Sanford opens cabinet meeting

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Sanford said he learned recently that county councils and school boards were meeting behind closed doors, using as their justification Sanford's decision last month to close his cabinet meetings.

"I believe in the overall theme of open government," Sanford said. "I can't use somebody else's take on what we were doing as their excuse to close government. For that reason, we are opening up these cabinet meetings. This is going to be an experiment in democracy."

Last month, Sanford said he thought discussions among cabinet officers would be more effective if held in private. A spokesman said then that Sanford also did not consider his cabinet to be a public body.

News organizations protested the move and argued South Carolina law requires the meetings to be open. News officials met with Sanford last week.

"It's not a question of public pressure or media screams," he said. "It is a question of doing what I believe to be right."

Sanford began Wednesday's meeting by urging the 11 cabinet officers present to adopt a Wal-Mart approach to government, delivering value at the lowest possible price, while listening to customers.

The governor handed out red Wal-Mart price "rollback" placards to each of his agency directors to make his point.

"If we more cost-effectively deliver services, we're going to be able to deliver services to that many more people," he said. "I think it's a neat concept that ought to be thought about more in state government."

The cabinet spent much of Wednesday's meeting listening to brief reviews by the directors of changes in their departments and how each director is coping with budget cuts.

Most of the 11 directors said they had or were preparing personnel cuts or other cost trimming, including the reduction of more high-paid administrators.

Lee Catoe, director of the state Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Services, said he recently released three workers after learning that revenue cuts were endangering a program for recovering mothers. He said he personally found other jobs for two of the workers.

When Ernst Csiszar, the director of the State Insurance Department, urged Sanford to permit directors to reward good employees with small gifts such as $10 lunch certificates to help morale, Sanford borrowed $10 from an aide and delivered it to Csiszar.

He also backed the request of Corrections Director Jon Ozmint, who asked directors to consider using inmates for various tasks. Ozmint said while budget cuts have caused his agency to raise the amount charged to agencies for inmate labor to $10 a day, the amount remains a bargain.

Inmates now provide services for state and local governments ranging from litter crews and grounds maintenance to auto repairs, building renovations and printing. They also make office furniture and provide some specialty services for companies, such as engine repair, that could not be done commercially in the United States for the same price.

Sanford said he wants all agencies to remember his key goals - raising South Carolinians' standard of living and adding value to all government work.