Dear EOD readers,
If you feel this matter needs more explanation from Commissioner Johnson and/or Dare County government, your assistance is most welcomed.
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Ray,
This will follow out telephone conversation yesterday and our telephone conversations previous to that. It will also follow my commitment to you in our telephone conversation yesterday to respond to you by email today. Dare County has given you every public record that it has in connection with Commissioner Richard Johnson’s travel to the NACo conference, whether you specifically asked for it or not. As we received your requests for public records staff has requested those public records from Commissioner Johnson. You have received everything that we have received from him as well. You have requested some personal records that I did not think were public records. Because of your interest in this subject, I contacted the UNC School of Government to be sure that my interpretation of the law was correct and was advised that it was. As such Commissioner Johnson has not provided records that do not come under the NC Public Records Act. These consist of records of personal expenses that were not reimbursed or otherwise paid for with County funds.
As you and I have discussed on the phone, the County has and will continue to follow the public records law and provide you with public records as you request them. Certainly if we receive other public records responsive to your request we will provide them to you as well.
Bobby Outten
Dare County Manager
County Attorney
PO Box 1000
Manteo, NC 27954
(252) 475-5803
(252) 473-1817 fax
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Bobby Outten, Dare County Manager/Attorney
Mr. Outten,
Thanks for your quick reply. I would never expect the county or Mr. Johnson to turn over records that are deemed personal. However, I continue to believe that Commissioner Johnson has not provided the county with proper documents to substantiate refundable expenditures made by him in conjunction with his July trip to the NACo convention in Reno, NV.
I will try, as best I can, to set out my concerns regarding this matter.
(1) Commissioner Johnson waited until October 2010 to file his July 2010 Travel Expense form, when, according to county policy, the form was due by August 5th. Johnson has now filed and signed two July expense forms, one original and one amending the original. When asked by this writer why he waited so long to submit the form, Johnson said he thought his wife had taken care of it. I question how Ms. Johnson could have taken care of it, without his knowledge, given he is required to sign the form. In addition, Mr. Johnson did not submit his travel form until after I started making my public records inquiry.
(2) I am concerned about how the assistant clerk to the board could have made the "per diem" mistake on Johnson's form, given the fact of her experience and tenure working with the board.
(3) I am very concerned that your office and the finance office has accepted Johnson's online computer printout of a "cost of travel inquiry" (via http://www.travelocity.com/) for his trip from Norfolk, VA to Reno, NV when, (1) the printout does not constitute a "receipt" for payment as required by the county travel policy. In fact, the printout does not verify that the tickets were even booked, and it states such directly beneath the price quote on the printout. (2) the travel cities, both outbound and inbound do not match up with the travel cities shown on the airline baggage tickets Johnson has submitted with his claim. I have discussed these details with you, at length, and you still insist that Johnson's records are above reproach. In addition, your assistant, David Clawson, Finance Officer, who signed and approved Johnson's claim has refused to return email and phone inquiries.
(4) As I told you, I took the liberty of calling United Airlines, Delta Airlines and US Airways, whose ticket (passenger) numbers were listed on the baggage tickets (public documents) that Johnson submitted. Johnson's travel expense form states that he flew from Reno, back to Norfolk, VA, via Los Angles and Detroit. However, the Delta agent states the ticket holder flew back via Salt Lake City and Atlanta. In addition, the Delta agent has told me the "cost" of the ticket, which I prefer not to disclose at the present time, other than to say the figure given me was not what I would have expected. I have to ask again, why didn't you and/or Mr. Clawson question the lack of a receipt? Why hasn't Johnson been willing to explain it?
(5) In addition, according to Johnson's expense form, he flew through Chicago and San Francisco on route to Reno on July 16th. However, using United Airline's documentation number off Johnson's baggage ticket (public record) the airline representative stated they have no record of Johnson flying out of Norfolk on that date. They also stated the actual passenger ticket # listed on the baggage check belongs to US Air. The city of origin on that ticket had been covered up with a "sticky tab" and is unreadable. This concerns me.
(6) In reviewing the documents covering Johnson's registration for the conference, someone has written at the bottom of the form that Johnson was due to fly out on July 15th. Yet, his expense report shows he flew out on July 16th, the date that the airline agent could not confirm.
(7) I am concerned that the county chose to pay for two personal tours taken by Commissioner Johnson while he attended the conference. Records show that Johnson was supposed to have been in Reno for four full days, excluding flight days. Yet, one day, the county paid for a 7 hour (9:00/4:00 pm.) tour for Johnson of the "Scenic Lake Tahoe" area. Another day, the county paid for a 5 hour (9:30/2:30 pm.) tour for Johnson of the towns of Carson City and Genoa, NV). I do not believe these tours had anything to do with official county business. Yet, Mr. Clawson signed the approval and you have stated that you relied on staff advice that it was OK to pay it. This concerns me very much.
