by P.D. Lesko

In 2013, The Ann Arbor Independent published articles detailing county employee stays at Las Vegas casinos, resorts and 4-star hotels at taxpayer expense. Analysis of 3,600 credit card charges made in 2014 show no trips to Las Vegas and a significantly smaller number of charges at resorts and luxury hotels.

AFTER THE ANN Arbor Independent published a series of articles detailing county employee stays at Las Vegas casinos, resorts and luxury hotels at the public’s expense, a county employee expressed irritation to colleagues via email, which the paper obtained using a Freedom of Information Act request.

“Please read the email and the article link below….I am pretty sure that this kind of scrutiny will be ongoing…so keep this in mind when approving travel. While our practices are within county policy, we need to add public perception to our list of considerations.”

Another email from a county-level elected official in response to the series was sent to the County Administrator. It was an inquiry as to whether Verna McDaniel was planning to demand a retraction. She did not do so.

County Commissioners Yousef Rabhi (D-Ann Arbor) and Andy LaBarre (D-Ann Arbor)  asked for an explanation of the expenditures revealed in the newspaper’s article.

It has been seven months since the series was published. The newspaper followed up with analyses of over 3,600 credit card transactions made by county employees in 2014.  Credit card records show that Washtenaw County employees have made no charges on their county credit cards at any Las Vegas casino over the past seven months. In addition, charges for meals out at taxpayer expense have declined, as have charges for stays at resorts and luxury hotels.

There are notable exceptions: for starters, the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s department. Records show that in April 2014, there was a charge for $1,163.45 at a Hyatt hotel, a $604.90 charge at Country Inn and Suites and $1,573.90 for three hotel charges recorded between April 21-25, 2014.

On May 7 the County Board of Commissioners received a general fund budget update which outlined a projected $347,565 general fund deficit, including a projected $564,000 shortfall in the Sheriff’s Office. The projected shortfall, according to a information from the County Administrator, was attributed to “inmate food and medical services & law enforcement operating supplies.”

Sheriff Clayton has said his department has had surpluses in past years—money which he says has gone back to the county’s general fund. However, the August 2014 general fund budget update indicated that the Sheriff’s Department projects a growing deficit, at $673,000, for “overtime, inmate food and medical services & law enforcement operating supplies.” The August update covered budget data through June 30.

In May, Sheriff Department staff charged $1,010.97 at Courtyard Suites and $1,577.36 and Comfort Inns. In July, the Sheriff’s Department charged a $581.80 stay at a Hyatt in Raleigh.

In fact, the Sheriff’s Department was the county department with the most luxury hotel credit card charges above $500.

Katherine Wyatt, Sheriff Clayton’s executive assistant, pointed out that the Sheriff is frequently invited to conferences as a speaker, and his staff regularly attend professional development events.

Other county departments which spent over $500 on luxury hotel stays included:

• Sharon P. Sheldon, a Program Administrator in the county’s Public Health Department, charged a $533.14 stay at a Hyatt to taxpayers in May 2014.

• The credit card of county Fleet Manager Nicole Hann was used on May 12 to pay a $3,318.04 hotel charge at a Millennium Hotel. In June, Hann’s card was used to charge a stay at a Hilton costing $811.96.

• Information Technology Department staff charged a $740.16 stay at a Gaylord Resort.

In early June, Washtenaw County Drain Commissioner Evan Pratt charged $317.55 for a charge at Michigan’s Crystal Mountain Resort. Days later the charge was reversed. In emails released in response to a Freedom of Information Act request, Pratt complained about The Ann Arbor Independent’s scrutiny of county employee credit card charges and alleged that he often paid for his own conference-related expenses. He also pointed out that the aggregate hotel charges were a small portion of his budget.

While a previous analysis of credit card charges between 2011 and February 2014 revealed county employees eating out at the expense of county taxpayers both around the county, as well as around the country, the number and total cost of meals out charged to county credit cards has fallen significantly.

As was the case when the newspaper last looked at county employee credit card charges, records show no charges made by either County Treasurer Catherine McClary or any of her 12.5 staffers has a county-issued credit card. McClary told The Ann Arbor Independent:

“Under the previous County Administrator (Robert Guenzel) the county started issuing credit cards to anyone who had a ‘business need’ for a card. That seemed a little lax to me. There was too much possibility for abuse and/or fraud.”

McClary doesn’t mince words. “The controls weren’t tight enough under the previous County Administrator (Guenzel). We have very specific written procedures now.”

McClary and her 12.5 staffers are charged with accounting for $1 billion dollars per year—$500 million dollars that come into the county’s coffers and $500 million dollars that go out of the county’s coffers. Not a penny more and not a penny less. When County Treasurer Catherine McClary suggests financial controls might be lax, or that there might be the possibility for abuse or fraud, someone should be listening to her.

The Treasurer’s budget is approximately $1.46 million per year. She does sign off on conference attendance requests for her staff, but expects her people to learn new skills.

“We look at the conference agendas,” said McClary, “and the list of speakers, workshops, etc….We spent $3,903 on professional development for 2013.”

The county treasurer thinks it’s important that public money is used for the public good. She is not a fan of funneling public money to private development—something both city and county pols do by giving property tax dollars to Ann Arbor SPARK.

In May, July and August, county records show that Treasurer McClary’s office spent $1,881.60 to send staffers to the Boyne Mountain Resort and $380 bill for a stay at the Grand Traverse Resort, all at taxpayer expense.

Catherine McClary argues that conferences are important, particularly the opportunities for face-to-face networking, where attendees exchange information and ideas.

“I go to the Michigan County Treasurer’s conference,” said McClary. “It was in Las Vegas one year. Imagine, 83 Michigan county treasurers wandering around a casino. I spent $20 gambling. The group hasn’t been back to Vegas, however. We just weren’t comfortable with Las Vegas as a venue.”

In answer to whether the curtailing of travel and meals out by her employees was the result of a directive, County Administrator Verna McDaniel said “these decisions are being made at the department leadership level. I am pleased that they are accountable and conscientious.”