MAP panel to call for sweeping DSS overhaul

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"We're looking at a huge restructuring of the way the department carries out its work," Columbia attorney Ken Wingate, chairman of the Governor's Commission on Management, Accountability and Performance said in a meeting with editors and reporters of The Greenville News.

Wingate declined to provide details but said the recommendations would be made public just after Labor Day.

He was in Greenville to hold a two-hour afternoon public hearing at Greenville Technical College.

The MAP commission is reviewing all agencies of state government and will submit its report to Sanford by Sept. 30, but it singled out DSS for a full study of its operations because of the agency's size and scope.

The 5,000-employee department has offices in all 46 counties and its divisions administer an array of welfare, children's and health programs, including Medicaid.

Because DSS is a Cabinet agency, whose director is appointed by the governor, Wingate said recommendations can be ordered by Sanford without legislative approval.

The 14-member commission is operating with 10 subcommittees staffed by 350 volunteers, some from state government, most from the private sector, Wingate said.

More than 20 people signed up to speak at the hearing. Sanford attended the hearing, sitting in the audience of approximately 60 people.

Craig Stoxen asked for enhanced services for those with autism and Tim Gunter, a Greenville truck driver, urged the panel to bar law enforcement officers from using patrol cars, weapons and uniforms when off duty. "Firefighters don't drive their fire trucks home," he said.

Norman Goerlick, who moved to Greenville three years ago after retiring in Pennsylvania, called for a streamlined sentencing system, greater discretion for judges, early release of non-violent criminals and more services for the homeless.

Ann Barber asked the commission to consider ending a requirement that persons state a reason for seeking an absentee voting ballot and Dick Jensen, who said he is a professional educator, suggested ending school bus service for grade nine through 12 in urban areas and switching to private bus companies in rural areas.

R.H. Patterson Sr. requested higher taxes on alcoholic beverages "equal to the social costs" of alcohol consumption.

Suzanne Culp, a Department of Health and Human Services employee, said her section's new computer system consistently malfunctions and lamented the lack of raises for state employees and their declining take-home pay in the face of escalating health insurance premiums. "We're going to lose people," she said.

Ed Allgood of Anderson called for $2 tolls on Interstate highways at the state's borders and Sheldon Herring, a neuropsychologist, asked for funding so Medicaid can help with in-hospital rehabilitation for poor patients with brain injuries.

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Dan Hoover covers politics and can be reached at 298-4883.