COLUMBIA--One of Gov. Mark Sanford's new Cabinet members said Wednesday he already has made significant changes and is focusing "on restoring credibility to an ... agency that was fraught with management problems."

Lee Catoe, who was confirmed just this month as director of the state Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services, said he's overhauled the agency's management structure and hired a new financial manager after finding problems.

Last year, the department came under scrutiny by the state Ethics Commission, the 5th Circuit solicitor and the State Law Enforcement Division after allegations that campaign materials were found on at least one state-owned computer. At the time, Catoe's predecessor, Rick Wade, was running for secretary of state.

Catoe said he has collapsed five deputy director positions into two. He hired a new financial director after he couldn't determine how much money the agency had budgeted. The agency's "financial operations are in shambles," Catoe said.

And there were wasteful practices, he said. For instance, the 60-employee agency was paying for 47 cell phones. "This is ludicrous for an agency as small as mine," Catoe said of his $51 million operation. The agency now has 15 cell phones.

The agency also rented, but didn't use, 3,100 square feet of space, and getting rid of that saves $51,000 a year, Catoe said.

His remarks came during Sanford's third Cabinet meeting.

It was the second such meeting fully open to the media. Sanford barred reporters from all but the last few minutes of his first meeting. Last month, he opened Cabinet discussions after receiving criticism from organizations such as the Society of Professional Journalists and the South Carolina Press Association.

Also Wednesday, Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation Director Adrienne Youmans said she wants to overhaul the state boards and commissions that regulate professions and occupations.

She urged Sanford to change the way about 300 people win appointment to 37 boards and commissions and said she has developed plans to restructure some of their operations.

"If we're going to get people that are open to change, we're going to have get different board members than have been on boards for 12 years," Youmans said. "Some of them are very entrenched in what they do."

Many of the people on those boards come from recommendations of industry groups the boards are supposed to be watching. Youmans wants more people on the boards representing the interest of the public, rather than a profession.

Representatives on the boards frequently are retired members of professions. "What I'd like to see are true public members, not people who are necessarily affiliated" with the occupation being regulated, Youmans said.

"Maybe there are other ways to get industry nominations other than to go through the established associations," said Fred Carter, Sanford's chief of staff.