Sources report DSS Director Karen Ellis Prichard is under pressure to resign. Above and beyond the incidents previously reported by the Rev. Dante Murphy. Also, DSS Director Karen Ellis Prichard is allegedly “lawyering up” to cover her own behind. I smell a rat!! in all of this.
Nobody can honestly say that myself and DSS Director Karen Ellis Prichard have ever gotten along very well, going way back. Some might think that I might think that Karen Ellis Prichard finally getting the shaft would be good news to me. Well, they would be wrong and here’s why.
I understand how Cleveland County Governmental agencies operate. I have watched them closely. When things go so wrong, that the bosses can’t keep it quiet any longer, they look for a scapegoat. The bigger the problem the higher up the pecking order the scapegoat has to be. One of the latest examples was Sam Lockeridge of the Health Department. But getting rid of the scapegoat is almost always a cover for that real problem hiding a little higher up the line. So, who is higher up the line than the DSS Director? It’s the DSS Board and then the County Commissioners.
The DSS Board Chairman is Commissioner Vice-Chairman Susan Allen.
a heartbeat away from Commissioner Chairman Eddie Holbrook. The other DSS Board members are Denise Wright, Mary Accor, Lendra Phillips and Dale Oliver. The DSS Board is historically a rubber stamping, do-nothing, know-nothing board who never shows any leadership qualities in actually making DSS more transparent, efficient, law abiding or anything else that might be desirable.
The DSS Board selected Karen Ellis Prichard a few years back as Director without considering any other candidate. Karen was their person. For better or worse. Now, with an unknown big problem coming down on DSS the powers that be allegedly want to get rid of Karen Prichard. Those powers that be persons are the DSS Board and the Commissioners.
My theory is to fix the problems at DSS, the Commissioners and the DSS Board have to go. And there are legal ways to do that. Get rid of the incumbent Commissioners at the ballot box and elect a new set of commissioners can be accomplished in the next two weeks. Then the new commissioners take over the DSS Board. Some nearby counties have already done this.
Then, if Director Karen Ellis Prichard needs to go, get rid of her for good cause. Not for being a scapegoat to cover-up a bigger problem up the line and at the top.
In any event, there are rumblings of big problems at the DSS that are presently a secret and big problems that are not so secret. All put together and ready to explode. Sooner or later there will be a big story to tell and it is likely that only myself will be brave enough to tell it. So stay tuned.
That’s my 2 cents on that!!!
