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GOVERNOR CALLS OUT CAPITOL POLICE PROPOSAL, DOESN’T REALIZE THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS WASTED UNDER HIS WATCH
Mark Sanford has gained a good bit of attention recently by complaining about waste in state government and demanding reform. But perhaps the governor should check within his own cabinet before going after others.
At a press conference Monday, Sanford discussed “a number of wasteful and inefficient proposals contained in the state budget.”
The governor particularly pointed out the proposed “Capitol Police Force,” which would move the 67 officers assigned to protect the Statehouse from the governor’s control to the legislature.
But under Sanford’s oversight, the Bureau of Protective Services assigned one in every five of those officers to administrative positions in Blythewood — something the governor said he was unaware of when asked at the press conference.
“Shouldn’t the Governor know about his own Cabinet agencies,” the reporter asked?
“If your numbers are accurate, then [the administrative assignments] are a little excessive,” Sanford replied after a long pause.
And that raised a few pretty important questions, not the least of which being the cost of the administrative overhead, the number of officers taken off the front line, and the fact that they are stationed in Blythewood. Last I checked, there was no Statehouse in Blythewood.
By allowing the General Assembly to consolidate and restructure the personnel into a Capitol Police Force, however, the 11 officers guarding the mythical Statehouse in Blythewood would be put on the Capitol grounds.
Legislative restructuring would also use far less money, saving hundreds of thousands of dollars annually.
Yet Sanford insists BPS, under his watch, be allowed to continue wasting money by ineffectively operating security for the Statehouse.
And so, once again, a Sanford-led proposal to “save money” would, in fact, end up costing South Carolina taxpayers more money.
I’m not really that familiar with the details of the legislative proposal. How does it save hundreds of thousands of dollars?
“And so, once again, a Sanford-led proposal to “save money” would, in fact, end up costing South Carolina taxpayers more money.”
Is referencing what?
Can you tell us what the “administrative positions” are? Eight percent seems like a lot of administration, even for a government agency. Do they schedule the governor’s drivers or check the time sheets, or what?
[...] Sanford rails against excessive government spending and waste but appears to be in the dark about waste under his own purview. At a press conference Monday, Sanford discussed “a number of wasteful and [...]
sanford= clueless
Your figures are innaccurate. There are a total of five sworn personnel at DPS headquarters in Blythewood. BPS is a division of DPS so it is not out of the ordinary for administrative personnel to be assigned to HQ just like the Highway Patrol and State Transport Police. There are not 67 officers assigned to the State House in the first place. The legislature does not fund that many positions for BPS. Other agencies such as DHEC, Lottery Commission, Dept. of Revenue, The Criminal Justice Academy and Stae CIO. pay for services from BPS. Also, some 10 of these officers are assigned to the govenors mansion. Completely innacurate story and misleading. Nice try.
Security now fueling the state budget battle
The ongoing budget fight between Gov. Mark Sanford and state lawmakers took on a new focus Monday: security. Standing outside an empty guard post on the edge of the Statehouse grounds, Gov. Sanford said Statehouse security spending in the Senate budget is just one example of inefficiency and waste.
The Senate budget would move $500,000 out of the Department of Public Safety, which is a cabinet agency controlled by the governor, and use it to create a brand new Capitol Police Force, controlled by the legislature.
“There is something wrong with significant cuts to SLED, significant cuts to Highway Patrol, significant cuts to a lot of different arms of law enforcement while at the same time $500,000 being carved out to create its own Capitol Police Force,“ Sanford told reporters.
The fight over Statehouse security goes back to last year. After recommendations from the FBI and Homeland Security that the state improve security at the Statehouse, the legislature included in this year’s budget $6.4 million worth of new security equipment. The governor vetoed it, saying that money could be better spent elsewhere, but the legislature overrode that veto.
The security system includes new guard shacks at several places around the Capitol complex and new concrete barriers at entrances to the underground parking garage. Security experts worry that the state is vulnerable to having a car or truck full of explosives driven into the garage, which runs beneath the House and Senate office buildings and several others. The new system requires special ID cards, which include a radio frequency transmitter, to allow someone into the garage.
But once the new system was installed over the governor’s objections, he was able to shut it down, since the guard posts were to be manned by officers from the Bureau of Protective Services. BPS is part of the Department of Public Safety, which the governor controls.
That’s why lawmakers now want to create a new Capitol Police Force, under their control, to run security at the Statehouse. Sen. Glenn McConnell, R-Charleston, is the main sponsor of a separate bill to create the new force. He says the Senate budget does not increase lawmakers’ security at the expense of the public’s.
“No, it’s not our security. It’s over 100,000 people come to that complex. Two thousand employees work on top of that complex and park inside of that complex. We’re only there five months out of the year, two-and-a-half days (during the week). That system is primarily for the protection of the public and the employees that work there,“ he says.
Lawmakers expect to work out a final version of the budget and have it on the governor’s desk this week. That budget is likely to include spending $350 million in federal stimulus money the governor has also opposed. When asked if he might veto the entire budget, which he’s done before, he said no options are off the table.
WATCH VIDEO
http://www.counton2.com/cbd/news/state_regional/state_regional_govtpolitics/article/security_now_fueling_the_state_budget_battle/24743/
Does this website intend to offer any answers to the questions raised above? Your reporting appears inaccurate unless you clarify the conflicting information.
Its inaccurate because its not journalism, its PR work. Research the background of Palmetto scoop and Adam, traces all the way back Sen. McConnell
Sanford should pull the BPS officers McConnell has guarding his sub.
By the way two of those sworn personnel assigned to headquarters in Blythewood work at the McConnells beloved Hunley Conservatory in Charleston.
I am disgusted with the reporting and the writing on most of our so called informative blogs in South Carolina. We are continually exposed to incorrect and obviously biased opinion pieces. We have to wade through the vulgarity that seems to be used without regard to what the general public cares about. I remember being told by one of my teachers many years ago, yes I’m a seasoned citizen,that the main reason someone uses vulgarity is due to their lack of command of the English language. I really am not inclined to think that is true but believe it is nothing more than a lack of the social graces grownups expect.
I have repect for those who work hard in journalism and try to present an honest, objective,and non biased opinion. But I have to believe that if this is an example of what will replace newspapers, we are in for a very confused people.
By the way, thanks Bo, your comments were very information. Some people don’t understand that just because you are assigned to a particular duty station, your daily assignments can change.
Tuesday May 12, 2009
Legislators agree to force gov’s hand on stimulus
JIM DAVENPORT
Associated Press Writer
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) – South Carolina legislators agreed with a 95-18 vote Tuesday to require South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford to apply for federal stimulus cash they say is needed to protect schools, colleges, law enforcement and prisons from deeper budget cuts.
That House vote came as the budget bill headed back to the Senate with expectations the $5.6 billion spending plan would land on Sanford’s desk as early as Wednesday. The $350 million in stimulus cash would be added to state spending. Once Sanford signs the law or the Legislature overrides his vetoes, the governor will have five days to request the money.
http://www.dailymail.com/ap/ApBusiness/200905120780
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I guess that’s a “no”
Ask.com, bo, et al. – http://www.palmettoscoop.com/2009/05/13/oops-fits/