by P.D. Lesko

On April 1, I sent an email to County Administrator Greg Dill:

Mr Dill,
Have Commissioners Lyte and Sanders been invoiced for their 2023 Flex
Spending account overspending yet? Could you please post 2024 spending
to date? Have you implemented any new policies or procedures to avoid
this problem in future?

On April 2, Mr. Dill replied:

Good evening,

Administration has completed the reconciliation of FY 21, 22, and 23 and will invoice Commissioners Lyte, Sanders, and former Commissioner Morgan later this week.

We have captured and plan to post quarterly updates on the amounts for FY 24. Additionally, I have recommended and forwarded to the Board of Commissioners an updated Procedure for Commissioner Travel Accounts.

The new procedure and reporting will begin immediately.

Good to see Commissioners will have an updated Procedure. Employees need to keep the bosses in line, after all.

In essence, by “immediately” imposing on County Commissioners an updated “Procedure for Commissioner Tavel Accounts,” Greg Dill threw the feckless elected officials under the bus, at their own request, I’m guessing.

Invoicing Morgan, Sanders and Lyte, and imposing an updated “Procedure” on his bosses, is a way to mollify public outrage. It’s also a craven tactic used by the County Commissioners to avoid dealing with their own problem colleagues, i.e. Justin Hodge, Annie Somerville, Caroline Sanders and Crystal Lyte, or the credit card abuse by Administration-level county employees such as Alize Asberry Payne, Greg Dill and Crystal Campbell.

Amid this Washtenaw Wonderland Through the Looking Glass, Greg Dill and his assistant Crystal Campbell spent $3,746 in taxpayer funds to pay for tickets and tables at a gala ball thrown by their respective college fraternity and sorority. Included in the dining, drinking and dancing were, yep, Hodge, Sanders, and Lyte.

The credit card policy that governs the card use of Greg Dill or Alize Asberry Payne is dated 2011; it includes no detailed rules about what personal items may be purchased.

How, exactly, do cocktails, dinner and dancing with fraternity bros and sorority sisters benefit the public?

Where’s the County Commissioner updated Procedure for reimbursement to County taxpayers for that blatant misuse of taxpayer funds?

In a statement to the A2Indy, Greg Dill defended racial equity officer Alize Asberry Payne’s purchase of the $3,746 gala ball tickets and tables, her $500 meals out and $4,700 in takeout soul food from an Ypsilanti restaurant. Dill said he had “approved the charges.” Dill’s explanation is akin to Siciliano mafia Don Matteo Messino Denaro defending his employee’s intimidation scams and demands for pizzo (bribery) by saying he had approved each crime.

For abuse of taxpayer money by County staff, including the Sheriff and his staff, Dill, Crystal Campbell, and Asberry Payne, the white majority of County Commissioners (including three of the four Ann Arbor Commissioners along with Yousef Rabhi, Shannon Beeman and Jason Maciejewski) would have to suck it up, do their jobs and put in place policies that would stop the Black County Administrator, his Black assistant, the Black racial equity officer, and the four Black Princesses (brush up on your pre-revolutionary Russian history) on the Board: Hodge, Lyte and Sanders and Somerville.

Unfortunately, these white Commissioners and Yousef Rabhi would rather entertain the Administrator’s Oct. 2023 white paper recommendation that they impose higher taxes, divert special millage surpluses, get rid of County unionized employees and cut services to residents. This appears to appeal more than stopping people who have been, for years, quietly using the County’s General Fund for their own personal benefit.

The refusal of these commissioners to do the jobs they were elected to do is the definition of racism: “A racist is someone who believes that other races are not as good as their own and therefore treats them unfairly or differently.”

The County’s racial equity officer spent twice as much on Uber rides, taxis, meals out and Uber Eats on her 18 trips taken between 2022 and 2023, than Caroline Sanders did overspending her $7,000 expense account. But we can all breathe easy: the County Commissioners have an updated Procedure on their travel spending. Uh huh.

