Thursday, June 12, 2008
Trials are over but the trust issue for DGIF still needs work
Bill Cochran
Recent columns
Charges against Bill Woodfin, former executive director of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, were dropped when state prosecutors attempted to base their case against him entirely on the misuse of funds surrounding an African safari.
Circuit Judge Richard D. Taylor Jr. ruled that there wasn’t enough evidence to prove Woodin had committed a crime. Woodfin left the court sharing hugs with friends and family.
The safari was an eye catcher, with its alleged misuse of a department credit card and satellite telephone, and maybe prosecutors thought it was the only thing they had going for them. But it was just a symptom of deeper problems.
Said one of my readers: “They did just enough to appease the public and just little enough that the guilty parties and politically blessed were not punished.”
The source of the problem was an autocratic leadership at DGIF that involved an increasingly smaller circle of good old boys, the kind who would make good safari companions.
Words including “cronyism,” “intimidation” and “retaliation” have been used to describe the out-of-control department. Those aren’t my words. They were used in a 52-page state internal auditor’s report that led to the dismissal of Woodfin.
Follies at the agency were tolerated far too long by those whose assignment is to oversee the department. Rather than reigning Woodfin in, DGIF board members awarded him a bonus each year, enhanced his retirement package and lashed out at those who would dare question what was going on. The secretary of Natural Resources, attorney general and governor let it go on for years, muffing an opportunity to direct a powerful statement on public trust.
Maybe arrogance isn’t a crime, but for the DGIF it proved to be demeaning and destructive, and it has divided people who once worked shoulder to shoulder.
More recently, certain DGIF board members have been working hard to put into place mandated checks and balances that protect against department credit card and other abuses. Audits of the agency are coming out much cleaner than in the past.
More difficult to deal with is a legacy of inadequate funding and infrastructure neglect. DGIF dams, hatcheries and boat ramps, for example, are in dire need of millions of dollars worth of repairs, and should have received priority over foolery like a Zimbabwe safari.
Then there is the trust issue. The agency hasn’t just lost its innocence; it has lost the level of confidence it once enjoyed. This has been evident in the recent DGIF hound study where a surprisingly large number of people have been hostile toward the agency, unlike anytime in its history. Trust is something you don’t win back easily.
Some say they hope that all the misgivings can be patched up now that the Woodfin era is history. Maybe people can go back to concentrating on fun things, like hooking a bass or patterning a buck or walking a birding trail. Maybe in their heart they can do some forgiving and pitch in and help preserve what has been a grand old agency through the years.
Let’s hope so, but be aware that suspicion and mistrust aren’t going to exit easily, especially with a number of Woodfin cronies still calling shots.
