CORRUPT ROADS CZAR BASHES “BLOGS” AND “NAYSAYERS”
Remember Mike Wooten? He’s the powerful chairman of the S.C. Department of Transportation (SCDOT) commission – a guy who has deliberately concealed unflattering internal agency reports and threatened to fire the agency’s auditor for doing his job.
Yeah … still wondering why this agency is such a disaster?
Anyway, Wooten has taken a break from promoting totally unnecessary boondoggles to deal with a major corruption scandal within his agency.
Of course according to him, he’s the guy in the white hat in our story. The bad guy?
Well … us.
According to reporter Tim Smith of The Greenville News, Wooten says “the blogs and the naysayers” have been attacking his agency for the past few years – adding “ammunition to those who are convinced that the agency is corrupt.”
Really?
Last time we checked, SCDOT’s disastrous record was a matter of public record – not the imaginative musings of a naysaying blogger.
Also a matter of public record? The agency’s soaring budgets … and diminished returns.
Anyway, Wooten – the guy who tried to sweep SCDOT’s scandals under the rug – is now promoting himself as an advocate for transparency at the embattled agency, which is facing an ongoing investigation in the aftermath of its recent round of indictments.
“I welcome the investigation and think it’s a good thing,” Wooten told Smith. “An organization the size of this, you’re going to get a few bad apples. The quicker you find them and sort them out, the better for the whole organization.”
Actually, no … this isn’t a case of “bad apples.” This agency is corrupt to its core – especially as it relates to Wooten and his cronies on the commission.
Want real reform at SCDOT? Eliminate this corrupt commission and make the agency directly accountable to the governor’s office.
Oh, and mandate that it prioritize infrastructure projects based on need – not political pressure.
Keeping the current structure and current leadership is a guarantee that nothing will ever change … except the costs.