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Your taxes paid for it: Local politicians rack up some eye-opening bills for the public to pay(Arizona Daily Star, The (Tucson) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Sep. 3--D -- baby goats brought in from an organic farm in Elfrida for the occasion. That's just some of the stuff taxpayer money in Tucson and surrounding jurisdictions went to in the past year, an Arizona Daily Star audit of public officials' spending shows. The $667 new phone belongs to Tucson Councilman Steve Leal, whose July 2005 bill came to $300 -- part of a $3,100 cell-phone charge for the year. Meanwhile, over in Marana, Councilman Bob Allen's Blackberry device racked up $1,585 in charges while sitting on a shelf somewhere. Many Marana town officials plan to turn their cell phones in to control costs. But invoices show the town was charged $226.50 per month from August through February for Allen's phone because, even though he had already turned it in, the service was never turned off. That makes Pima County Supervisor Ramon Valadez's $425 in cell charges last month seem like a bargain. The single-day $500 for meals was part of about $6,200 in travel spending for Tucson Mayor Bob Walkup, including an upcoming trip to Hawaii for a naval ceremony and the trip to Mexico City to talk about train service. Walkup and other Tucson officials weren't the only ones logging frequent-flier miles for the year. Sahuarita Town Manager Jim Stahle spent $7,335 for five out-of-town conferences, more than double the $3,000 spent by Tucson City Manager Mike Hein and nearly seven times the $1,059 spent by County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry. But you're probably wondering about those goats. To reciprocate to visiting Chinese officials who paid for Leal's and Councilwoman Shirley Scott's trip to China last year, Leal set up a dinner at Elle, A Wine Country Restaurant. Scott said the China trip was to look at fossils for the annual Tucson Gem, Mineral & Fossil Showcase. Leal paid $106 for the two donated goats to be slaughtered by the University of Arizona, plus $70 to cook them. He had the goats slow-roasted with Chinese powder and garlic for a 28-person feast that included five officials from China, three city officials and 20 assorted guests. The wine flowed. There were toasts of $100-a-bottle tequila. Tucson taxpayers footed the $1,100 bill for food and drinks, which Leal and Hein split -- not including the goats. Hein said his agreement to share the costs through his office didn't include the alcohol. Elle owner Jeff Luld said goats are apparently a celebratory dish in part of central southern China, so Leal wanted to honor his guests. He said the Chinese delegation ate it up. Scott said the Chinese didn't take a liking to Mexican food, and were high-level dignitaries, so it was "appropriate to treat them to high-quality provisions." She said goat was a delicacy for the visitors, and toasting is a tradition for them. Leal rejected any notion that the February party was for five Chinese officials and 20 of his invited guests. He said the Chinese were interested in cultural diversity and he assembled a diverse group to met them. Six months after the dinner and one day after the Star contacted him about it, Leal delivered a $550 check from developer Richard Price to City Hall. Even though Price wasn't at the dinner, Leal said he always intended for Price to pick up half the tab, including all the alcohol. One item turned up in the Star's audit that stood out from the common thread of travel and telephone bills was almost $2,300 in last-minute Christmas gifts for a charity that ran short. The gifts were purchased by Marana Town Councilman Tim Escobedo for Miracle in Marana, a charity program of which he is vice president. When he learned the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve's Toys for Tots program wouldn't be able to provide toys until a day after the annual event, he put $2,260 on his town credit card at Big Lots to make up the difference. Escobedo said he had permission from Town Manager Mike Reuwsaat. "Miracle in Marana has the full support of the council and the community," he said. Head-spinning cell bills Average Joe Citizen typically watches his cell minutes like a hawk, terrified of getting hit with overages. Not so government officials. Valadez's July bill came to $425, including $291 in overtime charges. Valadez said he recently switched phone services and just got a new Blackberry. He said his old plan allowed unlimited minutes, and he didn't realize the new plan had only 1,000 minutes. Huckelberry has two county cell phones, one of which he uses just a few times a month because his usual phone doesn't have coverage in Mexico, where he has a vacation home. Between them, the two phones cost about $136 a month. He said he's been "thinking about dumping" the second phone. "It seems gratuitous." Although some city departments have pool phone plans to lower costs, elected officials have individual plans, which opens the way for them to rack up unexpected charges. Leal is the biggest talker, averaging $240 a month and regularly getting overtime charges despite having a 3,000 minute-a-month allowance. For the past 13 months he has spent more than $3,100 talking on his Palm Treo cell phone. Leal said he reimburses the city $20 or $30 a month for the personal calls he makes, and he talks on the cell so much because "I return a lot of phone calls." "I pride myself on talking to people," Leal said. "If that creates a high phone bill, I think it's part of making democracy work. Instead of looking at it as high, you could look at it as a virtue." City Councilwoman Karin Uhlich billed the city $300 for calls for the month between when she was elected and when she moved into her city office because she didn't have a regular city phone. Since then her staff has continued to make extensive use of its city cell phones, with monthly bills averaging $194. Councilwoman Nina Trasoff and her chief aide, Paul Durham, have each averaged $133 a month to talk on their Palm Treo phones. In