In his latest battles against what he sees as wayward government, Gov. Mark Sanford has angered fellow Republicans, state employees and law enforcement officers.

And that was just Thursday.

First, Sanford vetoed a $500,000 memorial to slain law enforcement officers minutes before a midnight deadline.

Then he put a three-month moratorium on allowing any state agency to sell existing buildings or lots or rent or buy new ones.

He also tried to stop the state from donating old armory buildings to local communities, but was blocked by other members of the Budget and Control Board -- the state's five highest-ranking financial officers.

Sanford said he's trying to set a new tone. That means paying attention to details.

But should the chief executive of a $5 billion business worry about buying a vacant lot on Shop Road?

"There's a larger message that's sent to all of state government, which is there's a cooling effect," Sanford said. "People will know that we're going to look at all the numbers, rather than do what's been done in the past."

Jerry Wright, president of the state's Fraternal Order of Police, said the memorial should not be about the numbers.

"This really shocks me that this governor that claims to support law enforcement would do this," he said. "This is a memorial to give some comfort to the family and friends of those officers."

The bill would allow construction of a memorial to slain officers on State House grounds. The $500,000 had been allocated in last year's budget, to be added to about $30,000 raised privately.

South Carolina has law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty every year, Wright said. Ten were killed last year.

Sanford said the memorial is a good idea. He said he would even help raise the money.

But he disapproved of spending $500,000 in public money for it when the state is in a financial crisis. "That's $500,000 that could be spent on the Department of Public Safety, on SLED."

State Rep. Gary Simrill, R-York, co-sponsored the bill. He said the General Assembly is likely to override Sanford's veto.

"Even if some state funds were used, it's $500,000 in a $5 billion budget," Simrill said. "The money is in honor and in memory of what these men and women do everyday. It's well worth the price."

Sanford also frustrated state agencies and Republican legislators by asking the state to make an index of all of its property. He wants to force agencies to look first at what the state has before it takes on any more.

His colleagues on the Budget and Control Board agreed that an index was a good idea.

But board member and state Rep. Bobby Harrell, R-Charleston, said Sanford could have picked a better forum to launch his idea than a meeting where four agencies had requests to buy or sell.

That included the board itself acquiring a lot to store vehicles and the state's Housing Authority buying an office building for its 125 employees.

The Housing Authority rents space from two landlords now, and had been negotiating the purchase of a building for more than a year.

"I know you hear frustration in my voice," Harrell said. "It is frustrating to work all the way through the process and stop it at the end."

Spokeswoman Alice Brooks said the Housing Authority might ask for permission to go ahead with its purchase.

"We felt that was a way for us to be very economically proactive," she said. "We're hoping this delay doesn't kill the deal."