In closing, I am very concerned that someone in Dare County Government
(1) did not inquire, before I got involved, as to why Johnson had not filed his July expense after a three month period of delinquency,
(2) and, why you, the county manager, had to email him in October in order to get him to submit "other documentation" for items he had charged on his county credit card for the same trip.
(3) and, why you and/or the county finance officer did not require Johnson to submit a proper "receipt" for payment of his airline tickets, the price of which is very much in question.
(4) and, why the county is paying for "personal tours" taken by commissioners which are not a part of their official travel agenda.
(5) and why Commissioner Johnson decided to spend over $3,000 on this trip at essentially the same time he and the other members of the board were pleading hard times with the county budget and raising property taxes.
I do not feel that your office nor Commissioner Johnson has adequately explained these concerns to me or the public at-large. As I explained to you on the telephone yesterday, it is not my goal to cast an undue or unfair shadow upon Mr. Johnson or Dare County government. Unfortunately, this situation begs for questions that, to date, have gone unanswered.
Sincerely,
Ray Midgett
27 comments:
Great work Ray! Keep digging, someone has to hold our officials accountable, as they seem unable on their own.
Another, equally important concern that I failed to mention in my e mail is "why does the county allow the commissioners to co-mingle personal expenditures on the county credit card, e.g. charging wife'sairline tickets and personal tour tickets to the county and then writing a personal check to the county to cover it. There is no written county policy authorizing this. And, it doesn't make sense that Johnson will charge his wife's expenses to the county credit card (and reimburse) and then will charge legitimate county expenses on his personal credit card and want to say that data is not public records. Go figure.
Think about this. A county credit card is used to charge personal expenses. The credit card bill comes in and is paid by the county when due as happened with Comm Johnson. The personal expenses are not reported by an "expense account". The county has used public funds to pay for personal expenses. There may be a significant number of dollars involved in situations like this. Forget Comm Johnson for a moment. If this is how the county manages credit card expenditures then I'm confident that the county has lost many dollars.
Who reconciles the county credit card statements and authorizes payment to the credit card company knowing that there possibly are personal expenses on the account???
If the county routinely pays for the personal expenses of anyone then they really need a public auditor to help them setup a procedure that would be more acceptable when administering public funds.
It sounds to me like they also need an immediate and thorough audit of their credit card payment and reimbursement procedures for starters. If the audit reveals more situations like Comm Johnson's then the entire financial operation needs to be audited.
Does any state or federal agency have oversight responsibility for county financial management.?
You trigger another one of my concerns, Mike. And, again, I'm not pointing fingers at any Dare County Commissioner. But, consider this...Dare County has provided a copy of the "front of the check" used by Johnson to reimburse for personal charges made to his county credit card. So, the check(s) was written. However, as an ex-tax auditor, I can tell you that the face of a check, without proof of cancelation (on front or back) is not proof of payment. Did the county cash the check? To what account? Don't send me a copy of the face of a check without sending the deposit ticket or back showing it was cancelled. It's just proper accountibility, nothing else.
It's time to throw the bums out!!
Let no incumbant remain!!
Voter imposed term limits!!
Message to John: Please feel free to repost your comment, leaving out the unnecessary words.
I wish Johnson was stopped after his stint on the mental health board. Crooks like him need to go. THANK YOU EOD for letting the rest of the county see the light.
Note to readers: Please tone down the unnecessary words. Thanks.
I understand toning down the language but I have no trust or respect for this man at all.
When we will find out what the airline said was paid for the ticket? Im guessing the "travel summary" and amount the county reimbursed was MORE than the actual cost. Can EOD confirm the price difference being to Johnsons benefit?
This is not likely the only month there was a 'mistake' made with travel expenses. I think this trip alone warrents the county examining EVERY trip and every month worth of travel expenses claimed by Johnson. Its our money, not his. The county needs to make him accountable.
EOD I think you finally have some county people paying attention. If the lawyeer is responding you have hit a nerve. Keep up the great work. No more 'business as usual'.
More Questions
If something is charged on the county credit card, is it not a Public Record?
Does the county co mingle personal and business expenses often? Is that an acceptable county policy?
What Personal items are being charged on a county card??
If EOD did not ask for records and receipts would the taxpayers be paying for Johnsosn wife's airfare, personal tours, meal and hotel?
