Elected officials cannot successfully manage cities, counties,
states or even federal agencies without communicating with those in
similar positions with similar responsibilities
elsewhere.
They also sometimes have to meet with nongovernment people to
glean insights on how to run government operations more
efficiently.
Sometimes these meetings can occur simply by driving to a
neighboring city or county. Other times, elected officials must
travel to cities in different states, or even to other
nations.
Of course, when government officials travel, they travel on the
public’s dime. That, too, is reasonable and to be
expected.
However, because room for abuse exists when it comes to spending
other people’s money on trips, government officials have a duty to
account for all their travel expenditures.
Unfortunately, Douglas County’s three commissioners have not
accounted for all of their travel expenditures.
The commissioners spent about $44,000 on combined travel
expenses in 2001, with Jim Sullivan spending $20,500 on 15 trips,
Melanie Worley spending $14,400 on 12 trips and Mike Maxwell
spending $8,700 on seven trips.
The commissioners say, and we believe them, that the trips have
benefited the county in terms of generating federal funding for
transportation projects, providing a Douglas County voice at the
top levels and government and finding ways to improve
services.
However, contrary to county policy, some of the commissioners’
expenditures have been approved despite the absence of receipts. In
some cases, no more than hand-written items have been submitted and
accepted as receipts for expenditures.
The county’s budget director has, Sullivan said, urged the
commissioners to keep better track of expenses, so we are not alone
in our concerns.
Again, while we did not find anything that seemed highly unusual
or unnecessary, it all boils down to perception.
Yes, the county reaps benefits from its commissioners’ trips
elsewhere, but often those benefits are difficult to gauge unless
they can be measured in dollars. Not every trip generates actual
dollars, but that doesn’t mean those trips are
superfluous.
Thus, to maintain the public’s trust that travel has resulted in
hard-to-gauge but important benefits, the commissioners owe it to
their constituents to track the expenditures – to the penny. And
remember, save your receipts.