contrast, Councilwoman Carol West's cell bill averaged $38 a month and county Supervisor Ann Day averaged just $18 a month. Oro Valley Councilmember Conny Culver billed the town for any minutes that exceeded her $50 monthly plan on her personal phone. The highest bill was for $132.69. At least send a postcard While Walkup spent about $6,200 on travel, he wasn't the city's biggest spender. Councilwoman Scott spent $6,600 going to four National League of Cities functions, an organization where she sits on the national board. Besides the trip to Mexico to pitch train service to Tucson, Walkup also visited Las Vegas for a mayors conference, took two trips to Washington, D.C., as well as a trip to Austin with Tucson Regional Economic Opportunities Inc., and a trip to Salt Lake City. He has booked tickets to Hawaii later this month to be at the change-of-command ceremony for the USS Tucson -- his second trip to the Aloha State at taxpayer expense. He said he considered the trip "an extremely important part of being mayor." Stahle, the Sahuarita manager who spent more than $7,300 on travel, said he traveled more than usual in the last year, attending a municipal wireless Internet network (Wi-Fi) conference in Washington, D.C., because Sahuarita is considering such a system; and an International City/County Management Association conference in Minnesota because he is a new member. "Attending conferences relating to a person's career field is routine for all different types of professionals," Stahle said. "The only difference with town staff who attend conferences is that they are paid by taxpayers' dollars," he said. "We recognize this difference and the need to continue to give an increased level of scrutiny to the conferences we attend." Oro Valley Councilwomen Helen Dankwerth and Culver showed they were at least thinking about taxpayers when they plunked down $146 for dinner at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse in Washington, D.C., while attending a national conference. They justified it in a note on their credit card statement as their only meal that day, also jotting down that the tony steakhouse was the only place "available" when they arrived late in the nation's capital. What high gas prices? Tucson and Pima County officials don't have much reason to notice high gas prices because they get either government cars and free gas or a reimbursement for their own cars. Leal again led the pack, driving a city 2000 Ford Crown Victoria 17,500 miles on city business and charging $2,900 in gasoline on his credit card and procurement card at stations around town. "I go to a lot of community events," Leal said. Scott, who also has a city 2000 Ford Crown Victoria, drove 13,200 miles on city business but got her gas at the city pump, spending only $742. Walkup spent $750 on gas, splitting his purchases between the city pumps and commercial stations. He traveled 15,000 business miles in the city's 2005 Toyota Prius. Those three city officials all drove more than any county official. Supervisor Ray Carroll, whose district stretches from Green Valley to the Tanque Verde Valley, drove 12,737 miles on county business, and Supervisor Sharon Bronson, whose district includes the Tohono O'odham Nation and Ajo, logged 11,078 miles, similar to Day's 11,084 miles. County officials get county cars and can fill up at county tanks and get reimbursed when they're on the road. Local eats and credit swipes All that spending doesn't include local meals, which most public officials in the region avoided, save Leal and Walkup. Walkup spent $600 for 23 meals, which he said were for taking people out for lunch. His favorite spots included La Cocina in Old Town Artisans, Sushi Cho and the Arizona Inn. Leal spent about $200 out of his office for local meals. County officials don't have credit cards, and the records don't show reimbursements for local meals. "It's allowed," Huckelberry said. "But we just don't do it." And back to the Chinese delegation: Leal spent $498 to make copies of classic Chinese record albums and put them on CDs and another $250 on video mementos of their visit as gifts for the Chinese delegation. Since they had paid for most of Leal's trip to China, he said, "I wanted to reciprocate." $176 for a goat feast Councilman Steve Leal spent $176 for a pair of goats to eat. PDF: View the restaurant receipt from the goat dinner. $100 for a bottle of tequila Leal had a friend repay the city for the liquor -- after the Star's inquiry. $1,585 for an unused phone The town bought the service, but Marana Councilman Bob Allen never used it. $471 for a ticket to Hawaii Mayor Bob Walkup gets a taxpayer-funded trip there for the 2nd time. Pima County spending Category Day Valadez Bronson Carroll Elias Huckelberry Travel $0 $590.60 $2,089.82 $2,472.10 $2,659.21 $1,059.25 local food/ent. $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 cell phone $214.83 $1,835.53 $1,491.23 $461.10 $798.07 $1,771.33 vehicle (mileage) Dodge Durango Ford 500 Chevrolet Ford F-150 Ford Crown Ford 500 4x4 (11,084) (7,034) Equinox (11,078) (12,737) Victoria (7,648) (14,028) County budget: $1.2 billion; County population: 924,786; County full-time equivalent empoyees: 6,383 Tucson spending Category Hein Walkup Ibarra West Uhlich Scott Leal Trasoff Travel $2,850 $6,200 $2,000 $3,800 $4,000 $6,600 $0 n/a* local food/ent. $900 $600 $0 $0 $0 $0 $750 $0 cell phone $0 $1,300 $0 $504 $300 $522 (1/2 year) $3,100 $800 (1/2 year) gas/vehicle $3,900 $750+car $3,900 $300+car $53+car $742+car $2,800+car $75+car other $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $500** $250*** City budget: $1.102 billion; City population: 530,000; City full-time equivalent employees: 5,848 *Unknown (no receipts for one scheduled trip) ; ** for albums ; *** for videos (gifts to Chinese delegation) --Star reporters Tim Ellis, Andrea Kelly and Dale Quinn contributed to this report. --To contact reporters: Rob O'Dell at 573-4240 or [email protected]; Erica Meltzer at 807-7790 or [email protected]. Copyright (c) 2006, The Arizona Daily Star, Tucson Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |