Steak Dinners, Trips Go Unreported

by Christopher Peak | Oct 1, 2018 7:22 am

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Posted to: City Hall, City Budget

The Harp administration told lawmakers that a trip to Washington, D.C., for the U.S. Mayors Conference this January cost roughly $2,500. The real cost ended up at least $7,225. The Harp administration reported that a trip to Boston for another U.S. Mayors Conference this June cost roughly $4,500. The real cost ended up at $10,450. And the Harp administration did not disclose a trip to Miami last year for a third U.S. Mayors Conference, which cost at least $3,850, including a $315 dinner that city officials enjoyed at a steakhouse known for its truffle-butter-stuffed dinner rolls and half-pound filet mignons. The actual expenditures show up in city credit-card billing statements that the Independent obtained through a public-records request. (Click here to view the 227 pages of transactions, spanning from May 2016 through August 2018.) The records don’t provide evidence of fraud outside of a previously reported incident of an employee racking up $11,000 in unauthorized charges for what appear to be motel rooms, rental cars, and lunches. (The city expects to be reimbursed by J.P. Morgan Chase for that alleged theft. The employee has since been terminated; police have also opened an investigation.) The records do indicate that the city’s top officials haven’t been disclosing cross-country flights, hotel stays and hundred-dollar meals to the alders, as required by city ordinance. The records demonstrate a challenge that the Harp administration said it’s taking on in the wake of the $11,000 misuse: strengthening its procedures for tracking credit-card use, which city officials said saves time on preparing invoices and money through a state rebate program. However, the record is still incomplete. A billing statement from January 2017 was produced in an alternative format that excluded charges by Mayor Toni Harp and Controller Daryl Jones. And among the pages that were released appear charges from more than a dozen trips that were never reported to the Board of Alders. Two alders have called for a public hearing about the credit card usage. “It is unclear if the administration’s inaccurate financial reporting is a purposeful attempt to hide more spending on government travel, or the result of poorly managing how departments report spending to the Budget Office, or both. Either explanation is unacceptable,” Downtown Alder Abby Roth wrote in an email. “The nondisclosure is an insult to taxpayers, who have a right to know how their money is being spent, and it undermines the alders’ responsibility to manage the city’s finances.” The gaps in disclosure reflect confusion across multiple city departments about how to get their trips listed in the monthly budget reports, along with no clear guidelines about what counts as a reasonable expense. The city said in a recent press conference that it’s trying to streamline its processes. With a new software program, they said, they’ll conduct a “real-time” review each time an employee swipes the plastic. The program will give officials a “newfound ability to identify anomalies sooner,” said city spokesperson Laurence Grotheer. But without any guidelines about what counts as a reasonable expense and when it must be publicly reported, it’s unclear just what the reviews will be based on. Resort Stays, Underreported Twice a year, Mayor Harp and a few city employees go to the U.S. Mayors Conference for a few days of panels about the latest trends in local government. Twice a year, Mayor Harp and a few city employees go to the U.S. Mayors Conference for a few days of panels about the latest trends in local government. Last June, Harp, Controller Daryl Jones, and Executive Administrative Assistant Andrea Scott landed in Miami. They checked in at the Fontainebleau, the iconic luxury hotel right on the oceanfront, where the U.S. Mayors conference was being held. Towards the end of their trip, Mayor Harp charged a dinner at StripSteak, the hotel’s pricey steakhouse, totaling $314.80. None of the charges were reported to alders. Before heading home, Controller Jones caught a flight to Los Angeles, and he checked in at the Millennium Biltmore, a luxury hotel downtown. He was there for a pension workshop, Grotheer clarified this week. A few days later, Jones headed south to San Diego, where he stayed at the Hilton, a hotel near the convention center in the city’s historic quarter. He used the city’s card at four eateries: a New American restaurant, a craft beer bar, a Brazilian steakhouse, and the hotel restaurant. Grotheer said this week that Jones was there for a symposium on data and mapping. Those extra legs totaled at least $3,080, and they also were not reported to the alders. The “inadvertently omitted expenses” will be reported in one of the upcoming monthly budget summaries, Grotheer said. Under a city ordinance amended in 2005, the mayor must prepare a monthly financial report that tracks all travel expenses (along with other figures on tax collection, grants, pension investments, new hires, promotions and overtime). Mike Gormany, the city’s budget director, said that he wasn’t sure why there would be discrepancies between what a trip actually cost and what was reported. He guessed that any inaccurate totals might not count all forms of payment or all the passengers on a trip. Undisclosed Trips In total, the Independent found at least 17 trips by city staffers that went undisclosed, totaling $26,000. They included multiple departments across the city: Mayors Office, Finance, Youth Services, Fire Department, Health Department, Parks & Recreation, and even the Board of Alders itself. The Independent swung by City Hall to ask Budget Director Gormany about a $983 flight to Denver, which he explained was partially refunded after an employee could not attend, and business trips by a mayoral assistant to Palm Beach, Florida, and Birmingham, Alabama. Spokesperson Grotheer did not offer a response to question about the purpose of those trips. Overall, Gormany said, the city is getting better about making sure all travel is disclosed. Gormany estimated that his staff is currently tracking about 85 percent of all travel. He noted that sometimes the reports might be delayed for a few months, but they still make it in eventually. He added that some trips might be missing because the budget office can report only the information that other departments voluntarily send his way. Based on checks with other departments, there appears to be confusion about the process. Several department leaders believed they were submitting all the paperwork they needed to turn in to Purchasing Agent Michael Fumiatti, who regularly pays for their approved flights on his credit card and records the reason why. But Fumiatti said in an interview that he doesn’t create budget reports for other departments. Some employees also thought that if they paid back Fumiatti’s credit card purchase with their departmental funds, they did not need to report the trips. That’s why Byron Kennedy, the city’s health director, said he didn’t disclose that he was attending a medical conference in Chicago and a public health directors’ conference in New Orleans this year. Even one alder’s travel didn’t show up on the monthly budget reports. Rosa Ferraro Santana, who serves on the Human Development Committee, traveled to Little Rock, Arkansas, for a National League of Cities event in June, but the $680 airfare wasn’t recorded. Al Lucas, the head of legislative services, said that his staff normally sends all the back-up receipts to the purchasing agent to verify the costs, but he does not usually send an additional report to the budget director. A Palm Springs BOOST Others apparently believed that they didn’t need to report trips paid with special funds like a grant or a donation. Others apparently believed that they didn’t need to report trips paid with special funds like a grant or a donation. That’s why one parks department employee didn’t say he was going to Atlanta to represent the city at the Gallo Business Summit, “where scores of recreation directors from across the country had the chance to review, compare, and evaluate many of the latest products on the market [like] landscape maintenance and water park equipment,” Grotheer said. The city was reimbursed in full for the cost of the trip, which might explain its omission from the monthly budget reports, Grotheer added. Jason Bartlett too sent four employees who work with disengaged kids through Youth Stat to BOOST, the Best of Out-Of-School Time Conference, in Palm Springs, California. Bartlett personally didn’t attend, but he said it was a good professional development opportunity for his staff on how to run effective after-school programs. For one of the panels, he said, clinicians from Clifford-Beers presented on trauma. The airfare and hotels cost about $3,950 altogether. Bartlett said the four employees who went submitted all their receipts, so he wasn’t sure why the trip wasn’t listed. He also wondered if it didn’t make it onto the monthly report because it was paid with special funds. “Everybody knew [Youth Services employees] were going,” Bartlett said. He added that he checked in on the closing reports, because “as a supervisor, I want to know: What did you learn?” Lunch At City Hall The bulk of the city’s tab comes from Comcast cable, Verizon cell phones, and bulk purchases for city government and public safety. But the most frequent charges are lunches and dinners ordered for the mayor’s office. The bulk of the city’s tab comes from Comcast cable, Verizon cell phones, and bulk purchases for city government and public safety. But the most frequent charges are lunches and dinners ordered for the mayor’s office. During the last fiscal year, Mayor Harp alone racked up $6,190 in local meals on her credit card. In total, Mayor Harp ate out on the city’s dime 117 times last fiscal year, not including her dinners while traveling. The go-to restaurant, just down the block from City Hall, is Taste of Brazil, where she dined 35 times. The Greek Olive, where she ate 14 times, and Portofino’s, where she ate nine times, are just behind. The most expensive bill was for a $245 meal at Taste of China in March. So far, in the first month of this fiscal year, after hiking property taxes and delaying payments on the city’s debt, Mayor Harp is spending slightly more on dining than she did last year. Eleven dinners during July cost the city $590. To get a better sense of whether these expenses are reasonable, the Independent asked Grotheer to take a look at three of the most expensive meals that Mayor Harp charged this summer: $150 at Jack’s Steakhouse, $101 at Shell & Bones, and $112 at Cast Iron Chef Chop House. Grotheer said he did not have details about how many people attended, whether they were with employees or constituents, and what public business was transacted. Grotheer did say that city officials usually pay for meals whenever city business is discussed to avoid the appearances of being bought. “There are ethics laws and good-government practices prohibiting city officials, either elected or not, from accepting gifts,” he explained. “So, if there’s a meeting over breakfast or over lunch or over dinner, and that meeting involves a city official and the topic is city business, the city will cover the cost to ensure not even the appearance of a conflict.” Take Me Out To The Ballgame The hundreds of credit-card purchases include tickets for the New York Yankees, the New York Mets, the Brooklyn Nets and the New York Jets. But City Hall staffers aren’t making trips out to the ballgame. Bartlett, the city’s youth services director, said he asked to buy those seats for New Haven youth, giving them a chance to spend a day outside the city with a mentor. Some of those outings with at-risk kids from Newhallville were covered through an Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant, a federal program that provides funds for criminal justice. “We are concentrating on experiential outcomes. Sports build character and teamwork. It can give kids a reason to go to school, a reason to do better because they have to maintain a certain G.P.A. to play,” Bartlett said. “From our perspective, we are supplementing the experiences that kids have in a school day with the different types of things that we do, like three-on-three [basketball games] at the Hoop It Up tournament. Or we can put everyone on a bus to New York City to see a Yankee game or a Mets game. We’re trying to build relationships.”