In just a small number of receipts obtained using FOIA, I observed the County’s racial equity officer Alize Asberry Payne charging to her county credit card thousands of dollars for certain Commissioners’ travel expenses (Commissioners Hodge, Lyte, Sanders and Somerville). By doing this, these Commissioners quietly skirted their expense account limits and hid how much they actually spend on their own travel and lodging.

For example, the $2,954 Commissioners spent on Metrocar rides to and from the Mackinac Policy Conference in 2023 was paid for with Asberry Payne’s credit card; those travel costs weren’t added to the Flex Spending records of Hodge, Sanders, Lyte or Somerville.

Caroline Sanders said Asberry Payne used her credit card to book luxury hotels, Metrocars, and other items, because Commissioners don’t have credit cards (thank the Lord Visa). Records show Caroline Sanders loves to charge taxpayers for travel reimbursement. If she had a credit card, she’d be charging taxpayers for “mileage” and “meals” when shuffling between her bedroom and the refrigerator.

The only County employee who should be allowed to use a credit card to purchase anything for a Commissioner should be a dedicated staffer in the Finance Dept. Third party purchases should never be permitted to exceed any Commissioner’s $7,000 total Flex Spending limit. No more borrowing free money from taxpayers (looking at you Jason Morgan) and then reimbursing charges (or not, as the case may be).

What Led to the “Updated Procedure?” and the Reimbursements?

In Feb. 2024, I used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain public records (based on a tip from a former County employee). On Mar. 19 I wrote a piece about the County’s racial equity officer Alize Asberry Payne and her $115,000 in credit card spending on frequent trips, luxury hotels, thousands spent on Uber rides and Uber Eats, and $500 meals out–all on the public dime. Public records also revealed County Commissioners Crystal Lyte (District 2), Caroline Sanders (District 4) and Commissioner Justin Hodge (District 5) had all overspent their $7,000 expense accounts.

Four of the County Commissioners’ spending records and public records obtained using FOIA, revealed use of taxpayers’ money on a junket to the 2023 Mackinac Conference, overspending and missing reimbursements. Commissioners Hodge (Chair of the Board), Sanders (Co-Chair of the Board), Lyte and Somerville have been treating themselves (on the public dime) to lodging and travel their constituents can only dream about. To make matters worse, three of these Commissioners overspent their Flex Spending accounts, two by thousands of dollars.

In the article about Asberry Payne’s credit card spending, I revealed that public records obtained through FOIA showed that County Commissioners Lyte, Sanders, Hodge, and Somerville, had spent close to $35,000 for a 3-day junket to Mackinac Island to attend the 2023 Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce Mackinac Island Policy Conference. Their trip-a-palooza kicked off with a $1,477 Metrocar ride from the County Building in Ann Arbor to Shepler’s Dock in St. Ignace, MI. They took the same $1,477 Metrocar ride back to Washtenaw County when the conference ended. A van rented from Budget Rental would have cost under $500.

In her comment at the March 20, 2024 meeting of the Washtenaw County Commissioners, former Ypsilanti Twp. Trustee Monica Ross-Williams pointed out that 25 percent of the residents of Washtenaw County live in poverty. Ross-Williams discussed Commissioners who had spent thousands in taxpayers’ money on meals, luxury hotels, Metrocar rides, tickets to a gala ball, and travel. Ross-Williams urged Commissioners uninvolved in the profligate spending to investigate. In short, she urged the Ann Arbor County Commissioners, Shannon Beeman and Jason Maciejewski to do their jobs and protect taxpayer money.

In response, an outraged Commissioner Lyte (District 2) called Monica Ross-Williams a racist — three times. She called me a racist for using FOIA to obtain public financial records, analyzing those records, and reporting on the information in those records. In Lyte’s Mar. 20 tantrum — a hissy fit worthy of Donald Trump — she called The Ann Arbor Independent an unimportant publication. Then, on Mar. 31, she told MLive she thought it unfair to have to repay the County for the $2,100 she went over her $7,000 Flex Spending account.

