Letter: Moss' actions do more than appear improper

Beaufort County School District superintendent Jeff Moss receives a job description on July 22 that, under current ethics rules, would make his wife an ineligible candidate. The job is posted on Aug. 1. Moss changes the rule that prohibited his wife from applying for the position, and his wife applies and is hired.

Moss states he was unaware that his wife would be an applicant for the job, although he made the rule change that would allow her to be hired. He wants us to believe that there was no connection between her application and his rule modification.His actions not only give the appearance of impropriety, they are improper.

In addition, there is the incredulous assertion that Dereck Rhoads can properly supervise Darlene Moss, despite the fact that her husband controls Rhoads' job evaluations â€" which controls pay and job status.

Finally, in a scenario all too familiar to a public weary of questionable behavior by public officials, we get an "I don't remember" and "I won't discuss (this)" statement from Mr. Moss while Mrs. Moss declines to comment.

The actions of Mr. Moss scream conflict of interest.

A central question is, "Why would a governing board exercising proper oversight allow an employee to change a rule in a manner that directly benefits that employee's family and applies only to that employee?"

Various district representatives have announced how all of this is perfectly legal. However, to quote from a popular movie, "Just because you can doesn't mean you should."

Charles Cornett

This story was originally published September 18, 2015 at 7:00 PM with the headline "Letter: Moss' actions do more than appear improper."