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posted by: Ulmus Civitas on October 1, 2018 8:55am Yes, a public hearing and then a public recall are most definitely in order. Now we taxpayers know where our hard-earned dollars go. And if taxes go up 11%? “Let them eat cake.” But i think the revolution is coming with or without guillotines.

posted by: THREEFIFTHS on October 1, 2018 9:13am And the Harp administration did not disclose a trip to Miami last year for a third U.S. Mayor’s Conference, which cost at least $3,850, including a $315 dinner that city officials enjoyed at a steakhouse known for its truffle-butter-stuffed dinner rolls and half-pound filet mignons. In 1765, French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau wrote a six part book titled Confessions. In this book, he recollects the words of a princess of his time, who said:“Enfin je me rappelai le pis-aller d’une grande princesse à qui l’on disait que les paysans n’avaient pas de pain, et qui répondit : Qu’ils mangent de la brioche.”Translated in English:

“Finally I recalled the stopgap solution of a great princess who was told that the Poor peasants had no bread, and who responded: “Let them eat brioche.” The above statement fits all of them.They eat good you and the people who struggling to make ends eat Cake. I keep telling you all.Read this book if you want to see where New Haven is heading. City for Sale: Ed Koch and the Betrayal of New York

BY WAYNE BARRETT

Offers a behind-the-scenes look at the Koch administration and the New York City political machine, profiling the personalities involved in the many scandalous events. “Today’s reformer is tomorrow’s hack,” Brooklyn boss Meade Esposito used to say. Esposito had a special knack for making this motto a self-fulfilling prophesy. Surely one of his greatest triumphs was the sell-out he and other New York City machine bosses orchestrated around Ed Koch

posted by: fcastle1984 on October 1, 2018 9:35am Truffle butter stuffed dinner rolls and half pound filet mignon. That does sound tastey 😁 lol Ill forgive Mayor Harp as long as she sends me one I can only imagine what other types of fraud/misuse an audit will show. The alders may not have given Harp her 10k raise, but rest assured, she’s gonna get her money.

posted by: THREEFIFTHS on October 1, 2018 9:38am My bad. I forgot as R. Kelly said - Backyard Party off the tax payers dime.

https://youtu.be/PT7UOmPqXlk

Keep voting them in.

posted by: OhHum on October 1, 2018 10:13am Just living large on the peoples money. That was done at the university where I was employed and the people involved were not only fired, but arrested. However city and state gov’t in not really the real world.

posted by: observer1 on October 1, 2018 10:22am These conferences, expensive meals, airplane flights, and junkets at the taxpayer expense are borderline criminal. An 11% tax increase, no money to repair roads, bridges and fire stations that are ancient and falling apart. Engine 17 on East Grand and engine 15 in Westville date back to when horses were used, but there is no money to modernize them. Engine 8 on Whitney Avenue has been under repair since the end of 2017 with no completion date in sight and very little work being done. The firefighters are living in a trailer next to the station and nobody seems to care. The cops are driving cars that have springs coming out of the seat cushions and questionable brakes, but expensive steaks, flights and hotel rooms at the best hotels are okay. If we do not clean house in the next election we are just plain stupid and deserve everything the politicians are doing on our dime. People wake up, please!!!!

posted by: wendy1 on October 1, 2018 10:27am Are you going to vote for Toni again???????

posted by: Noteworthy on October 1, 2018 10:33am Luxury Living on the Taxpayer’s Checking Account Notes: 1. The city finished the last fiscal year with a $30 million deficit - only mitigated by debt and sweeping accounts of all available cash. The year before that, the city also ended the year millions of dollars in deficit and this year, the city is operating a deficit right now, today and has been almost since day one. 2. So why would you jet around the country, stay at some of the most expensive hotels in the country, dine at the most expensive restaurants and stick taxpayers with the bill? Why does anybody think this is ok? Why do you take additional staffers with you? 3. Conferences should be banned. There should be a travel ban city wide in all departments. 4. Paying for Toni Harp’s meals - and it must include a lot of drinking because that’s the only way a restaurant bill gets that high. And none of her meals should include any staff - they can pay for their own damn meals. 5. There is an on-going sense of entitlement and elitism that permeates City Hall. The stench of it is wafting over the city like a dead fish. That entitlement rot starts at the head and once again shows the dishonesty, lack of basic financial controls and any minimum sense of decency.

posted by: New Haven Taxpayer on October 1, 2018 11:01am WOW. When does it end?

