Management audit: a good idea

Mr. Moody's suggestion, [reported in the Times on Wednesday], calling for a thorough audit of municipal records is a sound one.  "Management audits" of government funds are appropriate and useful  whenever there is a change in responsibility for administering taxpayer money.

In the city, election of a new mayor, hiring of a new administrator, or departure of a finance director are occasions in which should always trigger a full management audit.  There are a couple of reasons why.

 First, citizens have an absolute right to be regularly assured that those entrusted with the public trust can, indeed, be trusted.  

There is nothing wrong with this.  In fact, the public's right to know what is going on is an essential component of an open, free and democratic society.

 A fixed policy of conducting full management audits upon every change of administration is the best way to provide the general public with that assurance.

Honest public servants should have no objection.

Next, and importantly, those who faithfully fulfill their public duties deserve to be praised.  A clean management audit does that, especially when enclosed with a resume to prospective new employers or to voters in future elections.

Unlike Wall Street bankers or Bernie Maydoff, decent, honest and hard working money managers have nothing to fear from a thorough audit end of their tenure in office.

 A clean management audit allows honest brokers to point to an actual, impartial written historical record when touting their skills. It is the very best recommendation any top performer can get.

Moreover, management audits (especially those done as "bookends" for each administration) moderate devil-inspired temptations of decent folks (keep honest people honest) while, at the same time, catch any crooks.

  One need only recall the county official who used public funds to pay for a passion for auto racing to see how the last part works and understand the prudence of  close auditing practices.  

 For  these reasons, I believe Mr. Moody's suggestion is a a very good one — one demonstrating excellent business sense, common sense and good sense.

  He is to be commended for it.  Quite frankly, I'd be wary of opposition to it, especially from anyone protesting too much.

Tom Rubillo

P.S.  They are expensive, but not "too costly."  There is a difference.   

Dedicated teachers

The school districts of Horry and Georgetown counties have an almost impossible task in maintaining and dramatically improving our public school system.

I have been a resident of this beautiful coastal region for over 30 years; however, one aspect of living in South Carolina is the mediocre performance of students throughout the entire state.

We are traditionally ranked either 48th or 49th in academic performance among all other states in America.

However, we have the blessing of having many dedicated teachers, who are constantly running into many roadblocks for the academic improvement of their students.

 One of the principal roadblocks is the lack of support of the students’ parents. Many do not show up for parent teacher conferences to review the performance of their children.

The responsibility of performing some parental responsibilities is being transferred to the teachers.

The county school boards historically have not been allocated sufficient funds to break out of this mold.

 There are so many new and revolutionary educational tools that are available to motivate and increase our children’s performance. However, for many years, this has not been a top priority of our state government.

The school boards have a difficult job, yet they are not utilizing their greatest asset to anywhere near its capacity — our unsung heroes (dedicated teachers.)

The average new school teacher lasts for a short period of time— 3 to five years.

 The job is so demanding since they work from 7:30 a.m. until they leave school at 6 or 6:30 p.m. Additionally, they work at least two hours every evening and work five to six hours every Sunday to prepare their schedules for the following week.

There are also other factors that excellent and dedicated teachers face in South Carolina.

n One of the lowest pay scales in the United States, and

n After 28 years of dedicated services, they also have one of the poorest retirement benefits in most states.

 For example, teachers from the mid-Atlantic states, the northern states and the Midwestern states have 2.5 times the salary, plus 300 percent more in retirement benefits.

Now, with the S.C. budget cuts, they will be firing the most experienced and dedicated professionals when they reach retirement age.

These professionals have given 28-plus years for the children of the state of South Carolina and, now, they are terminated.

“Thanks for your sacrifice.”

Look to the teachers for the solution to our academic crisis.

They have some very specific and concrete solutions if you take politics out of the system.

Douglas LaVay

Pawleys Island

Thank you, Lynn Wood

I have known Lynn Wood Wilson for 40 years.

I have always known him to be a man of integrity.

He has served the citizens of Georgetown with an untiring, Christian attitude.

I would like to express my appreciation for his faithful service to our community.

Roberta Benton

Georgetown

‘Heart of America'

On Jan. 6 while on U.S. 17 south of Georgetown, my sister and I witnessed a truly memorable event. Patrol cars with lights flashing were parked by the highway.

 A patrolman stopped our car as two buses, fire trucks and cars in procession pulled onto U.S. 17 heading north. The buses were filled with Army National Guard soldiers of the 178th Field Artillery Battalion headquartered in Georgetown.

 They were headed to Columbia to join other soldiers en route to Afghanistan for a year's tour of duty.

The people waved American flags. Homemade signs that read 'God bless our troops' and 'We are praying for you,' were held by well-wishers along the route.

Observing these good-byes brought back the memory of my son deploying to Iraq in 2003.

After serving six months, he was entitled to two weeks' leave and we knew he was at Al-Asad Airbase waiting to fly home.

 A Sunday morning news program reported that a Chinook helicopter on which he was scheduled to fly had been shot down. For 48 hours our family did not know of his condition.

 As it turned out, when he went to board the helicopter he was told that the helicopter had left early.

Not only are we proud of our son for serving our country, we are also very proud of the volunteer soldiers of the 178th.

 We were privileged to witness 'the heart of America' in Georgetown.

Helen C. Sander

Charleston

Trusting Obama

 President Obama’s State of the Union address set me free.  I had been drifting in the doldrums, avoiding the tv news, feeling helpless and hopeless in the face of the inability of Congress to act responsibly in the face of issues that are vital to our future.

Statements by extremists on both sides of the aisle have been, not just irrational, but hateful.  And the media eats it up.

The president laid in on the line: it’s time for Republicans and Democrats alike to choose leadership, not partisanship, in a word—to GROW UP!   

The old labels of conservative or liberal do not fit Barack Obama.  

His speech made clear that he is an intelligent, thoughtful, fair-minded, and, above all, honest human being.

His State of the Union address gave us an honest assessment of our situation at home and abroad … and some of the steps needed to enable us to survive and succeed.

I don’t agree with all the steps he listed … and failed to mention.  One thing is clear, however: we can trust this man to guide us.

  He has restored my hope that America has the stuff to weather through the storm … as long as he is president.

 Dwight Fee

Murrells Inlet