The state Highway Commission will seek an independent review of Transportation Department operations, in part to clear the air about allegations leveled against the agency's executive director by Gov. Mark Sanford's appointee to the commission.

At the same time they ordered the evaluation, the commissioners rallied behind DOT Executive Director Elizabeth Mabry, giving her a vote of confidence.

Both moves came Thursday in response to a critical letter written last month by commission Chairman Tee Hooper, who claimed Mabry was responsible for fiscal mismanagement and department-wide morale problems. "I don't have the authority to ask you to step down," Hooper said in the letter, "but if I did, as a result of the facts, I would be asking you now."

Hooper alleged, in part, that Chevy Tahoes had been purchased for the personal use of top-level employees, that the agency hadn't claimed roughly $145 million in federal money and that the department had wasted money by sending 260 employees to a bike and pedestrian conference in Myrtle Beach last year. He wrote that most of the employees he spoke with said they would be fired if it became known they were speaking to him.

Mabry has denied all the allegations, saying any large company has "turf-sensitive," or disgruntled employees. She also questioned whether Hooper, commission chairman for two years, had enough experience to understand Transportation Department finances.

"I encourage the evaluation," Mabry said Friday. "I think it would make everyone in the public more comfortable, including myself."

Hooper could not be reached at his office Friday.

The decision to hire an independent firm to do the review came three weeks after the contents of the letter were made public. After meeting behind closed doors with Mabry, the commission voted 6-0 to give her a vote of confidence. Hooper, as chairman, does not vote unless there is a tie.

"He has raised allegations, a number of which were based on anonymous statements, that don't seem to be verifiable," said Highway Commissioner Bob Harrell. "We just want to see if there is anything to them. If there is, we will take action, if there isn't, perhaps Mr. Hooper should take another look at what he's saying."

Sanford spokesman Will Folks said the governor's office is glad the Transportation Department is willing to investigate some "pretty serious potential efficiency problems and the misuse of state dollars."

"We'd feel a little better if they would have spelled out more specifically how they plan to do things and what is meant by an independent audit," Folks said Friday. "But we will continue to support them to take steps to get to the bottom of this."

Harrell said the commission's personnel committee would be responsible for hiring the company.

He couldn't say whether the hire would be limited to an out-of-state entity.

He said that hiring a company with an "impartial view is most important in order for the DOT to receive a top-down review."