Toni and her crew really, really, really need to go.

posted by: Noteworthy on October 1, 2018 11:05am Credit Card Notes: 1. The city’s credit card should not be used for travel. Let all employees, including the mayor, use their own credit cards and get reimbursement for it. 2. Each request for reimbursement should include the people one met with, what city business was discussed and at no time, should it include the expenses of someone else. 3. There is no need to go to more than one mayor’s conference a year. No staff needs to attend these either. 4. The credit card receipts also include limo rides. LIMO rides? WTF.

posted by: New Haven Taxpayer on October 1, 2018 11:07am Abby Roth needs to run for mayor. She and Ms Festa are consistently the only voices of reason from the BOA.

posted by: Jill_the_Pill on October 1, 2018 11:31am That $350 spent on dinner could have bought Daniels school an up-to-date desktop computer. The harm is broader than the dollars spent, as it makes the rest of the state hesitate to send financial resources to New Haven.

posted by: Thomas Alfred Paine on October 1, 2018 11:35am New Haven is in the midst of a financial crisis.

This is a time for sacrifice for the public good and these LUXURIES can easily be sacrificed with no detriment to the general public.

Taxes have been raised 11%. Schools have been closed. Many teachers, school counselors, and school librarians have been laid off. There will be more cuts to educational services in the near future, we are told.

Yet, City Hall staffers and other city employees spend thousands and thousands of dollars on costly travel, expensive dinners and luxury hotels, sometimes failing to report the full expenditures according to the Independent.

The counter-defense from these people will be: ‘theses conferences, seminars and workshops help us better serve the public! Information gleaned from these sessions provide cost-savings for futures services, make us more effective and efficient in our work!’

We live in an era when information provided in conferences around the country and around the world can be easily accessed from home or work on the computer via the Internet for FREE or for minimal costs. No need to pay for expensive plane tickets, exorbitant wining and dining, and fees for luxury hotels! Some have grown accustomed to these perks and see these LUXURIES as an entitlement, but WE CAN’T AFFORD THIS ANY MORE!!!

The citizens of this city would rather see the mayor and the aldermen cut costs by eliminating these unnecessary expenditures and use this money for books, computers, more teachers, school counselors, library media specialists, school nurses, security guards, and paraprofessionals.

This is a time for re-setting our priorities and making the right sacrifices to help save our schools and provide adequate human and material resources for our students.

We want our money more wisely spent! The information provided in this article is an insult to taxpayers. It betrays an blatant insensitivity on the part of city officials to the financial crisis we now face.

We deserve better than this!

posted by: westvilledad on October 1, 2018 11:42am can we request that everyone who went to a conference has to write a 500 word report on what they learned, what best practices they will use and how the conference was essential to them figuring out how to SAVE more money than the conference cost to attend (including truffle rolls, steak and limos.)

posted by: Jill_the_Pill on October 1, 2018 12:10pm >>> “The counter-defense from these people will be: ‘these conferences, seminars and workshops help us better serve the public! Information gleaned from these sessions provide cost-savings for futures services, make us more effective and efficient in our work!’” I’m pretty sure that last year I went to the same San Diego mapping conference that Jones attended this year. I stayed in an air-bnb 2 miles from the conference center and took the public bus. I ate at a diner, a food truck, a grocery store, and a ramen shop. I learned just as much as Jones did for 1/5 the cost.

posted by: Noteworthy on October 1, 2018 12:22pm And Harp/Jones is back with special bottled water because city water isn’t good enough. Cost: $2200 per month.

posted by: JCFremont on October 1, 2018 12:28pm Why are we surprised. Many people believe a municipal, state or federal government job believe the “Corporation” has an unlimited budget, those in the corner offices believe 5 star travel is part of the benefit packages.New Haven being a one party town they’ll just shuffle the deck, scold and perhaps find a sacrificial lamb to fire. As we see in Washington DC each administration begins with some Secretary of [Name the Department} being caught traveling “First Class” on the taxpayers dole. It is the most bipartisan thing they do.

posted by: cunningham While I doubt these expenses add up to much more than a drop in the bucket in the context of the city’s overall financial situation, there’s no denying the absolutely terrible optics here. Not to mention, failing to disclose expenses like these can be indicative of more substantial failures elsewhere. There’s definitely a thread that warrants pulling here.

posted by: Claudia Bosch on October 1, 2018 12:49pm All you Harp voters - what were you thinking? What are you now thinking? The city was and is in financial distress and who did you support: the state’s former first spender, the Chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee. This is despicable. This self serving mentality.

posted by: 1644 on October 1, 2018 12:50pm Grotheer said he did not have details about how many people attended, whether they were with employees or constituents, and what public business was transacted. “... if there’s a meeting over breakfast or over lunch or over dinner, and that meeting involves a city official and the topic is city business, the city will cover the cost to ensure not even the appearance of a conflict.”

Vendors buy meals to put the target in a more pleasant and receptive mood, and sometimes just as a poor consolation for the target having surrounded his time to listen to the pitch. I am at a loss for why any city official would meet need to do business over a meal. Don’t they have offices?

As for major league tickets, how many constituents can afford them? What’s wrong with the Yard Goats, or, until recently, the Bluefish? Youth overnight in NYC at a major league game, what’ that, $1K/kid? Not to mention, overnights’ with mentors sounds very risky from an abuse standpoint.

The biggest, waste, though, is Grotheer. Why can’t the Mayor speak for herself? [Chris: The Youth Services Dept. said the trips to baseball and basketball games were sometimes in the evening, but never overnight.]

posted by: Dennis Serf on October 1, 2018 12:57pm I too requested and received the credit card statements via FOIA, and I’ve been looking at the details. There are more charges that deserve investigation. Upon receiving the credit card statements in PDF, I followed up and asked the City to provide the credit card statements in Excel format so I could easily sort and analyze the data. I asked because I KNOW it is quick and easy to obtain the information in Excel format; I am a CFO for start-up companies and one of my clients uses Chase for its credit cards. It would take no more than 10 minutes to download 2 years of credit card activity in Excel format. But, the City refused because it does not want to make it easy for its taxpayers to know what is being spent on the city credit cards A few items to look at: 1. Why so many charges to the KG Corner Deli?

2. $1,000 to LA VOZ Hispana

3. Three charges of $690 each to MyHeritage https://www.myheritage.com

4. QU events $1500 on 2/27/17

5. NHLC Catering $3042 on 3/31/16

6. Conn Media Radio $1,000 on 3/21/16

7. Spotless Laundry $90.00 on 5/4/16

8. Spirit Halloween $418 on 11/7/16

9. GLow Store $974 on 8/1/16

10. Golf Center $853 on 7/18/16

11. $2500 per month on Crystal Water?

