February 1, 2010
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News: Tulare County Questioned on CC Abuse
Questions continue to haunt government agencies on credit card spending of employees and executives as more and more incidents of abuse is reported. In Tulare County, California the Board of Supervisors appear to have done their fair share of spending; a recent report indicated that they racked up over $50,000 in credit card transactions which included traveling expenses, meals, and hotel bills during the first seven months of 2009. Records indicate that the board charged over 228 meals on the taxpayers' tab. Most of those meals were for county supervisors while a small number included other county employees or private citizens. Although the charges seem high, credit card receipts for the first six months were down 10.3 percent from the same time 2008.
The highest amount of credit card charges was by Supervisor Allen Ishida which included nearly $7,000 in meals and travel expenses. With less than half of Ishida's charges, Supervisor Pete VanderPoel spent approximately $3,200. VanderPoel's spent nearly $1,000 more than his predecessor during the same time 2008. VanderPoel defended his credit card spending in saying that as a new Supervisor, his expenses included additional traveling to the new supervisors' institute for training. The lowest card statement was that of Phil Cox who spent just under $1,000 while included travel to Washington, D.C. and Sacramento.
The Board of Supervisors were not the only county members to travel at taxpayers' expense, Administrative Officer Jean Rousseau also racked up nearly $10,000 on county cards for travel expenses to Seattle, Sacramento, San Diego, and Washington, D.C. County spokesperson, Eric Coyne said that these types of travel and meal expenses are allowable under two county code provisions; one being when a supervisor needs to travel for business purposes outside their districts. The board of supervisors has been asked to present a copy of the board's policy covering credit card spending; however, they have yet to do so.