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Opinion
Rules
on state vehicles should be clear, equal
September
27, 2006
One
more time!
There have been debates among South Carolina
lawmakers from time to time about how state-issued vehicles
should be used. Even the state’s fleet of airplanes at one
time was a matter of contentiousness. It’s a question of how
the vehicles are used, whether for personal reasons or on
business for the people of the state.
In state government,
like everything else, it seems, what goes around comes around
..... again and again.
Wonder how many times taxpayers in
the state have presumed the question was settled once and for
all. The way it looks, though, it’s not and never has
been.
THERE ARE NO LIMITATIONS on
vehicles issued to constitutional officers, so when
Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom used his on a family
vacation there was, technically, no violation.
That,
however, has brought calls for more control and this, as
always, is sure to be used as a political hammer. In fact, it
already has brought out the critics.
There ought to be
clear and legal guidelines, no doubt about that. That would,
hopefully, clarify the rules. In the meantime, though, there’s
an old saying that is made for this situation. It’s simply
that things not only should be right, they should look right
as well. Sometimes, even when no one has done anything wrong,
it doesn’t look right. This kind of thing has been a two-way
street, too. Through the years, neither Republicans nor
Democrats can claim the upper road.
Editorial expression in this feature represents
our own views.
Opinions are limited to this page.
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