CLEVELAND Report shows 700% increase in council's food expenses

CLEVELAND (AP) -- City council members spent thousands of taxpayer dollars last year on meals ranging from cheeseburgers to macadamia-crusted grouper, despite a deficit that forced layoffs of city workers, a newspaper reported.
The council spent more than $24,000 last year to cover food for themselves and staff members during long meetings -- a 700-percent jump from the $3,000 spent in 2001.
This year's food budget has been sliced to $5,000.
"It was excessive," council spokeswoman Maxine Greer told The Plain Dealer for a story Sunday. "When we realized it was excessive, in light of the budget deficit, we cut it back."
Leaders of unions whose members were laid off late last year criticized the spending.
"I have a major problem with that," said Paul Wells Jr., business manager of Laborers Local 1099, which represents the city's waste haulers and parks and streets workers. "Why didn't they dump this back into the kitty so we could bring workers back?"
Other expenses included handheld computers, Little League team sponsorships, flowers for funerals and even portions of monthly car payments in cases where personal cars were used for ward business, according to an examination of city records. Council expenses last year totaled $172,168, a small fraction of Cleveland's budget, which will top $464 million this year.
In addition to an annual salary of about $68,000, each of the 21 council members are allowed to spend $1,200 a month on ward-related expenses, or a maximum of $14,400 a year. Council's overall budget covers the cost of food for meetings.