Dennis Serfilippi

https://newhaven.nationbuilder.com/ [Chris: I wasn’t able to check into all of these, but I did for MyHeritage. Their DNA testing was used during a summer school program. “What we did was curriculum around identification of who we are. We saw a movie here at City Hall, we took them to New Haven Museum, and when they came back, we did a genealogy and took to them to the Grove Street Cemetery,” said Jason Bartlett. “I have this big thing about just the self-esteem that comes from knowing who you are. We also connected youth from different neighborhoods and religions and races, and this speaks to that.”]

posted by: LookOut on October 1, 2018 1:11pm Harp and her administration clearly believe that we are fools….and considering that we continue to re-elect her, she may be correct in that analysis. The question is whether we will continue to be fools in November of 2019.

posted by: Gimp on October 1, 2018 1:16pm So the Mayor really gets something like $300,000 a year if we include her credit card benefits. Note that I didn’t say earns. If we throw in her limo and body guard it’s more like $500,000. It’s nice to know where our 11% tax hike went, and I expect there will be another 11% hike next year.

posted by: AverageTaxpayer on October 1, 2018 1:26pm What is with all of the $125-$200/month Comcast accounts? Please tell me we aren’t paying for cable tv!?!! And are these home accounts? It would be like the City to not just give everyone free cell phones, but also home internet and cable. Also, are their purchase orders attached to these expenditures? (Delineating exactly what the purchase consists of.) Or are we just supposed to trust that all of the Amazon orders are work-related? Finally did people note the $1,000,000 line of credit? What a friggin slush fund! What was the $825 at Golf Central in Shelton for? Who flew business class and who flew coach? Why the Windsor Locks/Bradley motel rooms at $124/each? So city employees could get another two hours sleep before a morning departure?

posted by: LuckyEscapee on October 1, 2018 2:00pm So THAT’S why everyone needed $4,000+ worth of uniforms. They ate themselves out of their current wardrobe.

posted by: Bobbe Bellamy on October 1, 2018 4:07pm This is incredible especially when there’s a set (meal) reimbursement rate in every union contract. My former department head when he traveled for city business, Accounting would hold him to the meal allowance set forth in the contract, although he wasn’t in a ‘union’. So .... WHO you are and POSITION HELD allows YOU to remain in the pockets of the least paid. The ‘bottom’ (US) continues to financially take care of what’s on top!!! The well-off continues to be GREEDY; the less fortunate continues to remain at the bottom. One day the bottom will collapse. Hopefully taking the GREEDY with us!!! Breakfast - $8.00

Lunch - $12.00

Dinner - $24.00

posted by: Dennis Serf on October 1, 2018 4:34pm It’s only fair that the taxpayers know more. To that end, I have filed the below FOIA request Good day Mr. Jones and Mr. Gormany - I would like to understand the City’s policies with respect to City employee expenditures on Travel, Meals, and Entertainment. That is, are there limits on the amounts an employee may spend with respect to a breakfast meal, a lunch meal, or dinner meal per employee? Are there policies with respect to how much an employee may spend on a single hotel room? Are there policies with respect to flying business class, coach, first class, etc? Therefore, I am respectfully requesting the following information: 1. A complete copy of the City policies and procedures with respect to employee expenditures on Travel, Meals, and Entertainment

Dennis Serfilippi

https://newhaven.nationbuilder.com/

posted by: Trustme on October 1, 2018 5:43pm Respect the game, Mayor Harp is a baller!!!!

posted by: FacChec on October 1, 2018 7:15pm Steak Dinners, Trips Go Unreported…“The records do indicate that the city’s top officials haven’t been disclosing cross-country flights, hotel stays and hundred-dollar meals to the alders, as required by city ordinance”. In addition to completely ignoring the full city’s ordinance reporting requirement, it is ironic (to put it very mildly on this site) that the Mayor signed off on all monthly reports which included: SUMMARY OF TRAVEL

FISCAL YEAR 2017-2018

MONTH ENDING; AUGUST 2018 https://www.newhavenct.gov/civicax/filebank/blobdload.aspx?blobid=32856 See pages 34&35; to view what the city did report, as opposed to the NHI report of travel they did not report.

posted by: southwest on October 1, 2018 7:19pm This is just ludicrous that the Mayor with all her promises can look the taxpayers of this city in the face and justify any of this spending after going up on taxes 11%. One thing I must politicians whether Republicans or Democratics are all the same..There theory is the last administration got theirs so now it’s our turn let’s live high and mighty on the taxpayers dimes while we laugh at how dumb they were for voting me in. It’s make no difference if they’re white,black,female or male they all play the same came..There is no decency left in politics so we the people have to change this..No more allowing them to steal our hard .earn money to have a party with their hired help plus getting payed a salary..I would like to no how many days a week theses people work so,that they can do all this traveling? So they just say book me a trip when they feel like it on the city credit cards..None of this is political correct but then to they don’t care because not only are the taxpayers paying their salaries but also paying for their cash flow,meals etc..I looked at some of the bills and the statement stated$1,000 spent at Madison Stop and Shop. Question for what? that’s my food bill for 6 months or more..They all need to be voted out which includes the Cluess Board Of Alder. Don’t theses people and the Mayor have a conscience? I can answer that NO !! No way can the Mayor or others that work for her justify this, plus her $318.00 steak dinner..What a Cluess Bunch !!

posted by: TackyJacky on October 1, 2018 7:33pm I’m starting to sound like a broken record. Every time something like this hits the media everyone including the alders are outraged about it. Then a few weeks go by and it disappears, we never hear about it again. China trip, unauthorized pay raises, private police limo for the mayor, unauthorized hiring and promotions and on and on. It’s time for a federal investigation.

posted by: Gimp on October 1, 2018 7:36pm Having re-read this at home, I’ve become really outraged and angry. Mayor Harp has been getting a free lunch most days on my and every other tax payers nickel. Do the rank and file workers get a free lunch? No they don’t. The reason given for the Mayor’s free meals, that she can’t be bought, is so disingenuous it should be attributed to Machiavelli. Plantation politics at its finest. If there are any upright and honest persons on the Board of Alders, can they please call in the FBI to investigate what appears to be institutionalized fraud. I know the individual amounts are small relative to the size of the city budget, but it’s completely immoral to have a $315 steak on the backs of taxpayers who have just been hit with an 11% increase, and in one of the country’s poorest cities. I am in no way suggesting that NHPD should get involved. Every year their overtime budget goes through the roof, and the Fire Departments does too. Do the cops and firefighters clock in and out, or do they just declare the hours they work? This needs to be looked at too. Please, please, someone stop this. New Haven cannot thrive with these shenanigans going on.

posted by: AliceB on October 1, 2018 9:04pm Going to California to learn how to run effective after school programs. Am I reading that correctly? Think about that.

posted by: Noteworthy on October 1, 2018 9:16pm Arrogance and Lies Notes: 1. Intentionally misleading others re: the amount of these trips is really rotten - this happens all the time and it happens with the press as well. If everything is on the up and up - everything transparent and honest, then why lie about these matters. 2. Case in point: Cost of these latest trips; cost of the employee raises; cost of the China trip - all of it has been revised and corrected. Then there’s the budget - hiding the deficits from years past - and even putting together a budget for this year that is inaccurate with no effort to reign in the departments that are spending beyond their means - police, fire and education for starters. 3. Who made the decision to bring back the bottled water? This fight and this issue were settled under DeStefano. It was canned. This is a $30K a year luxury. 4. It’s right up with Truffle Butter and staying in 5 start hotels. Are city executives flying first class too? Let’s see the receipts. 5. The city’s checkbook should be online.

