The commission "Spends money frivolously for items solely for the commissioners. These are other indications that change is needed to the agency structure." The South Carolina Legislative Audit Council is responsible for conducting independent, objective performance audits of state agencies and programs at the request of the General Assembly for the purpose of optimizing the agency.
In the audit, LAC reported that from 2021 to 2022, the DDSN commission micromanaged the agency, was uncooperative toward its staff and likely violated the Freedom of Information Act by holding meetings via email.
"Commissioner Malphrus maintains that the current seven-member commission is responsible for significantly more expenses due to the fact that it is fully staffed, whereas, prior to 2020, there were multiple vacancies on the commission," the report said.
The audit indicated that the commission had engaged in frivolous spending by buying table cloths, picture frames for commissioners and a design of separate commission logo.
"Commissioner Richardson maintains that soundproofing was necessary, so the public could hear the commission over the noise in offices and hallways; the new tablecloths were necessary because the old tablecloths had spills and look awful," the report said.
"Commissioner Malphrus maintains that the commission wanted to update DDSN's logo to be more consistent with other state agencies in an effort to strengthen DDSN," the report said.
South Carolina is the only state that has an independent disability agency governed by a commission, and there are fewer than 10 disability standalone agencies nationwide, according to the audit.
https://www.thestate.com/news/politics-government/article273904050.html
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