Highway officials got Tahoes while agency says it was strapped

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Taxpayers not only paid for options such as glass rear-door systems, rear heat and air, and 4-wheel drive, but also running boards and tinted windows installed at the agency's maintenance shop, according to records obtained by The Greenville News under the state Freedom of Information Act.

The agency did not respond this week to the newspaper's request for the identities of the officials who were provided the Tahoes. Agency director Elizabeth Mabry had no comment when reached at her home Thursday night.

Kathey Bailey, who lives along Jordan Road in Greenville County, said the agency should make sure the state's roads are paved before buying new vehicles for administrators. "If they can spend that kind of money and keep the roads up I have no objection," she said. "But I think their first priority ought to be the roads."

The cost of the vehicles, all purchased under state contract from a Lexington Chevrolet dealer, ranged from $26,786 to $29,051 depending on the options, the records show.

The running boards and tinted windows cost another $2,448, the records show.

The base price for each vehicle was $23,248, according to the records. State agencies pool their vehicle requests to get wholesale discounts, said Michael Sponhour, a spokesman for the state Budget and Control Board.

Three of the four purchase orders identify the Tahoes as intended for use at the time by the deputy state highway engineer, deputy state highway engineer for pre-construction and the state administrator for engineering operations, documents show. They don't identify the individuals by name or mention who would drive the fourth Tahoe.

In the case of at least one of the Tahoes, the agency applied for a standard South Carolina license plate that does not identify the vehicle as state owned, records show. Such tags are usually used for police or economic development work.

The Tahoe application paperwork provided to the newspaper under the Freedom of Information Act did not include any statement of justification for the tag.

Sponhour said the Budget and Control Board, which must approve such tags, has issued five to the Transportation Department in recent years. He said other than one for Mabry, the Budget and Control Board's records do not indicate who at the department received the tags.

The newspaper requested the records last month. On Wednesday the department notified the Budget and Control Board that it no longer is using three of the tags, Sponhour said.

Pete Poore, a department spokesman, said Mabry and another agency official are the only two DOT employees who currently have such tags.

Mabry's application for the special tags, first approved in 1998, asks for the tag so she can visit economic development projects along with two other DOT officials for whom she also requested such tags, documents show.

"The people using these vehicles must attend numerous meetings at locations that are not government buildings to talk with local businesses and officials engaged in economic development," her justification stated. "The use of a marked state automobile would send a message that discussions were taking place and could potentially disrupt important economic achievements."

As an example, Mabry noted the location of a Honda plant that opened in the Pee Dee and required construction of an interstate ramp. "Premature disclosure of this information could have negated the recruiting of this vital economic gem," she wrote.

Poore said the agency does not log the number of times vehicles with confidential tags visit economic development projects "so that information is not available."

The Tahoes were the most expensive among 63 SUVs bought by the agency during the past two fiscal years, records show. The SUVs ranged from Ford Explorers costing $19,000 each to Chevrolet Suburbans costing $25,000.

The SUVs were requested for use by engineers and various DOT officials mostly in DOT's district offices, including 10 delivered to the Greenville district office.

Wofford Green, the district's mechanical engineer, said some vehicles are assigned to individual employees for use all the time while others are used as needed by workers. Those on call for emergencies can take the vehicles home, he said. Most who received the new vehicles are construction engineers, he said.

Transportation Commission Chairman Tee Hooper of Greenville complained about the Tahoes in a February letter to Mabry. He did not detail the vehicles' costs or their drivers. Hooper said he believes DOT resources have not been spent wisely. The agency has said a lack of money has prevented the state from paving the state's secondary roads during the past four years.

In a response to Hooper, Mabry said all agency officials to whom she assigns vehicles "are always on call for emergencies and critical agency assignments, including nights, weekends and holidays."

She said none of the officials use the state vehicles for personal travel. She did not explain to Hooper why SUVs were necessary.

Poore released a statement from other officials that the decision to install running boards and tinted windows were the responsibility of a former DOT engineer.

A letter requesting the SUV options said the vehicles would be used to carry "highway commissioners, elected officials, federal and state government officials, civic leaders, business leaders and project engineers."

"Many of these projects require off-road access, therefore 4-wheel drive will be required," one of the documents explained. "The vehicle will also be used for in- and out-of-state travel to meetings, conferences and other official functions."

Power windows are necessary to "facilitate viewing and photographing of project details by driver and/or passengers, while rear heat and air is necessary in a full-size utility vehicle to avoid rear area extremes."

Most of the other 106 vehicles purchased during that time period were either Dodge Stratus sedans costing $12,435, or pick-ups of various sizes. DOT maintains a fleet of 3,254 vehicles, officials said.

Some of the new vehicles were requested to replace cars lost in accidents while others were needed to replace cars that had more than 100,000 miles and did not meet job requirements, the records show.