Durham County Commissioner Joe Bowser said he will ask commissioners' Chairman Michael Page to drop an investigation of the Department of Social Services board.

The investigation, which Bowser had suggested in September, would cost too much, he said, and added, "I think what we have here is just a bunch of hot air."

Bowser, the commissioners' liaison to the DSS board, made his surprise announcement during this morning's DSS board meeting.

The commissioners undertook an investigation after allegations of misconduct by commissioners and DSS board members stemming from the firing of former DSS Director Gerri Robinson and her replacement by DSS board member Gail Perry.

The state attorney general's office turned down the county commissioners' request for an investigation, BOCC's and at least one retired judge has turned down the county commissioners' request to investigate.

Geraldine Thompson Robinson of Nashville, Tenn, is the new director of Durham County Social Services. She was hired Monday night to succeed the retired Sammy Haithcock.

A native of Robeson County, Robinson has 27 years' experience in social services and is the former director for the Nashville metro area.

She resigned earlier this year after the Nashville social-services board offered her only a one-year contract renewal. She wanted a three-year contract, but some Nashville and social serivces officials criticized her handling of employee morale and an agency audit.

She had been Nashville's director since October 2004. 

Robinson is a graduate of UNC-Greensboro and has a masters degree in social work from the University of Maryland at Baltimore.

Robinson starts her job in Durham Sept. 14 at a salary of $129,000.

Durham County Social Services has a presence for the 21st century:

on Facebook.

(Yes, that's kind of 2007, but what do you want from local government?)

And it's advertising for friends. According to DSS spokeswoman Sharon Hirsch, the social-networking site is supposed to

• Promote in the community a more positive vision of DSS through educational campaigns
• Promote and publicize DSS events in the community, such as personal hygiene supply drives, Child Abuse Prevention Walk, Informational meetings about foster care and adoption, and more to increase awareness of the ways that DSS helps the community
• Advocate for services that support our neighbors in need.

The page has descriptions of DSS events, such as tomorrow's "Human Trafficking 101" ("NC has been identified as among the 8 most common destination states for human trafficking"), contact information and, of course, a Wall. As of 10:22, DSS had seven fans.

See http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1502689982&ref=profile#/pages/Durham-NC/Durham-County-Department-of-Social-Services/58340534276.

Durham County social services reports that it provided food for 23,458 residents in 2007-'08, and assisted 8,000 families with help paying rent and utility bills.

The county numbered those among highlights of social services' annual report, assessing accomplishments under the "results based accountability" policy that calls for the department's clients to be healthy, safe and stable, self-sufficient and pleased with customer service, and their children to be prepared for a doing well in school.

Some other points:

• No reported mistreatment of children in foster care;
• In-home support provided for 800 elderly and disabled people;
• Thirty finalized adoptions;
• Collecting an agency-record $16 million in child-support payments.

The full report is available at http://www.co.durham.nc.us/departments/dssv/Family_Focus_Initiative_Results_Reports/index.html . To save money, the county is not printing the report.

Durham County Social Services is taking applications for help with heating bills Monday through Nov. 14 at its 300 N. Duke St. office.

Durham County's Social Services offices are closed all day Thursday so the staff can get training. To report child abuse that day, call 560-8424.  Call 560-8600 to make an Adult Protective Services referral.

DSS goes back to work at 7:30 a.m. Friday.

The N.C. Social Services Association has named its Durham County chapter the Chapter of the Year, as well as giving it two state awards.

A community service award came for a drive to collect and donate items of personal hygiene for Durham Public Schools pupils. The drive took in $5,785 in cash and in-kind merchandise worth $100,000. The other award came for increasing membership by 48 percent.