Governor uses DHSS case as an example

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Directors have been told that problems like what happened at the Department of Human and Social Services occur because they leave their departments and agencies to others.

Speaking to his cabinet Friday, Governor Lolo Moliga said the DHSS debacle is one of the topics on the cabinet meeting agenda as a reminder to directors of the consequence of them not doing their duties of taking charge of their departments.

The governor said that often times directors are on trips for 2-3 weeks and when they return there are new employees, overtime is accumulated and other things are happening in their departments  because the directors are not on the job making the right decisions.

Lolo said the intention of raising the DHSS matter was not to point fingers or place blame but rather to remind the cabinet about their duties and responsibilities.

He stressed that problems happen when directors leave the leadership of their departments to others.

And he said he and the lt governor take part of the blame as they let directors lead their departments without keeping an eye on them.

The governor repeated a message he has often delivered at cabinet meetings, that their job is to serve the public.

Lolo related that a family spent two weeks looking for the right director to seek help from.

He said the family had been told to look for the Director of Public Works.  Lolo said rather than having the family search for the director, the cabinet member who was first approached should have done that.

He said that directors should work as a team to serve the public, instead of directors responding only to matters relating to the department they are in charge of.