Highway board members want probe of mismanagement claims

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The seven-member board, which oversees state government's fourth largest agency and the management of 42,000 miles of roads, decided on the evaluation at its March meeting without specifying what would be looked at, by whom or at what cost.

Most of the board also said they favor the idea of allowing the Legislative Audit Council — the watchdog arm of the Legislature — to conduct the review.

The commissioners also voted to support the agency's executive director, Elizabeth Mabry, who was the target of mismanagement concerns in a February letter by the board's chairman, Tee Hooper of Greenville.

The results of the review could save taxpayers money at the agency, which handles hundreds of millions of dollars each year and employs more than 5,000 people.

Kathey Bailey, a resident of Greenville County who lives along a patched secondary road, said she would like for the review of the agency to translate into better roads.

"If they say this is going to make it better, what I say is they've got to show me. That's the only way they are going to prove it to me and all the other people on Jordan Road."

Board members have asked two commissioners — William "Bud" Turner of Greer and Marion Carnell of Ware Shoals — to recommend firms that might conduct such an evaluation from which the board could make its selection. But the board has not yet discussed what the scope of such a review might be.

Commissioners offered varying ideas about what the evaluation should include, though most said any review should look into Hooper's concerns.

Sen. Gerald Malloy, who sits on the Senate Transportation Committee, said the board needs to be certain about what it wants out of the review.

"I think the commission is going to have to come together and at least see what the goal is going to be and how far they are going to go before they see who is going to perform this," he said.

The chairman's questions and concerns include whether the agency is filing timely enough requests for millions of dollars in federal transportation aid, whether the agency is unnecessarily buying expensive SUVs for some of its executives, whether too many employees are being sent to out-of-town conferences and whether planned renovations of the agency's headquarters building are justified.

Mabry has denied the department is being mismanaged.

Hooper said the evaluation should look at his concerns, which he said relate to the overall management of the agency.

"My concerns are whether we are using our resources efficiently and economically," he said.

Carnell, a former lawmaker, said he thinks the evaluation should examine "the operation of each department" to show possible improvements.

He said it also should look into Hooper's concerns, "but I don't want any witch hunt." Commissioner John Hardee of Columbia said the evaluation should focus on "everything in the chairman's letter," while Commissioner Bob Harrell Sr. of Charleston County said the review should look at the "issues raised by the chairman."

"The chairman seems to be the only one who feels there is an issue," he said. "So, to clear the air for the department, to put everything back in order so we can focus on running the department instead of these kinds of issues, I would hope that the evaluation would answer the questions that the chairman has raised."

Turner said he also thinks the evaluation should include at look at Hooper's concerns but also should examine the "complete organization, the financial and staffing."

Commissioner John "Moot" Truluck of Lake City said he views the evaluation as a management tool that could include a look at Hooper's concerns.

"Just as a management tool, I think that they just need to look at the overall operation and see if they see any area they think we need to improve on," he said. "Personally I feel like the department is run very well."

Turner and Carnell are scheduled to meet with LAC officials this week. The LAC has conducted four audits of DOT since 1983, the most recent of which was a 2001 study of paving contracts. That audit questioned whether DOT was doing enough to prevent and detect bid-rigging in the contracts. A follow-up reported the agency had acted on all of its recommendations.