After weeks of secrecy, SC health board chair speaks about search for agency chief
The chairman of South Carolina’s health department board has broken a weeks-long silence about the search for a new agency director, saying the board has solid candidates and expects to pick a new chief by early January to battle the coronavirus pandemic.
Mark Elam, chairman of the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control board, said 65 people have applied for the job and DHEC’s board has interviewed nine candidates. The board said it has not selected finalists, but more candidate interviews were scheduled.
After weeks of sidestepping questions from the media about the search, Elam said it’s important to make the right decision as the state deals with the coronavirus, which has killed more than 4,000 South Carolinians since March.
DHEC’s next director will have plenty of challenges, including refining plans on how and when to administer coronavirus vaccines.
“The board is committed to a thorough, focused hiring process that will identify the agency’s next leader who will be taking the helm of our state’s public health and environmental agency during a complicated and challenging time,’’ Elam said in a prepared statement late last week. “As the ongoing pandemic looms, it’s never been more important that we find the right person to lead the agency.
Elam’s remarks come at a time of growing criticism of DHEC’s failure to hire a director sooner and what some say are secretive ways of searching for the successor to the departed director Rick Toomey.
Toomey left in May, two months into the coronavirus crisis, saying he had health issues unrelated to the pandemic and wanted to spend time with his family.
The DHEC board didn’t intensify efforts to find a new director until this fall. From early October through last week, the full board or a board search committee met privately at least five times to discuss the opening. Elam has not granted an interview with The State about the director’s job. His last comment, prior to the one issued Thursday, was a prepared statement in late October.
DHEC staff members have declined to answer questions from The State about who has interviewed for the post. Acting director Marshall Taylor had not applied for the position as of last month. Board members either have not returned phone calls or have declined comment on questions about whether previous finalists for the DHEC job in 2018 are being considered now. Toomey, then a board member, was selected in December 2018.
Among finalists in 2018 were former state Rep. Michael Easterday, Columbia lawyer Stacy Taylor, Charleston County school official Jeffrey Borowy and Virginia lawyer Matthew Cobb. Easterday, a health care executive in the western United States, said Friday he is not a candidate this year. Efforts to reach the others were unsuccessful.
The DHEC board’s search committee was to meet late Monday afternoon, and the full board is to meet Thursday morning.
Football coach vs. health chief
Sen. Dick Harpootlian, D-Richland, said the hiring process hasn’t been transparent enough at such a critical time and at such an important agency.
“The search for a new football coach at Carolina is getting more scrutiny than the head of DHEC,’’ Harpootlian said, referring to the recent vacancy at the University of South Carolina. “And the head football coach is an entertainer. DHEC is there to keep us alive. I don’t get it.’’
DHEC, with more than 3,000 workers, is one of the state’s largest agencies. It is responsible for protecting public health but also oversees environmental protection.
The department needs quality leadership because DHEC has not done enough to protect public health since the crisis began last March, Harpootlian said. That includes enforcing mask restrictions or airing enough public service announcements about COVID-19, he said. Some observers have said it could be difficult to find a top-level director because other states also are looking for people who can deal with the coronavirus.
Last week, the board held a private eight-hour session to interview a handful of candidates for the director’s job. The director’s job is expected to pay $195,000 to $302,000 per year based on a Thursday decision by the state Agency Head Salary Commission to increase the salary range. The previous range was a minimum of $178,000 to a maximum of $276,000. Acting director Taylor will get the $195,000 minimum, a $17,000-a-year pay increase
Elam said the board has no final list of candidates, but his statement did not say if the agency had cut the list of 65 to a smaller number that could be reduced again. The agency’s search includes the use of a recruiting firm, Find Great People.
By law, public agencies must release the names of “not fewer than the final three applicants,’’ as well as supporting materials.
Jay Bender, an open records lawyer who has represented The State and the S.C. Press Association, questioned whether DHEC’s board had cut the number of candidates without voting in public, as is required by the state’s Freedom of Information Act.
It’s legal to go into closed session to discuss specific hiring or personnel issues, but state law forbids voting in secret. For that reason, the board must take action in public to reduce the list from 65, Bender said.
“If they voted somehow without doing it in public, they have violated the law,’’ Bender said.
Bender was also critical of the process two years ago, when Toomey was selected. So was former assistant U.S. Surgeon General Thomas Carrato, a finalist who said the hiring process was unusual and appeared to favor Toomey. At the time, the board had conducted a nationwide search before settling on Toomey, the fellow board member.
Open process supported
Two key Republican leaders said they were comfortable with the DHEC board’s efforts so far this year, but they also agreed the agency should let the public know who the final choices are for agency director before choosing a director.
In 2018, the agency did not release a list of the final candidates for the post until it had already chosen Toomey.
Releasing information about finalists for the post before a final choice has been made “gives you a feel for exactly what the caliber of the individuals that they’re considering is,” said state Sen. Thomas Alexander, an Oconee County representative who for years has chaired a committee that oversees DHEC’s budget.
State Rep. Murrell Smith, who chairs the House budget committee, said making the list of finalists available before filling the job gives the public time to weigh the choices. That was done when a school superintendent was chosen recently in Sumter County, he said.
“It would probably be beneficial to (DHEC) to have to name the finalists and let the public, and let the Legislature and the governor and all know what the choices are,’’ the Sumter representative said.
Bender said making the list of candidates available before choosing a director gives the public the ability to alert an agency of problems or other information that the department may not have known about.
A spokesman for Republican Gov. Henry McMaster defended DHEC’s hiring efforts. McMaster, who appoints DHEC board members, has no information to suggest DHEC hasn’t followed the required process, the governor’s office said.
“There are specific transparency laws on the books that deal with the release of this information and, by all accounts, the DHEC board has followed them to the letter,’’ McMaster spokesman Bryan Symmes said.
Elam said the board will forge ahead and hopes to have a candidate for the post ready before the Legislature returns Jan. 12. The state Senate must approve any candidate chosen by the DHEC board. The agency announced Friday night that the board was to meet again Monday.
“In the coming days, we will continue to conduct additional interviews and make thoughtful decisions that are in the best interest of all South Carolinians as we bring a new leader to the agency,’’ Elam’s statement said.
“As part of the selection process, a nationwide search continues to be conducted. At this time, the board has not selected finalists.’’
This story has been updated from an earlier version. Staff Writer Joseph Bustos contributed.
This story was originally published December 4, 2020 at 2:03 PM.