posted by: new havener on October 1, 2018 9:53pm the reason why theses charges exist is simple. because they can. they won. the victors get the spoils. there is no control, except by the voters, and when they realize what’s happened, it’s too late. I’ve worked for a Fortune 10 and and a Fortune 500 company, and the practices with purchasing cards used by New Haven ‘officials’ for travel, meals, and general expenses would gotten many employees in private industry terminated. in private industry, you can’t. in government, you can. that’s the difference.

posted by: robn on October 1, 2018 11:06pm Let them eat steak.

posted by: jim1 on October 2, 2018 5:59am TIME FOR HER TO GO…............ AND HER PALS ALSO,

YOUR VOTE FOR HER MEANS MORE OF THE SAME..

posted by: Mawolcott on October 2, 2018 8:21am How can the Mayor allow all this spending! She’s taking advantage of her position. Are all the conferences necessary, guess not because she’s running New Haven further into the poor house. While all the employees are sacrificing their pay raises, their medical payments have risen but yet all these administrators are living large. Of a normal employee wants to attend any kind of training they have to pay for themselves! Can’t wait for the next elections

posted by: Pardee on October 2, 2018 9:46am No one should be surprised that this administration turned out to be a train wreck. Back in 2013, when Harp ran against Elicker, he carried around a dog-eared copy of the City budget with sticky notes hanging out everywhere. Whenever Harp was asked what she thought of the budget, her response was always a vague I haven’t had a chance to look at it yet. Did she ever look at it? Has she ever looked a City budget? Harp is part of a family that had no idea how to responsibly handle money but instead had a “magic eraser” to make debt disappear. Did anyone really expect her to be fiscally responsible? I remember reading that Harp entered her first inaugural ball to the tune of “Girl on Fire.” Harp and her regime are more like an inferno burning their way through our hard earned tax dollars. She will not be remembered with nostalgia as the first woman mayor but despised as the mayor who brought New Haven to the brink of if not to actual bankruptcy. Quite a legacy…

posted by: THREEFIFTHS on October 2, 2018 9:53am posted by: new havener on October 1, 2018 9:53pm the reason why theses charges exist is simple. because they can. they won. the victors get the spoils. there is no control, except by the voters, and when they realize what’s happened, it’s too late. I’ve worked for a Fortune 10 and and a Fortune 500 company, and the practices with purchasing cards used by New Haven ‘officials’ for travel, meals, and general expenses would gotten many employees in private industry terminated. in private industry, you can’t. in government, you can. that’s the difference. Not true.You can file a criminal complaint to the Attorney General to investigate 10 Ways to Get Fired From Federal Government (Or At Least On Your Way Out the Door) 7. CREDIT CARD ABUSE.

Even though employees are required to use a government credit card and may not get paid for several weeks after returning from TDY, employees are still required to pay the full amount when due. Not doing so can result in loss of credit card use. If inability to travel impacts your current job responsibilities, it could mean you need to find a new job. If you need to, plan your personal budget to make up for the slow payment process.

posted by: opin1 on October 2, 2018 9:56am They think and act like they are executives at a highly profitable private company that they built themselves from the ground up. When in reality they are elected leaders of a that is struggling financially. This is no longer a one off thing but rather a consistent pattern of irresponsible and unacceptable spending. Mayor Harp should resign, she’s not cut out for the public sector. She should use her many connections and go get a well-paying job in the private sector. The fiscal irresponsibility is blatant and obvious and consistent throughout her career.

posted by: Wood95 on October 2, 2018 10:02am The author of this smear article must really be upset that the Mayor had a steak dinner, which is referenced in the title and 2 more times in the body of this poor excuse for journalism.

posted by: Claudia Bosch on October 2, 2018 11:28am @Wood95 - This goes well beyond a single Steak dinner. Harp had dinner on my and I assume your dime about every second day of the week. I guess you like paying more tax (or rent) for office uniforms, bottled water, unauthorized wage increases for some friends, limo service and business trips to China? She WASTES money when the city is in desperate need for financial austerity.

posted by: Bohica on October 2, 2018 12:40pm Why are we surprised? They’re democrats they can’t help but spend your money. They have lifetime appointments in this State and no reason to be held accountable for anything they do, and no I am not a republican but a registered democrat who wonders why I don’t register as an independent.

posted by: Wood95 on October 2, 2018 12:52pm @ Claudia Bosch I love how you make baseless accusations with thin information. Why don’t you base your arguments on facts instead rumor and incomplete information.

posted by: Claudia Bosch on October 2, 2018 1:31pm @Wood95 - Baseless?

Well, the credit card statements are my base. If you read the above article you should know that: “In total, Mayor Harp ate out on the city’s dime 117 times last fiscal year, not including her dinners while traveling”. 117 times. Working days (Monday through Friday) are about 260. If you divide that number by two (130) - then you will notice that Harp ate nearly every second WORK day on the tax payers dime, since dinners while traveling are not included. If you include all days of the week, then it is every third day paid by residents. I get it. Math is hard and could be one of the reasons why this city has the frequent mismatch of planned cost and money spent (see first sentence of the article).

posted by: Blondie on October 2, 2018 1:32pm Exactly how many Comcast accts. with every possible available channel were taken care of monthly?!!! Find out who n where those accts are for…repay!!! Lots of pizza luncheons. Dunkin Donuts..Arizona…NY Yankee tickets…Verizon….Home Depot….Amazon. And i only read thru an eighth of the pages.

Taxes went up…people got raises…teachers laid off ... school cuts….but this card is used all over the USA…including amusement parks. Smdh

posted by: Wood95 on October 2, 2018 2:48pm @ Claudia Bosch - Have your heard of the term “context”. Probably not. The “context” questions you should be asking yourself – Are these expenses related Mayoral duties; and does this in any way violate policy or deviate from past mayors.



