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Health & Fitness

"DinnerGate" - What she SAYS and what she DOES.

We’ve been looking at claims made by Councilwoman McCullough about her use of the City’s travel expense budget, and comparing what she says with what she does. Last time we looked at the amount of City money she spent on her husband’s expenses. Here’s what we found –

  • McCullough claimed she spent City money only to pay her husband’s portion of the taxes when they shared a meal. But in fact, from 2012 to 2013, in addition to paying his share of the taxes, McCullough used City money to pay for her husband’s share of tips and delivery/service charges when they shared meals. It also appears that at times she may have paid for his food.

  • McCullough claimed she had the City pay her husband’s share of the taxes to compensate him for the money he paid to buy her bottled water and snacks, but we found that she charged the City for bottled water and snacks on most of her trips.

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  • In addition, when they shared a taxi or limousine, her husband rode for free, and McCullough used City money to pay the entire fare. Hundreds of City dollars were spent in this manner.

  • Today our focus is on McCullough’s claims about being reimbursed.

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    Claim – She Doesn’t Ask for Gas Reimbursement

    McCullough claimed “I do not ask for gas reimbursement.” (1.48:30)

    Truth

    McCullough almost always asks the City for gas reimbursement. Here’s the record-

    • 01/2012 - $14.11

    • 06/2012 - $13.87

    • 09/2012 - $84.83

    • 04/2013 - $64.49

  • 06/2013 - $13.93

  • 09/2013 - $14.43

  • There’s nothing illegal about charging the City for mileage reimbursement, but why would she lie about it when she does it all the time? Is she a compulsive liar? Does she not remember what she does and what she charges the City for? If every time you go on a trip on City business and you always charge the City for mileage reimbursement, you’d think she could remember that this is her pattern. But she claims she doesn’t charge the City. At the time she made the claim, it made her look magnanimous. Now that someone did the homework, it makes her look like a compulsive liar!

     

    Claim – She is Allocated Only $50 Per Diem

    McCullough claimed “We are allotted $50 a day” (1.52:02)

    Truth

    There are no limits on how much she can spend. The Code reads – “Reimbursement for meals is for reasonable, actual costs, including tip” (Lodging, Transportation, and Meals - Section 3c)

    In truth, it’s extremely rare for McCullough not to exceed the $50 a day allotment she claimed. Here are examples of her food costs only -

    6/14/2012 - $134.82

    • 10:10 am – breakfast - $27.55

    • 14:11 pm – lunch - $22.43

    • 18:55 pm – bottled water - $4.99

    • 19:08 pm – dinner -$47.61

    • 21:43 pm – 2nd dinner - $33.24

    1/17/2103 - $114.89

    • 10:46 am – breakfast - $20.48

    • 11:44 am – bottled water - $8.98

    • 20:04 pm – dinner - $85.43

    9/5/2012 – $110.79

    • Breakfast - $28.00 (no receipt on this day, just a charge)

    • 12:20 pm – lunch - $7.54

    • 10:00 pm – dinner - $75.25

    1/16/2013 – $103.28

    • 12:25 pm – lunch - $32.23

  • 21:32 pm – dinner -$62.07

  • 21:32 pm – bottled water - $8.98

  • 1/18/2012 - $81.12

    • 9:37 am – snacks - $5.97

    • 13:23 pm – lunch - $26.39

  • 19:43 pm – dinner - $27.55

  • 19:51 pm – snacks and bottled water - $21.21

  • BTW – no one cares about how much McCullough or anyone else spends on City business, assuming it’s reasonable. What brings this issue up is McCullough’s false statement about how little she has to be able to spend.

     

    Claim – She Only Gets Reimbursed $2 for Tipping

    McCullough claimed that she tipped more than $2 per bag because her bags were “heavy”, but she claimed she never accepted more than $2 from the city. She added “City doesn’t give me any extra money. They only gonna pay according to our policy” (1.55:51)

    Truth

    We don’t know how much money McCullough actually tips a baggage handler, or if she even uses a bag handler. The City doesn’t require receipts and relies on the honesty of the Council member.

    According to the records, McCullough always asks the City to pay her more than $2 for baggage handling. Here’s the record –

    • 01/2012 - $6 x 6 tips ($36)

  • 06/2012 - $4 x 6 tips ($24)

  • 09/2012 - $5 x 3 tips ($15)

  • 01/2013 – $4 x 4 tips ($16)

  • 04/2013 - $6 x 2 tips ($12)

  • 06/2013 - $4 x 5 tips ($20)

  • 09/2013 - $4 x 6 tips ($24)

  • That’s a lot of tips.

    We don’t know how much she paid, if anything, but we know the claim that she only asked for $2 is a lie. Furthermore, we know her claim that the City never reimbursed her for more than $2 is also a lie.

     

    SUMMARY

    McCullough made 3 claims about reimbursement policies. She claimed (1) she never asked for reimbursement for gas, (2) she was limited to $50 per diem, and (3) she never asked for or received more than $2 for baggage handling. All these claims are false.

    Next time we’ll look at McCullough’s claims about her personal habits. Quite frankly, no one is interested in McCullough’s personal habits, but when she introduces them into official testimony from the dais at a City Council meeting, and does so in dispute of what she views as an attack on her integrity, McCullough herself puts her personal habits on the table for inspection.

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