By: Diane Benjamin
P-Card spending for July – starts on page 95: http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=9024
ADMIN City Council Expenses Marcos Pizza $ 62.34 Business dinner for Council
ADMIN City Council Expenses Reality Bites $ 22.75 Business lunch for Mayor and R. Verracelli
ADMIN City Council Expenses Rosie’s Pub $ 44.00 Business lunch for Mayor, Alderman Buragas & Black
ADMIN City Council Expenses Rosie’s Pub $ 33.00 Business lunch for Mayor and Alderman Buragas
ADMIN City Council Expenses Rosie’s Pub $ 32.75 Business lunch for Mayor & Memuna Lee (Media Analyst Country Companies)
ADMIN Membership Dues Association Of Local Gove $ 180.00 ALGA Annual Membership
ADMIN Membership Dues ICMA Online Purchases $ 516.00 ICMA Membership for Alex McElroy
ADMIN Membership Dues EBS $ 228.75 ILCMA Renewal for Alex McElroy
ADMIN Other Misc Expe Heartland Parking Inc $ 2.00 Business lunch parking
ADMIN Other Purchased Serv Starcrest Cleaners Market $ 67.50 Laundry services for table clothes
ADMIN Periodicals Forbes Magazine $ 19.95 Forbes Magazine Subscription
ADMIN Professional Develop Doubletree By Hilton $ 200.48 Lodging for L.Montei (Retreat leader)
ADMIN Professional Develop Shannon’s 5 Star $ 18.10 Business lunch for D.Hales and J.Meckley (City employee)
ADMIN Professional Develop Biaggi’s $ 14.93 Business lunch for D.Hales and J. Painter
ADMIN Professional Develop Marcos Pizza $ 20.99 Working lunch for D.Hales & P.Silva (City employee)
ADMIN Professional Develop Target $ 18.72 Office Beverages
ADMIN Professional Develop Lucca Grill Inc $ 202.50 Sr Officials Hazard Preparedness Working Lunch
ADMIN Professional Develop Marriott Confjesse’sgrill $ 14.07 Business lunch for D. Hales with Alderman Mwilambwe
ADMIN Professional Develop Jims Steakhouse $ 29.25 Business lunch for D.Hales with Mayor
ADMIN Professional Develop Marcos Pizza $ 17.74 Working lunch for D. Hales, C. Murillo, P. Hurd & N. Dukowitz
ADMIN Professional Develop Jimmy John’s $ 21.91 Working lunch for D. Hales, J. Jurgens & N. Dukowitz
ADMIN Professional Develop Jewel $ 24.98 Office beverages
ADMIN Professional Develop Jimmy John’s $ 15.98 Working lunch for D. Hales & Lynn Montei (Retreat leader)
Almost $600 for Food!
I thought there was a NATIONWIDE trend toward eating healthy and FIGHTING obesity? They outlawed Big Gulp sizes in N.Y.. but seems our local “chow hounds” are working against the national trends. Wonder WHAT other trends they are going against? Could be a LONG list.
Membership dues and on-line purchases from ICMA for professional development in the amount of $744.75 for Alex McElroy seems a bit much. Does this come with a year supply of Kool-Aid and the opportunity to attend the special meetings?
There is a meeting in Seattle in September. Let’s see who goes.
Unless Continuing Education Credits are REQUIRED for re-certification, there is no reason to attend.
By the look of David Hales in the firewood starting paper website picture the other day he could stand pulling away his fat stomach from the dinner table.
With all of these lunches it appears Hales and Renner are engaged in quasi mini city council meetings skirting under the radar of being an official meeting. Maybe one should ask just exactly what was discussed during these “paid” lunches. It’s one thing to meet for lunch on your own dime but getting reimbursement leads to other questions of their conduct and legality.
Were “business” lunches like this the norm with previous administrations? I work for a major employer and I have my fair share of business lunches and I pay for a vast majority of them out of my own pocket. Occasionally, I’ll submit a business lunch for reimbursement and when I do I notice that the meal is taxed as an employment benefit. I wonder if all of these mayoral meals are taxed as a benefit? I mean, a person would have to eat regardless, right? So, if the tax payers are buying, it would be a benefit, right? And, should be taxed accordingly. I wonder if that occurs. I doubt it does. I’d have a little more understanding if it was the Mayor taking a prospective new business person to lunch…but other alderman?
The IRS may or may not have been notified.