What good is math is it’s applied incorrectly on inaccurately? Have a nice day

posted by: robn on October 2, 2018 3:14pm “Taxpayer” it’s what’s for dinner.

posted by: Ngo Trahn Nhi on October 2, 2018 3:58pm No surprises here and nothing will be done.

posted by: Noteworthy on October 2, 2018 4:06pm Wood95 - We all get that you’re likely part of the cabal of sycophants that enable poor decision making at City Hall - but it’s time for a reality check: 1. Mayor Harp has been running this city for four years - three of the last four years have ended in financial deficits only mitigated by wiping out other accounts, refundings that added massive debt to the city books - and last year, executed a history making debt manipulation that added almost $100 million in debt payments for a short term fix. 2. The FRAC has testified that we will be bankrupt in the next 3 to 5 years if we don’t change. 3. The pension funds are losing 7% a year - and we are only funded at 30 and 40%. 4. We have not discussed the large legal liability Harp created through her management style in summarily firing people - and in one case, alleging illegal and unethical behavior - none of which was in fact true. 5. A rational thinking person facing this set of facts - would limit expenditures, reign in travel, not stay in 5 star hotels and eat cheaper when in fact, eating on the taxpayer dime is required. A rational person would not spend $30K a year on bottled water - hire limos to drive them to airports and hotels when UBER or cabs are cheaper. A rational person would not be going to three mayoral retreats to discuss issues that can be talked about on conference calls. A rational person would tell staff we are not buying food for meetings and a rational person would not do a lot of other things - but especially lie, mislead and misreport the expenditures in accordance with city ordinances. 6. Frankly, these issues have nothing to do with context - it has to do with contempt for our families. The mayor thinks we are human ATMs - kick us and money pops out so she can eat steak, truffle butter and drink at our expense. Take these facts and give yourself context and a dose of my contempt.

posted by: KNB on October 2, 2018 6:54pm In Lawlor’s Statements we find that :On July 17th we paid for someone to attend a cheerleading camp - this is title UCA Camps and Compeitions. How is this a justified city expense and who was sent to the camp? How were the people chosen for this camp? We also paid a patient records business - Practice Fusion - 200 dollars - who needs access to this? Why is the city paying for a patient records service? We spent 1000 dollars on Lake Compounce - for who? And why? What is the DRIKemp inc charge of more than 3000 dollars buying. DRI stands for Digital River Inc - this is a company that handles digital subscriptions to software and other types of products - so what has the city subscribed to? In Fumati’s we find - more than 800 dollars for the Golf Center of Shelton in July - who golfed - why? 400 dollars was spend at Glow City - a specialist in toys, games and costumes that light up. Hmmm - who needed these in city hall? 125 dollars at the U Conn bookstore - why? More than 3700 dollars spent on Six Flags - for who? How were people chosen for this? There are 3 $505.95 purchases at Stop and Shop on the same day and time. This is odd - how often do we see 3 purchases of exactly the same amounts at the same time and place. $1900 was paid to Create Space - a self publishing company. Why would the city need to self publish a book? There are ,multiple charges to Launch Trampoline Parks in Hartford - why? Who was chosen for these trips and how? 900 dollars was paid to the American College of Preventative Medicine in Washington DC - for what? How does this help New Haven? $4046 to the Praetorian Group a Cryptocurrency provider. Why would the city be paying for this? How does a city need to be involved with cryptocurrencies? I would like to hear the justification. $8200 was spent on a food handling course by SERVSAFE. For who? Which office? And - then there are so many generic Amazon charges - who knows what they are for?

posted by: Wood95 on October 2, 2018 8:32pm @ Noteworthy

I love how you take various canned talking points to tie them to this story. Its very Trumpish of you!Now more to the point. You have little to no idea about the charges are for. All you have is your preconceived assumptions, which were more than likely developed before the Mayor started her first day.

posted by: KNB on October 2, 2018 8:35pm We have a mayor that has created a culture where public funds are treated like private funds. Where city employees - mainly higher ups I assume - think that it is ok to regularly eat out on our dime. I will not be surprised to find that many of the Amazon charges in the credit card statements are also for private purposes not public ones. Public officials are supposed to be stewards of our resources. This means that they do not think that public money is their’s. Instead they think that public money is something to conserve and protect. This means that when someone says - I want bottled water - the Mayor says buy it with your money - not the public’s. When someone wants to eat lunch - the mayor says it is at your expense not the taxpayers. Instead - we have a mayor that clearly thinks that our money is not to be protected - it is hers and her staff’s to spend as they wish. This must end. The money spent on bottled water could have saved one part time teacher this year in our schools. Or it could have bought new text books for students in the district - Wilbur Cross is currently short on history texts for its AP classes - 30,000 dollars would have been more than enough to fix this and to insure that other classes were properly resourced as well. Some may say - it is only 2300 dollars a month for water - a mere drop in the budget bucket. But, if a dripping faucet is left on long enough the house will be flooded. And - we have a mayor and city government that is drip drip dripping our money away and sending our city into bankruptcy. It is time for a change. A real change in leadership.

posted by: Claudia Bosch on October 2, 2018 8:55pm @Wood 95. Context. Yes, I would like to have context - every single charge. Why was it necessary to dine on taxpayer’s money in a city possibly facing bankruptcy?

What are the priorities? Transaction Date

02-06 TST* The Greek Olive * New Haven, CT Amount 26.45

02-07 TST* The Greek Olive * New Haven, CT Amount 66.17

02-07 Captial Grille 0138055 Hartford CT Amount 104.14

02-08 The Tase of Brazil 135 Church St CT Amount 26.11

02-09 The Tase of Brazil 135 Church St CT Amount 28.56

02-12 Taste of China New Haven CT Amount 46.00

02-18 TST* The Greek Olive * New Haven, CT Amount 32.81 06-28 Dunkin #331028 Q35 New Haven CT Amount 6.15

06-28 Dunkin #331028 Q35 New Haven CT Amount 40.77 page 177

posted by: Wood95 on October 3, 2018 12:04am @ Claudia Bosch Because you are all knowing, I guess you are just going to assume that these charges have nothing to do with her duties. Of course, you would know. Last time I checked the Mayor is a 24/7 position, but that doesn’t matter if your not interested in finding out the truth. Keep on with the smear campaign.

posted by: AverageTaxpayer on October 3, 2018 8:05am FRAUD?? Those three $505.95 payments to the Stop & Shop in Madison were likely gift card purchases or money orders. WE NEED AN EXPLANATION. Also, on page 181 there are two sizable payments to a collection agency, Allen, Maxwell, Silver. One is for $2699.25, the other is for $3,345.39. WHAT THE HECK WERE THOSE? The long-time City employee that was fired for credit card fraud, didn’t she argue that everyone was doing it? For the record the employee worked in the Mayor’s Office, before transferring to Jason Bartlett’s Youth Services? TIME FOR A FORENSIC AUDIT!

posted by: Noteworthy on October 3, 2018 8:20am Wood95 - I don’t do canned talking points. I create them myself. Being mayor like any job, is 24/7. That doesn’t mean she’s working 24/7. Mayor Harp can’t buy her own cup of coffee at Dunkin? If you want to go to dinner with your friends, political associates - do it on her dime. If it’s city business, don’t do it at a restaurant if for no other reason - the city can’t afford it. It sets a tone of austerity. But that’s just if you actually care about austerity which clearly Harp doesn’t. She never has - at the state, at home or running the city. You keep harping on “context” - which sounds like something the high priced spox came up with to justify a lavish lifestyle of limos, drivers, restaurants and queen-ish behavior. But for our families struggling with huge increases in property and car taxes, it’s not funny. We don’t have an open charge account where we can just run up the bill and hand it off. We are making sacrifices and choices in order to pay Harp’s bills. You can belittle our concerns all you want. Your criticism is like water off a duck’s back. When she stops hurting our families and our businesses, when the city is running a real deficit, not a manipulated one that requires massive debt - she can have more lattitude and less accountability. When we’re facing the facts and seeing the impacts of her decisions on our lives - she doesn’t. If she doesn’t like it - can’t reign in her contempt for us - she should resign. On second thought, she should resign anyway.

posted by: Atwater on October 3, 2018 10:24am Finally, we know how to balance the City’s books and reduce property taxes. Just take away City Hall’s credit cards. Obviously this makes certain city employees and elected officials look careless and irresponsible. But, it’s mostly an optics issue and not really a cause to sound the alarms. I am sure that Destefano, etc., did the same thing. It really is a very small drop in a very large bucket. ‘ There are real reasons why the city is in questionable financial shape. Municipal mismanagement, bureaucratic bloat, overrated development projects, over-reliance on PILOT, etc. As well as just the general economic climate of the region. New England is quickly becoming the new rust belt, New Haven is not immune to this (Yale and the hospital are really the only reason the city is not more like Bridgeport). Perhaps we should focus on these issues and not waste time pouring over credit card statements like a bunch of penny pinching grannies.

posted by: Patricia Kane on October 3, 2018 11:42am @new havener: “the victors get the spoils. there is no control, except by the voters, and when they realize what’s happened, it’s too late.”

