COLUMBIANA COUNTY Travel policy changes in offing

Other spending, including for the disadvantaged, is scrutinized more closely.
By NORMAN LEIGH
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
LISBON -- The next time Columbiana County officials want to jet off to a tourist destination for a conference or seminar, they may be compelled to publicly justify the need for it.
Jim Hoppel, county commissioner chairman, said earlier this week that commissioners will intensify their travel request reviews after a recent Vindicator series detailing lavish trips and expenditures by county officials.
Most county departments already must submit travel requests to the commissioners' office. The requests, which outline the destination, purpose and estimated cost of the travel, routinely have been approved with little or no comment at commissioners' weekly meetings.
Among the authorized conference and seminar trips in 2003 and early this year were visits by probate and juvenile court staffs to San Antonio; Galveston, Texas; and Las Vegas.
The prosecutor's office, without seeking commissioners' OK, sent people to New Orleans and Orlando, Fla., home of Walt Disney World.
The excursions -- including valet parking, car rentals and stays in luxury hotels and a casino -- cost the public thousands of dollars, much of it in state and federal tax dollars.
Other requests scrutinized
Hoppel acknowledged that commissioners generally scrutinize other spending more closely, such as requests from the county Job and Family Services Department to use state and federal money for programs aimed at aiding the disadvantaged.
In those cases, Eileen Dray-Bardon, job and family services director, publicly appears before commissioners and answers questions about the program and its value. Commissioners have refused to allow some proposals.
That same level of review now will be applied to any travel requests that seem extravagant or unusual, Hoppel said.
"We may ask them to come in a public meeting and give us support of why it's important," Hoppel said.
"We have the right to refuse" permission for a trip, he added.
Commissioners have seldom used that power before because they "let the elected officials determine what was necessary," Hoppel said. "We put our trust in them."
"We need to be more vigilant," Commissioner Gary Williams said.
Hoppel said commissioners also will be reviewing other aspects of travel.
He and Williams agreed a daily limit probably should be placed on reimbursement for lodging, meals and other expenses for traveling officials.
They suggested limits in response to The Vindicator's report describing the public paying for stays at premium hotels and resorts. County officials justified the lodging, saying that's where the conference they were attending was being held. But the newspaper's research showed less expensive lodging often was available nearby.
Both commissioners agreed the county must begin demanding itemized receipts from officials who declare meals and other expenses, not just the lump-sum slips frequently handed in.
Williams said the county also should ban paying for traveling officials' evening meals.
"They should pay for that themselves," Williams said. "They're going to have to eat supper anyway."
Hoppel disagreed, saying that expense is justified.
Trips to Columbus
The two commissioners said tighter rules must apply to the common practice of billing the public for officials' overnight stays in Columbus for one-day events there. The overnight stay is typically done as a convenience so public officials won't have to get up extra early to make the three-hour trip to Columbus the day of their event.
For training or a meeting starting at 8 a.m. or before, the overnight stay probably is justified, Williams and Hoppel said. But officials probably shouldn't charge the public for staying all night for one-day events starting after 9 a.m., they said.
Commissioner Sean Logan also has expressed concern about county travel practices. He was unavailable to comment for this story.