COLUMBIA--Now we know what Gov. Mark Sanford and his Cabinet have been plotting behind closed doors: how to make South Carolina more like Wal-Mart.

Don't worry -- that doesn't mean the state will soon be selling riding lawnmowers and kiddie pools on Statehouse grounds, or that the governor will greet you at the door in a blue smock.

MARY ANN CHASTAIN/AP South Carolina's Gov. Mark Sanford, sits behind a promotional sign from a Wal-Mart as he listens to cabinet member Adrienne Youman give her report during a meeting, Wednesday, in Columbia, S.C. Gov. Sanford used the promotional signs from a Wal-Mart store to get his Cabinet members to think like the retail giant when they look at their agancies.

Instead, Sanford told his top staffers at Wednesday's Cabinet meeting that state agencies should adopt more of the discount chain's thrifty corporate policies and customer-service priorities.

"When you think about Wal-Mart, you think about value and the lowest possible price," Sanford said. "When you think of state government, do you think of value?"

That was the theme of Sanford's second Cabinet meeting, his first open to the media.

After barring reporters from his first get-together with top staff, Sanford reversed his decision and invited reporters to sit in on this meeting.

Sanford initially said his Cabinet would not be able to have frank, open discussions with cameras in the room.

But at the beginning of the Wednesday morning meeting, Sanford said that he met last week with editors and other press officials who told him that his closed-Cabinet meeting policy was having a ripple effect throughout the state.

"They brought to light that some city councils and school boards were using it for a basis to go off and close their meetings," Sanford said. "So I decided to sacrifice my Cabinet meetings on the altar of open government."

As a result, the press was treated to what was basically an hour-and-a-half information session, as directors of the state's top agencies talked about cutting middle management, dealing with budget cuts and finding ways to streamline their organizations.Presiding over it all was Sanford, who handed out red Wal-Mart placards and urged his Cabinet members to heed the words printed on them: "Rollback" in big letters, with the slogan "Daring to save you even more" underneath.

"If we are cost-effectively delivering services, then we will be able to provide services to that many more people," he said.

It seemed several Cabinet members had heard the theme before. Within the 11 agencies represented, there had been at least eight middle-management positions cut in the past two months. The Revenue Department cut one deputy director; Parks, Recreation and Tourism cut one director slot; and Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulations eliminated three.

Lee Catoe, director of the Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services, said he let go three key people from his staff, but had already found two of them other jobs outside state government and hoped to relocate the third.

Ernie Csiszar, director of the state Insurance Department, who has held the post for four years, said that in that time he has eliminated four of six deputy directors the department once had.

Csiszar painted a portrait of hard-working state employees who are admirably weathering tough budget times with no raises. He said he'd like to have a little fund -- $500 or $1,000 -- to use to reward some of his harder-working people with small gifts, say a gift certificate for lunch at T.G.I. Friday's or Chili's or something.

When Sanford heard that, he bummed $10 off a staffer and walked it down to Csiszar, who said "Friday's or Chili's, governor?"

That's how most of the meeting went: department heads talking about savings they'd made, with Sanford sometimes labeling such actions as a real Wal-Mart type of idea. No business was conducted.

Although Sanford shrugged off the impact of media's presence, he couldn't resist a few smart remarks about the top-secret content reporters had salivated to hear.

Then there was the matter of introducing everyone to the media. When Robby Kerr, the newly named director of Health and Human Services was introduced, Sanford asked him to tell the group about himself. As Kerr fumbled for something to say, Revenue Department Director Burnie Maybank interjected, "He's a CPA."

"That's fascinating," Sanford deadpanned.

Sanford said he was pleasantly surprised that there was fairly open discussion: Commerce Secretary Bob Faith asking Corrections Director Jon Ozmint how he should explain the state's use of inmate labor on projects when South Carolina businesses complain they should get the work, which led to an explanation of what the state uses inmate labor for, and what it doesn't.

"I'm pleased with the degree to which there was give and take," Sanford said. "Certainly, we'll build from here."