COLOMBIA (AP) – The head of the South Carolina agency that provides services for people with disabilities has been fired without explanation.
After a private and unchallenged meeting on Thursday, the Department of Disabilities and Special Needs council voted 5-1 to immediately fire Director Mary Poole, the Charleston Post and Courier reported.
She had been with the agency for less than three years and earned $ 171,400.
Commissioner David Thomas of Greenville made the motion to fire Poole and the former state senator told the newspaper he could not say why she was fired because it was a personnel problem.
Poole’s resignation is for the agency’s good and, hopefully, will lead the agency to serve more people and better, said Thomas.
“I am looking forward to bringing some leadership that can continue to move us forward,” said Thomas. “When you have to act, it hurts and no one is happy. You better do this, get it over with and move on.”
When Poole was hired in mid-2018, the Disabilities and Special Needs Department was suffering for years from allegations of abuse with its providers, financial problems and long waiting lists for help.