Actually, New Haven has an Ethics Commission and a Code of Ethics which you can access online.

Venting is good, but let’s see someone step up and do something. If someone believes that there was a violation of the Code of Ethics, then file a Complaint and let the Commission make such a determination. If acceptable errors were made, then let’s hear that.

The citizens of New Haven are NOT helpless and are not required to wait until 2019 to express their disapproval.

Our Ethics Code may not be the most complete, but it is a tool that can be used.

posted by: robn on October 3, 2018 1:25pm This is unacceptable behavior within any public institution never mind one that’s in a complete fiscal crisis.

Apologists for this behavior are trying to distract from the point that these many frivolous small expenditures are just another sign of the very large contempt that these officials hold for taxpayers.

We’re not a piggy bank. Where is the FBI on the myriad bad behavior being shown in the BOA and Mayors office?

posted by: Atwater on October 3, 2018 3:04pm Robn: The FBI? What crime has been committed in regards to the use of credit cards? I’m going to go out on a limb and say none. There might be an ethical issue, but there certainly is not a legal one. Just because you’re upset about your tax rates does not mean that the City government is breaking any laws. In fact, the sad thing is that probably all of what they’re doing (in regards to city management/government) is perfectly legal. Does the city government have contempt for tax payers? I don’t think so. They, like most other governments, have significantly over-stepped in regards to spending and look to the taxpayers to make up for the losses. For a historical example consider the huge deficit created by Reagan and the tax hikes by Bush I to make up for it. This is happening in New Haven and throughout several cities in the U.S. The only thing that will help this is either an influx in business and thus an increase in the commercial tax base or a significant cut to city services. And, by significant I mean drastic (closing parks, libraries, etc.). It’s called austerity and it usually leads to protests in other countries. This credit card outrage is really just misplaced anger over the tax increase and the city’s bungling in regards to finances. The focus needs to be on the bigger issues though and not on the use of a credit card. The economic situation in New Haven is not going to get better, ever. The city’s population will likely continue to decrease so that the only people that remain are the wealthy Yalies and the very poor, who will be confined to a few neighborhoods on the periphery. As the population constricts the financial situation will work itself out to a nice plateau.

posted by: robn on October 3, 2018 3:50pm ATWATER, Calling BS. This crime is theft and I’m sure if the FBI looked into communications between Boss Bob Proto and the union aligned alders, they’d find clear corruption of public office.

posted by: Thomas Alfred Paine on October 3, 2018 4:10pm Although New Haven has been dominated by Democrats for more than 65 years, the current Democratic leadership is very much like the current national Republican leadership in that we have a Democratic mayor who exercises nearly unchallenged leadership and does certain things which portray poor judgment and an insensitivity to the needs of the general public, while the members of the Board of Aldermen rarely flex any muscles to question, challenge or block some of the questionable, unethical and nonsensical things the mayor may propose or do.

Surely something is terribly rotten in the state of New Haven when the mayor cries ‘we are broke’, yet gives herself and her staff raises, goes off on trips to China, creates unnecessary positions, drags the city into unnecessary lawsuits with personnel, and approves expenditures for costly travel, expensive food and luxury hotels for herself and members of her administration. While this happens, we’ve had a 11% tax increase, some schools are closed, educators are terminated, services may be cut and we face dire fiscal consequences.

Aldermen are mostly silent and go with the Democratic party status quo. Opposition and criticism of the mayor are see as betrayal. Some rightfully fear reprisals for thinking and acting independently and challenging the mayor. Certain staffer on these posts come to her defense to save their jobs!This is the penalty we suffer in a one party city. LOYALTY to party is greater than devotion to the public!

That is the issue with Republicans who know Trump is wrong on major issues and policies, yet would rather be in good standing with a tyrannical president then stand up for right and truth.

That is the situation with many of our aldermen.

Common sense needs to prevail. We cannot afford to have our government act as though we are not on a sinking ship.

We need new leadership in New Haven. Harp acts as though she will not run again. She may, but she has committed political suicide by her actions.

posted by: Atwater on October 3, 2018 5:31pm Robn: Corruption? From credit card purchases? I don’t see even a scintilla of reasonable suspicion for that, not from this report. I’m sure the FBI would agree. Unless you’re talking about just the general business of the city government. Which again, there really isn’t any reasonable suspicion to launch an investigation, at least none that has been reported by the press (see, this is why we need a free press). It sounds like you want the FBI to go on a fishing expedition on the taxpayers’ dime(s). The “crime” that you imagine is happening behind closed doors has already happened in plain sight. Your tax money has been spent on under-performing schools, tax abatement schemes, which fund market rate and affordable housing developments, a dysfunctional police department, a top-heavy fire department, and a few of projects that do nothing but increase the gloss on downtown so that Yale doesn’t complain. No need for a Federal investigation.

posted by: AverageTaxpayer on October 3, 2018 5:43pm @ Atwater — Whoa, please. Without a FORENSIC AUDIT, how do we know the people at the top weren’t misusing the credit cards for personal or campaign expenses? One City employee has already been caught charging over $11,000 of personal expenses on one of these cards. One of her defenses was that everyone else was doing it. (Will she actually be charged? If not, that in itself is a giant tell.) Certainly some of these charges look very suspicious. Expensive meals out, Jets and Nets tickets, those three $505.95 charges at a Stop & Shop in Madison, payments to a collection agency, undocumented travel, etc, etc. Was it just one person misusing these cards? I think at this point we deserve real answers.

posted by: Thomas Alfred Paine on October 3, 2018 8:00pm This HARP is out of tune with the people of this city. It is time for her to step aside and move on, before she is defeated in a primary.

If there was a call for a vote of no confidence in her leadership at this time, a large percentage of the citizens would support that move.

It appears that Toni Harp is clueless about the optics of the combination of a double-digit tax increase, blatantly wasteful unrestricted and undisciplined spending in the midst of a fiscal crisis, the the turmoil of school closures and layoffs of teachers, school counselors and school librarians.