What? Commissioner Lyte has time and again shown herself incapable of doing the job which she was elected to do. She is now tripping out on too much truffled foie gras spread on Petty Power brand water crackers.

County Commissioner Caroline Sanders overspent her $7,000 Flex Spending limit by over $4,000, which she used on air travel, conferences, luxury hotels and food. Sanders explained to the media why she had not repaid the taxpayers in the 8 months since she’d overspent her expense account. She blamed her lack of training by the County; absent training, the EMU Associate Dir. of Community Relations and Engagement didn’t know how to stay within her $7,000 budget, and didn’t know not to spend public money to which she was not entitled. Sanders claimed she didn’t know she had to reimburse the County promptly. However, in Jan. 2023, she voted to approve rules for Commissioners that required prompt repayment.

Records also revealed that in 2023 Commissioner Justin Hodge overspent his expense account by $962.37, which he reimbursed on Mar. 22, 2024, just days after he realized I was reporting on the Commissioners’ overspending and Mackinac Island conference junket.

When called out in an MLive article which was based on the A2Indy’s reporting, neither Caroline Sanders or Crystal Lyte apologized. They blamed Putin, Netanyahu, Erdogan, leprechauns, fairies and County staff (for not telling them they’d overspent their expense accounts).

Caroline Sanders, elected three years ago, blamed her lack of training on the policies and procedures related to spending expense account funds. Lyte swore, while owing taxpayers (for nine months) thousands of dollars, that she was not a thief. The Ann Arbor Independent article did not call her a thief, and neither did the piece in MLive. No one said Crystal Lyte was a thief, except Crystal Lyte. The term “Freudian Slip” seems to sum up her comments.

Former County Commissioner Ricky Jefferson commented on the A2Indy’s article which had been posted to the Ypsilanti Area Discussion Group on Facebook. He said, “According to the by-laws each Commissioner is responsible for keeping track of their own personal County expenses. They can request that Administration pull their account balances for their review at any time.”

Drop the mic.

Voters expect remorse when elected officials get caught with both hands in the cookie jar. In Crystal Lyte’s Mar. 20 public tantrum, what voters got was entitlement and unprofessionalism. According to Ricky Jefferson, Caroline Sanders served up a bunch of baloney in her effort to avoid taking responsibility for her actions.

There is one final reason that the actions of these let-me-eat-all-the-cake-I-want French aristocrats on the County Commission bother me:

Hodge, Lyte, Sanders and Somerville represent people who live in some of the poorest, most crime-riddled areas of Washtenaw County. While the Commissioners do themselves very well at the Grand Hotel, enjoy $5 carriage rides, and take full advantage of their $79 per diem for food, this is the skinny on the people whom they represent:

• According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the poverty rate in Ypsilanti is 27.3 percent and the per capita income is $30,863. Around 66 percent of residents rent.
• According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the poverty rate in Ypsilanti Twp. is 14.6 percent and the per capita income is $33,475. Around 42 percent of residents rent.
• According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the poverty rate in Pittsfield Twp. is 8.3 percent and the per capita income is $52,272. Around 41 percent of residents rent.
• According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the poverty rate in Superior Twp. is 11.4 percent and the per capita income is $54,903. Around 19 percent of residents rent.

In Somerville’s district almost 25 percent of all residents report having no healthcare.

As he frequently does, A2Indy vlogger/columnist Shannon McFall boiled down the ham hocks, hypocrisy and greed. He pointed out in his recent vlog on the topic of County Commissioner overspending, any normal person who was eight months late paying back a debt owed, and who refused to reimburse the money for eight months, would have been turned over to collections. Shannon correctly observed a regular person would have faced garnishment of wages and taken a hit on their credit report.

Maybe in addition to the new Procedure, Hodge, Lyte and Sanders should be removed from their leadership positions and have their Flex Spending accounts immediately suspended. JKLOL. Ain’t a single elected official currently serving on the Washtenaw County Commission who has the Rocky Mountain Oysters to protect the public by proposing that new “Procedure.”