SCDOT – They’ll want more money now

The Nerve.org has done quite a series of articles about the incompetence and downright corruption at the SCDOT.

You know a big push to raise gas taxes/taxes in general to fix roads is coming, sadly after the floods.  And infrastructure is definitely a government role.  I suspect much of the money is headed to the SCDOT.  It is a tragic shame that legislators:

1. allowed the corruption and ineptitude to continue for so long at SCDOT and
2. refused to make tangible reforms last year during all the roads discussions

So now, thanks to those who have served for decades who oversaw and facilitated the corruption of the SCDOT and have ensured that any money going there now, even for well meaning projects is suspect.  There is a case to be made, and I hope those in the know will begin making it soon, that had the focus of our legislature and the SCDOT been on using public funds for public safety and sound transportation policy, and STOPPING INSTITUTIONAL CORRUPTION, the events of the past few weeks might have been mitigated a bit.  If you’d like to catch up on just the most recent Nerve articles to see what I’m talking about, here are a few excerpts, please click the links to read the entire articles … and may I suggest you sign up for The Nerve email list to receive their great investigative articles yourself!

Lawmakers, SCDOT circumventing court with legislation?

As hundreds of bills slogged their way through the General Assembly earlier this year, one narrowly crafted piece of legislation was quietly put on the fast track and nearly passed – without any public input.

And if passed, the legislation would have thwarted the intent of a judge’s order and settlement of a lawsuit, critics contend.

SCDOT audit finds inadequate internal controls

In fiscal 2013, the S.C. Department of Transportation outsourced 70 percent of its total expenditures, involving the equivalent of more than 1,100 full-time outside jobs in two main non-construction areas, according to an internal report obtained by The Nerve.

“That audit is awful,” said Wooten, who is the commission’s vice-chairman and founding partner and president of a Myrtle Beach civil engineering company. “In two years, we got three-and-a-half pages. We already had that (the 2013) audit. We didn’t need it (Townes’ follow-up audit).”

Asked if his five-member committee earlier this year tabled Townes’ audit because it was critical of the agency’s handling of outsourcing, Wooten replied, “It absolutely had nothing to do with tabling it,” adding, “To my knowledge, that’s the only piece of work that he’s produced that’s been tabled.”

DOT Officials having secret meetings about major projects (who will stop them?)

It seems that DOT Commissioner Mike Wooten requested a closed-door meeting with the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce to discuss the results of a study on I-73, a future interstate that would connect Myrtle Beach to the state’s interstate system. The study showed that putting a toll on the road would only generate $32.7 million by 2050. That’s compared to the total $2.4 billion cost. With the toll road set to generate only 1.3 percent of the state’s cost of constructing the new interstate, the state will have to come up with quit a lot more.

Since lawmakers spent most of the 2015 legislative session trying to figure out how to raise the gas tax in order to cover a deficit in funding for roads we (supposedly) already have, it would seem – at least on the face of it – ill-advised for the state to move forward with the construction of a major new interstate. Presumably that was the reason for the confidential – i.e. secret – meeting. But we’ll never know, since it was, well, secret.

Here’s the important question: Whom should taxpayers consider responsible?

Internal DOT files paint troubling picture

In the four years leading up to the most-destructive single event for South Carolina’s road and bridge system, the agency responsible for it was mired in internal controversies ranging from DOT supervisors engaging in private business relationships with vendors they oversee; state employees forced to work on private property and falsify documents at the behest of politicians; thefts of materials covered-up by management; procurement irregularities resulting in overpayments to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars; and allegations of racism. fraud and conflicts of interst.

A review of S.C. Department of Transportation internal audits dating back to 2011 reveals an agency regularly investigating serious charges from all corners of the state involving employees at nearly every level of compensation. The documents obtained by The Nerve through the Freedom of Information Act paint a picture of an agency where issues as simple as inventory control varied wildly from shop to shop and often were impossible for investigators to track or make sense of and where interactions with the public were handled so poorly that the DOT auditor recommended remedial customer service training to prevent further erosion of consumer confidence in the agency.

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