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| Ex-Dare Commissioner Cheryl Byrd |
As a sample, EOD spoke with county officials in Currituck, Pasquotank (Elizabeth City), Pitt (Greenville) and Wake (Raleigh)counties and found that none of them issue personal credit cards to their commissoners. When asked, a Wake County official said they defiinitely do not allow alcoholic beverages to be charged to the county, as apparently is the case with Dare County. EOD had noted a couple of such charges on Dare County bills, but did not question the other counties about their policy..
EOD made a public records request for copies of all commissioner and the county manager's travel expenses, in and out of county, for the period July 1, 2009 thru Sept. 30, 2010. However, records for four of those months were not included in the documents received and a re-request has been made.
Prior to the fiscal year ending June 30, 2000, each county commissioner was required to file monthly travel reports to seek reimbursement for in-county travel, meals, etc. incurred while performing their official duties.
However, beginning that year, the board voted to allocate $300 per month to each commissioner and $400 per month to the chairman to cover those expenses. Since that time, the stipend has been given to them monthly and no in-county travel reports are required. In addition, amounts ranging from $24,000 to $35,250 per year has also been allocated since the year 2000, to the board for out-of county/out-of state travel.
Included with this blogpost, is a video portion of a discussion held during the August 2, 1999 commissioners' meeting when the new plan came under fire by some local residents. Payments had started July 1, 1999 and ex-Commissioner Cheryl Byrd was adamantly opposed to it. She said it amounted to nothing but a $3600 and $4800 pay raise. Likewise, ex-Commissioner Moncie Daniels, III said he didn't think the board should be paid for in-county expenses at all, "under normal circumstances", citing entertaining dignitaries as a possible exception. Likewise, ex-Commissioner Anna Sadler expressed opposition to the new method and said she thought the board should be held accountable for their actual out-of-pocket expenses.
(click here to view video). Turn volume up, audio is low.
An attempt by Byrd to get a board majority to reject the new payment method was unsuccessful. The attached video shows Commissioner Richard Johnson, the only remaining member of that board, explaining that the new stipend covered in-county "meals" as well as travel, etc.
The current board of Dare County Commissioners needs to answer to the public regarding their current practice. How many thousands of dollars has been illegally spent over the past ten years is anyone's guess.
It's time for it to stop.
Note: EOD will cover some aspects of abuse on out-of-county travel expenditures by the board in an upcoming blogpost.
23 comments:
All I can say is WOW! I'm a County Employee, you know who pays for my meals? Me, that's who. These Commissioners are the crookedest bunch of lying thieves on the face of the earth! I'm a Taxpayer, they're stealing "MY" money, I'm buying their lunches. I don't want to buy their lunches.
As far as the missing months of documents? They are missing because they are hiding something or perhaps they are going to change something to cover their tracks. They're all in it together, the bunch of Thieves.
Pigs at the trough.
EOD,
First of all, thanks for all the time and effort spent by you to expose the waste and misspent taxpayer monies.
Not only is it time to STOP, but it is also time for a complete audit of taxpayer funds spent by Dare BOCs for at least the last five years.
My hope is that all those pro orv groups realize that their beach access champions are bilking Dare County taxpayers under the guise of promoting beach access and bridge matters.
Credit cards issued to commissioners is a sure way to promote fraud and most responsible counties show better judgment.
We are getting close to getting the Local Government Commission involved as this whole situation relates to Article 11.
§ 159‑181. Enforcement of Chapter.
a) If any finance officer, governing board member, or other officer or employee of any local government or public authority (as local government and public authority are defined in G.S. 159‑7(b)) shall approve any claim or bill knowing it to be fraudulent, erroneous, or otherwise invalid,...
he is guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor and upon conviction shall only be fined not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) and forfeits his office, and shall be personally liable in a civil action for all damages...
Keep digging!
Do the receipts show if they at least tipped the servers?
All meal receipts EOD looked at had an average of 20% tips added.
Agree the LGC should be contacted if the board doesn't face these matters up front in a meeting where the public can be informed of why they do things the way they do...clearly a lot of it is unexcusable..expect more to come out of this..either from EOD or another investigative source.
If you added up all of the money the commissioners have stolen from us, maybe the health system in Hatteras would be fully funded. Guess we've got to cut the budget everywhere to make sure the pigs have enough in the trough.
Get rid of ALL of them. This is a sad case of the servant becoming the master and if we do not stop them and put them on warning, we are at fault for allowing this shameless attitude of entitlement. Who the hell do they think they are to be free and easy with our money?
Send an e-mail to the state auditor's office. I did !
Here's the email addresses for the NC Local Government Commission, if anyone would be willing to complain to them. EOD's doing all it can to get these folks to shape up. However, 5 of the 7 commissioners won't answer the phone or email; and the other two won't say much.
http://www.nctreasurer.com/NR/rdonlyres/D7A08DF3-BBD1-4B9F-845A-3665E4475651/0/LGCMEMBERSREVISEDASOF102709.pdf
Thank you EOD for doing this - it is sad to know as our taxes raise and county employees are losing benefits ( as well as faith in their employer) while the Commissioners eat lunch of all of us. The County Manager making more $$ than he deserves - as former County Attorney should know the Law regarding this type of spending. Keep up the good work !
From the state auditor's office:
Local governments (e.g., city and county) are audited by CPA firms under the authority and approval of the Local Government Commission of the State Treasurer’s office. You should contact the LGC and the county’s CPA firm to report your concerns. If you believe the activity is criminal in nature, you should contact the Financial Crimes Unit of the SBI (in Raleigh ) as well as the local Dare County district attorney.
