State auditor's race is boiling down to coffee
YOUNGSTOWN
One of the hottest issues in the Ohio auditor’s race is coffee.
A television commercial from state Rep. John Patrick Carney, the Democratic nominee, accuses Republican incumbent Dave Yost of spending $7 in taxpayer dollars per cup of coffee at a fraud and waste conference two years ago.
Carney told The Vindicator on Wednesday the commercial is based on Yost’s office receiving permission from the Ohio Controlling Board for the two-day conference in February 2012 that included $7,000 for 1,000 “coffee breaks.”
He added that the actual cost was probably more than that, though he offered no evidence.
While the final bill from the Hilton Columbus at Easton, where the event was held, doesn’t break out coffee expenses, it lists “bottle(s) of assorted regular, diet and decaffeinated soft drinks” at $3.25 a bottle. It isn’t clear if coffee, which was served at the event, was included in the beverage bill or was omitted. If it is part of the “soft drinks” charge, it’s less than half of the $7 estimate.
Yost said the document to the Controlling Board was an estimate, and Carney “got this flat wrong” by not following up to determine the actual costs.
“I’m so angry about this,” Yost said. “This is a man who wants to be auditor, the truth-teller of state and local governments, the person who has to be able to read the documents, get the numbers right, tell the truth and be reliable.”
Carney said he never saw the Hilton bill, and questioned why the conference was at one of, if not the most, expensive hotels in Columbus.
He added that he still stands by the statements in his commercial. “It’s a fair and accurate ad.”
Read more of the campaign controversy in Thursday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.