Something stinks here.
I believe that an immediate, complete audit of County finances MUST be done. Commissioner Johnson's expense reporting issues are very likely only the tip of the iceberg. I suspect that we have not heard anything from the rest of our Commissioners for a reason. There are loopholes in the procedures of which all of them can take advantage. Without a proper audit, there is no way to know how much taxpayer money is being improperly spent on personal expenses.In addition, any county employee who has the privilege of using a county credit card should be audited. Clearly no one in our county administration is properly overseeing this situation.
Yes, an audit would be appropriate -- of all county expenditures. Who can ask for an audit?
How does Outten's job work as County Lawyer? Does he represent us and have a duty to investigate this? Or does he represent the Board and have a duty to them that makes him THEIR lawyer?
What investigative bureau/police jurisdiction is this? I know it's happened in the past. Who has the citizens' backs?
I agree with an audit for credit card holders. The public should be able to trust the board.
In my line of work, if I commingled OPM (other peoples' money) I could lose my license, period.
At the very least I would be penalized with a suspension and face public censure among my peers.
This bum is a joke and his free-for-all at our expense should be finished.
The county office keeps saying they have given you everything they have received. But they have not received proper paperwork, according to what you have found out. They are "spinning" the truth !
It is the NC State Bureau of Investigation that handles crime of this sort, specifically, you're concerned with "Theft and Misuse of State Property"
Their website is http://www.ncdoj.gov/About-DOJ/State-Bureau-of-Investigation.aspx
And they have several ways to alert them to crime/leads/suspicions. One is to send an email to this address:
Ops-Center@ncdoj.gov
My note: As a frequent visitor who spends tens of thousands on the Outer Banks each year, this really makes my stomach twist. We have strict oversight here. It does not appear you have it there.
The negative PR this might receive, if not handled properly, could have far-reaching repercussions. I believe this is a risk to your status, your economy, and your reputation. Please get it handled properly, through the proper channels.
Ray, I want to thank you so much for your tireless effort in keeping the public informed. You are a true mentor to the up and coming generation here on the OBX.
Dare Count Board Staff: We know you are reading this. As a taxpayer I demand an investigation to possibly illegal and unethical practices with travel spending and record keeping. You have a responsability to investigate when fraud is suspected. It is obvious that there is a problem here. We want answers. If the County will not address and rectify this problem then we need to go higher up.
EOD: Can you please let taxpayers know the ticket price per the airline? What price did the airline "ALLEGE" was paid for the ticket? We all know what Johnson alleges he paid. EOD it seems like there might be a "mistake" between the tickets actual cost and claimed cost.
Anon @ 2:44 pm.
The reason I did not state the price the airline agent gave me for the ticket she was explaining
(the one through Salt Lake City) was that I failed to confirm with her whether that amount was for the entire round trip cost, or one leg of the trip. I am trying to be fair about this and would prefer Johnson submit the proper receipts.
It seems clear to me from talking to Outten this morning that Johnson "may have" (and I repeat, "may have") taken what Outten refers to as a "personal side trip" while on the trip for the county. If so, Outten appears to think that Johnson's claim for reimbursement is not over stated, even if he didn't follow written county travel policy; and, even if the travel itinerary doesn't match the baggage tickets.
This is all conjecture on my part, but at the present, that is all they leave me with. I am at a loss to understand why Outten cannot convince Johnson to come forth and clear the matter up, since it was he (Johnson) who decided to co-mingle personal and county business, both on the county credit card and his own credit card.
For sure, the public deserves more explanation.
I find Outten's answer to be full and complete as well as fair.
I demand an audit of the county finances and reimbursement of business expense to all commisioners and employees.
I believe that the citizens of Dare County will be outraged at the results.
I foresee an angry crowd of people outside the county building armed with flamming torches, fishing rods and surf boards demanding justice.
I'm very serious about the audit!
Man! I wish we had had EOD when I was commissioner! We really needed an inquiring reporter when things were in full swing- but I see they are still in full swing today. Seems Richard Johnson, despite his promises to rid the county of bad politics, has finally sucked his way into what was then known as the "Manteo Mafia" or, as I dubbed them, "The Untouchables". Yes, audits should be in order for anything questionable but best be careful.... When I sued the oounty (as a commissioner, paying my attorney with my own funds) for checks written while not having been approved by the Board, I was denied admittance to the Finance Department and had to submit inquiries in writing while being personally charged for Mr.Clauson's time to respond- if I got a responce. But I was only one person. I feel sure you have the attention of Dare County citizens and I applaud your efforts. Keep up the good work...
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