Contact information follows:
Local Government Commission
Sharon Edmundson
(919) 807-2380
Financial Crimes Unit, SBI
Erik Hooks -- SBI
(919) 662-4500
Dare County District Attorney
Frank R. Parrish
(252) 331-4743
As a Dare County citizen, a copy of the last CPA audit should be available from the County Manager (252-475-5800) or Finance Officer (252-475-5730).
Hope this information helps.
Oddly, the State Auditor is a member of the Local Government Commission. I suppose that office just wants you to go through the proper(?) channels.
I can tell you that county audits conducted by independent CPA firms are not designed to look for this type of government waste. And, I guarantee you that if one of them saw it, they would probably ignore it..who wants to lose a lucrative county audit contract rocking political boats?.. Also, the local district attorney would need a big fire lit under his buttocks before anyone gets him to move. (been there done that). The LGC and FCU are the best bets, but it will take more than one person complaining. JMO...EOD.
The person that needs to be contacted about this matter is Don Carrington with the "Carolina Journal". Don was the one that drove the Easley investigative reporting.
It is stated "State and federal prosecutors have acknowledged to Carolina Journal that their decision to open a corruption investigation often stems from a news story suggesting improper behavior or criminality by public officials.
“The case [against former Gov. Mike Easley] began after credible allegations of misconduct were presented in the news media,” U.S. Attorney George Holding told CJ. “Without investigative journalists here in the capital, much misconduct would not have come to light.”
Don's contact information is carrington@johnlocke.org
Don has reported on corruption in the Town of Manteo involving the head of NC Cultural Resources. After his reporting, she went on unpaid leave for the remainder of her appointed time. EOD reporting is good, but at this time someone else needs to report on these issues to take it further.
Also, call up the State Attorney General's office. They have to investigate each call and determine if it is credible or not.
EOD agrees that "someone" needs to pick up the ball on this and would appreciate any help we can get. Other than HAVING TO COMPLY WITH PUBLIC RECORDS REQUESTS, the county boc slammed the door in EOD's face some time ago. Surely, the manner in which the Richard Johnson travel issue was handled, alone, is enough to raise serious questions. No govenment agency should be allowed to inject invalid/phony statements into the public record system.
Had EOD filed that kind of travel report during the 30 years he served with the department of revenue he would have been fired on the spot.
Good ol boy Richard Johnson must be loving having the rest of the unethical BOC join him in the slime bog!
I'm a county employee. When I go to work, I pack my lunch. If I have to travel, I hit the dollar menu at McDonalds.
Just sayin'
The Dare County commissioners continue to ignore phone calls and emails from this writer. It is sad that the board chooses to hide behind the county board clerk, public information officer and county manager on this matter.
EyeonDare would like to point out that the public information office has always been very cooperative and prompt in responding to requests. However, that office can only do so much. The board is responsible for its own actions, and EOD has no reason to believe they can defend themselves.
One aspect of this matter which is disturbing is that, while the board has a full time clerk sitting in a very plush office, etc. there does not appear to be any complete files in that office (or the county manaager's office) of the commissioners' travel reports/records. It should not be necessary for the public information office to have to go to the finance office for help. These people are busy and should not have to stop and take their time finding travel expense files when organized copies should be available through the board clerk.
I used to wait on the BoC for lunches often during the Mac Midgett days (Lord rest his soul) and they were always gracious, polite and tipped very well.
I never recall them ordering alcohol or going overboard (of course, it was just lunch...) but they usually only wanted salads or the daily special which was cheap.
It was the occasional interlopers, invited to join for this special purpose or that, who were pains in the rear to wait on...ordering stuff that wasn't on the menu, acting like big shots cuz they were being invited into the fold (being used is more like it) for whatever reason.
Anyway, I don't remember how they paid but it was always a great table to get b/c they were easy and appreciative and tipped well.
most of the BOC member make enough money on their own that they could pay for their own lunch or dinner. we all know how much the county manager makes and he could cover the tab with his own money every time. better yet why don't they use their own money and buy a family a month's worth of food from the grocery store instead of proping up all these nonprofits with tax payer money. my yearly salary is about what the county manager brings home in two months!
Livin Large on County Credit Cards. This needs to stop.
Ray, I think that your blog of Nov 21, at 10:50 should be posted in the local papers (again) in rebuttle of Richard Johnson remarks about "learning from other attendees" during tours when he was, in fact not present at the meetings he was paid to attend. This is pure and simple fraud.
Jack
Concerning the post dated Nov 15 concerning the motel receipts for the washington trip and the Nov 20 post with the comment "majority of charges were picked-up and paid on the county managers credit card" could lead one to suspect a little slight of hand.
If the motel bill was paid on credit card xxxxx1009xxx issued to Booby Outten, and the "majority of charges were picked-up and paid on the county managers credit card", then could these receipts just be filed as expenses of the county manager's office (paid for by our taxes)and the BOC members would not have to account for theirs expense and just pocket there travel money (more of our taxes). I mean who would check out this situation - the finance director? - yea right.
EOD,is this the type of shenanigans that are becoming more apparent as you investigate more of Daregate.
I am relatively new to your blog, but find it most informative. Thanks so much for your diggin into the depths of the local slim that's called Dare County Government, Politics and County Operation.
I will be using the information supplied to contact who I can to see if something can be done to investigate all of this mess.
Post this where ever you wish.
Thanks again from a Dare County Employee and Citizen.
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