DSS situation needs more attention

Governor Mark Sanford and his handlers talk a lot about giving the Governor more authority so the Governor can hold state agencies more accountable for their actions. The Governor and his handlers make a compelling argument about how state agencies need the accountability that only come with working directly under the Governor.

However, the Governor loses credibility on that issue every day he and his handlers stay all but silent about the mess in the Department of Social Services.

It is understandable that the excitement some of the Governor’s handlers could have felt about learning it was Tommy Moore’s brother who was arrested by the feds for allegedly embezzling millions of taxpayer dollars could left those handlers too giddy to think straight for a couple of days.

However, the Department of Social Services is under Sanford. Sanford and his appointed director, Kathleen Hayes, had millions of dollars snuck out from under their leadership. That came on the heels of a little girl dying in the custody of a person DSS placed them in.

One would think that a reform minded Governor who actually had to power to do something about DSS would be demanding resignations or at least some of sort of public inquiries. The major media in South Carolina seems to join the Governor in relative silence.

Instead, the handlers for the Governor have shifted the conversation away from the woes of a department Sanford is responsible for directly and moved the media to focus on the conflict with the Employment Security Commission.

It is a shame on South Carolina. There are families, children and vulnerable adults who needed those millions lost. There are children in the DSS system that deserve a Governor and a media that holds accountable the agency that makes life determining judgment calls on children’s behalf. There are employees who do their jobs who deserve to have management that is accountable. The taxpayers need to know how their money is spent. Indeed, the serious issues with the Department of Social Services are not issues that should just pop up in a story or two and then be forgotten by the chattering classes.