Harp’s apparent cavalier attitude is more reminiscent of a monarch who answers to no one, rather than a democratically elected mayor who should be accountable to the people.

posted by: Elm City Raised on October 4, 2018 9:54am I see this story as sensationalism. A splashy headline with little substance to support what the claims are. Frankly it’s a false narrative. Understand that I’m not saying that communication between the City, Alders and others can’t be improved. I am saying when you look at a three year period and question costs and disclosures that are fine but understand the scale you are questioning. My first take on the story was that the author doesn’t understand business. If I have meetings with 3 to 6 people and food is involved it can cost between $300 to $500. Furthermore, the City has guidelines on how much and what can be expensed. Internally they have checks and balances to review and decide what is and what is not a valid charge. What was striking for me and what makes me call BS on this was looking at a three year period, 2016 – 2018, and questioning $26K in charges. That’s roughly $8.5K annually or slightly over $700 monthly… conclusion, it must be a slow news cycle. Lastly, don’t get me wrong. I’m all for the system of checks and balances within the city and with the Alders and other watchdog groups. However, I must just point out that the numbers offered are small and immaterial.

posted by: Jill_the_Pill on October 4, 2018 10:42am ECR, $8500 a year could outfit a classroom with 25 chromebooks. It could provide a year’s worth of an after-school soccer program or a couple of field trips. It’s not the magnitude of the expenses per se, but the choice of priority in an environment of austerity-for-everyone-else.

posted by: Patricia Kane on October 4, 2018 10:48am @Elm City Raised: “Furthermore, the City has guidelines on how much

and what can be expensed. Internally they have checks and balances to review

and decide what is and what is not a valid charge.”

It would be helpful to publish those guidelines so the public can evaluate the overall situation.

posted by: Elm City Raised on October 4, 2018 3:04pm Jill_the_Pill and Patricia Kane, I understand your points but many of what you propose is already being done. JTP, many New Haven schools have computer banks and labs that help the kids integrate academics with the flow of information the internet provides. The unfortunate part is infrastructure. Many schools do not have the bandwidth or ability to utilize these tools to maximum impact. Patricia Kane, you are right that guidelines should be readily available for all and that’s why you can use you Alderperson or other watch groups to address such issues. The problem I see here is defining what context the public would weigh in on. We all have differing ideologies and what I may feel is beneficial others may not. Unfortunately it’s complicated when se start counting all the beans in a zero sum equation. It’s just not practical. Better yet, take local and national charities. Do you know what they invoice for business they do?

posted by: Jill_the_Pill on October 4, 2018 5:54pm ECR, that’s just a side-step. Put your $8500 to bandwidth/infrastructure then. The point remains the same: in a tight financial situation, there are better ways to spend it than on dinners.

posted by: Gimp on October 5, 2018 12:54am I have previously stated what I believe would be a possible course of action on this issue, which I am really mad about, but the NHI will not post my recommendations. Simply put, elected officials and their appointees have a certain view on what they can do with taxpayers money. I, and many others, judging from the posts here agree, that the prerequisites that the Harp administration takes for granted are not appropriate in the present, chastened times with the city going over the financial abyss and in to bankruptcy. In many ways they are not acceptable in any circumstances. Is it okay to have some doughnuts at a mid morning meeting? In my opinion YES. Is it okay for the Mayor to charge up her lunch 2 or 3 days a week? From the amounts charged NO, as she is eating by herself, and there is no city business being transacted. Are the Amazon charges okay? I don’t know, but I’ve no doubt some of them are legitimate, as it’s an easy way to purchase stuff. Are the three charges to MYHERITAGE.COM legitimate? I’d need a lot of convincing on that one. Why are there charges at the Madison Stop and Shop? The suggestion they are gift cards rings true. There’s a Stop and Shop in New Haven on Whalley Avenue, much closer to City Hal for legitimate purchasesl. If this was a legitimate purchase, why was this store not used? Come on voters, put pressure on your Alders to get to the bottom of this. It looks like there’s a Swamp that needs to be cleared right here in good old New Haven. Are you up to it? After an 11% tax hike if you are not up to fighting this one you deserve all you get. REPLACED. The Nuclear option awaits. Flight from New Haven. It’s happening Statewide already.

posted by: Dennis Serf on October 5, 2018 12:29pm On Monday I requested, via FOIA, a copy of the City policies and procedures with respect to employee expenditures on Travel, Meals, and Entertainment. I followed up on Wednesday and was told my request is being processed. And while I appreciate the Controller’s office efforts to respond to my request, I find it somewhat worrisome that the policy has yet to be delivered. One would expect that this type of document would be readily available. The delay leaves me wondering if (a) a policy even exists and (b) if it is exists, if it is being modified in light of the recent disclosures. Dennis Serfilippi

https://newhaven.nationbuilder.com/

posted by: robn on October 5, 2018 1:06pm DS, Mayor Harp didn’t even have a campaign platform until about a month or two before her first election when she had her staff carbon copy Elikers and rearrange some of the words to avoid charges of plagiarism.

I’m sure they’ll do the same thing WRT the document you’re looking for.

posted by: Dennis Serf on October 8, 2018 9:45am I still have not heard back from the Controllers office, but did get my hands on the City Policy. See below.. I suspect the reason why is because it appears as though the Mayor and some other City officials have at times exceeded the per diems allowed under the rules. Question remains if the City Officials reimbursed the City. Dennis Serfilippi

https://newhaven.nationbuilder.com/ Part one

ARTICLE 14 - Travel And Reimbursement Section 1

In any case where travel is required in order to provide an approved City service, at the Department Head’s sole discretion, the employee shall be either furnished with a Municipal vehicle or reimbursed for the use of their personal vehicle in accordance with the provisions of this Article. Section 2

Any job-related travel by an employee shall be performed by either public transportation, or City-owned or leased vehicle, or by personal car covered by insurance which names the City as an additional named insured. Such certificate shall contain a provision that the City shall be notified upon policy termination. Section 3

Employees in a position requiring local travel as part of the job assignment shall be prepared to use a personal car for such travel and will receive a mileage reimbursement at the I.R.S. rate. Assignment of municipal vehicles shall not be exclusive. Each such vehicle shall be used only for City business travel. Such travel by City employees shall be as travel schedules permit. Unless excepted or specifically authorized by the Mayor, Chief Administrative Officer, or their designee the following guidelines regarding personal use of City vehicles shall be followed: (i) City vehicles shall not be used on personal business; (ii) Travel done by the employee for a purpose other than providing an approved City service shall be subject to discipline and shall not be subject to City reimbursement, (iii) Employees may not take municipal vehicles home overnight.

posted by: Dennis Serf on October 8, 2018 9:50am Part two 4) Meals: The City will provide reimbursement for the actual cost of meals up to the following per diem rates: Breakfast - $8.00 Lunch - $12.00 Dinner - $24.00 (i) Payments in excess of the above will not be approved except for the cost of meals at official program conferences not included in the registration fee. (ii) Gratuities: The City will pay the actual cost of gratuities up to 15% for meals. 5) Taxis and other local transportation, provided they are listed separately on the appropriate form and explained. 6) Parking or garaging for automobiles used for approved travel. 7) Miscellaneous: Any miscellaneous expenses incidental to City business must be explained in detail. NOTE: The City will not pay for telephone, telegraph, entertainment, laundry or other items of a personal nature not necessary for the conduct of City business.