2021, Goodwin – former state lawmaker, former state insurance commissioner and former head of the state Democratic Party – asked then-Gov. Roy Cooper what he might do next to be of service.

Cooper asked that Goodwin take over as the DMV commissioner. He might as well have sent him into combat.

Goodwin, 58, has been bruised by public frustration with the slowness of DMV service and blasted by Republican lawmakers who’ve heard plenty from their constituents.

Under Gov. Josh Stein, Goodwin will not be continuing at the DMV, but he is staying on until his replacement is named.

The heat has not let up as people crowd into already overwhelmed DMV offices. Last week, Goodwin said, police responded to the DMV Central Services office in Raleigh on two occasions after driver license examiners were assaulted by angry customers.

“We’ve seen an uptick in the number of incidents with customers,” he said. “The temperature needs to be turned down while we all focus on solutions.”

What’s being overlooked in all the bashing, Goodwin said, is that the DMV is making progress toward faster and smarter operations. In an interview last week, he noted those gains and pointed out what can be done to make the DMV function more effectively.

What’s needed most are more employees and offices, the commissioner said. In the past 25 years, North Carolina has added more than 2.9 million people, but the DMV staffing has been stagnant at about 550 driver license examiners and a net of only three new offices have opened.

“Folks say they want the DMV to operate like a business. If we were allowed to operate as a business, we wouldn’t be in the mess we are right now,” he said. “ If Starbucks, Costco, Walmart, you name it, if they had 3 million new customers they would not keep the same number of employees and same number of restaurants or facilities. They’d grow.””

Stein’s proposed budget calls for adding 85 positions at the DMV, with 61 positions going to fill driver license examiner stations that sit empty in DMV offices.

Despite staff shortages, the DMV has made headway under Goodwin. When he came in January of 2022, DMV had a job vacancy rate of 35%, partly because of the lingering impact of COVID. Since then, the DMV has hired more than 400 employees and reduced the job vacancy rate to 10%, the lowest in the Department of Transportation and one of the lowest rates in state government.

Other improvements include:

• The introduction of kiosks in grocery stores where customers can complete some tasks without going to the DMV office.

• Opening many DMV offices an hour earlier at 7 a.m and adding Saturday hours during the summer.

• An agreement with the state of Arizona to use its DMV computer technology to allow N.C. DMV customers to do more business online.

• A mobile driver’s license on smartphones is expected to be introduced in 2026.

Goodwin is satisfied that he did the best that could be done at an agency that has been neglected for too long.

“I gave it my all with the resources I had,” he said. “I was one of the more public-facing commissioners. There are pros and cons to that. You can become a lightning rod. At the end of the day, it’s bittersweet, but I do have a sense of accomplishment.”