Maybe elected officials in PG should not have credit cards? (California: appointed, 2013)

[Zimar]

What is this, embarrassing incident #45,345?

The Prince George’s County Board of Education voted 8-1 to suspend board member Carletta Fellows’ board credit card due to more than $700 worth of unauthorized expenses.

Fellows (Dist. 7) said she will pay the money back within a month, even though she feels most of the expenses she charged were justified. She said she does not plan to appeal the council’s decision.

“I’m just outraged, because these are taxpayer dollars, and we have to take this very seriously as a board. We cannot allow this to continue,” said board member Edward Burroughs III (Dist. 8), who put forth the motion to strip Fellows of her credit card at the board’s April 25 meeting.

An emergency item was added to the agenda, where school system internal auditor Michele Winston presented the board with a list of expenses for February and March, during which Fellows’ county-issued Visa was used to pay Washington Gas bills ($103.22), Verizon Wireless bills ($212.71), Pepco bills ($26.45) and a $20 bill for alcohol.

Utility bills? Only $20 on alcohol? She's even mediocre at being bad. If you're going to screw over the taxpayer, go big or go home!

And why is the credit card the only one being suspended here? Ms. Fellows is the guilty party, the credit card is just an innocent patsy!

http://www.gazette.net/article/20130...mplate=gazette

[adelphi_sky]

Originally Posted by Zimar

What is this, embarrassing incident #45,345?



Utility bills? Only $20 on alcohol? She's even mediocre at being bad. If you're going to screw over the taxpayer, go big or go home!

And why is the credit card the only one being suspended here? Ms. Fellows is the guilty party, the credit card is just an innocent patsy!

Gazette.Net: Prince George’s school board member has credit card suspended

She didn't go big because her intentions weren't to bilk taxpayers. I look at this..

“I believe this is all about a retaliation in reference to me supporting the agenda of the county executive,” said Fellows, referencing her support of Prince George’s County Executive Rushern L. Baker III’s bid to realign control over the school system away from the board and under his office.

...and say that if you're going to talk big, make sure your ducks are in a row. You make waves, people are going to pick over everything you do with a fine-toothed comb.

I think their process is backwards. I think they should move to a reimbursement model rather than people charging first and then getting caught with infractions later. You're more honest when your own funds are on the line.

But as controversies go, $700 worth of misused credit card funds is small potatoes. I'm not excusing her actions because she's ultimately responsible for knowing what qualifies as work-related expenses and what doesn't, but this pales in comparison to other more well-known county shenanigans. Nevertheless, I don't think they should have let it past private conversation. Which makes me think this is payback.

[Zimar]

Originally Posted by adelphi_sky

She didn't go big because her intentions weren't to bilk taxpayers. I look at this..



...and say that if you're going to talk big, make sure your ducks are in a row. You make waves, people are going to pick over everything you do with a fine-toothed comb.

I think their process is backwards. I think they should move to a reimbursement model rather than people charging first and then getting caught with infractions later. You're more honest when your own funds are on the line.

But as controversies go, $700 worth of misused credit card funds is small potatoes. I'm not excusing her actions because she's ultimately responsible for knowing what qualifies as work-related expenses and what doesn't, but this pales in comparison to other more well-known county shenanigans. Nevertheless, I don't think they should have let it past private conversation. Which makes me think this is payback.

You know, I know that this is politically motivated and I would give her a pass for being sort of offensively stupid (seriously, she thought her utility bills would qualify as an office expense?), but a huge part her job is fiduciary- monitoring the school budget! We can't afford to have people this clueless in office.

[adelphi_sky]

Originally Posted by Zimar

You know, I know that this is politically motivated and I would give her a pass for being sort of offensively stupid (seriously, she thought her utility bills would qualify as an office expense?), but a huge part her job is fiduciary- monitoring the school budget! We can't afford to have people this clueless in office.

I agree.

[North Beach Person]

Who was the official who did the same thing, in multiples, when she was on the School Board? She was one of the stated "reason" for its abolishment several years ago. I think she's Clerk of Courts now.

[bowian]

Originally Posted by North Beach Person

Who was the official who did the same thing, in multiples, when she was on the School Board? She was one of the stated "reason" for its abolishment several years ago. I think she's Clerk of Courts now.

Marilyn Bland. I believe she took her family to Disneyworld on her BOE credit card.

[Lubina]

Not endemic to PG. A few years back some woman in MoCo stole money from her HOA and went to jail for it. She too took her family to Disney. Not the same person on the school board though. Some officials steal. Bell, California takes the cake though.

[molukai]

Originally Posted by Lubina

Not endemic to PG. A few years back some woman in MoCo stole money from her HOA and went to jail for it. She too took her family to Disney. Not the same person on the school board though. Some officials steal. Bell, California takes the cake though.

So what you're saying is...we shouldn't make a big deal about fraud and abuse of taxpayer funds by an elected official in a school district that is the laughingstock of the region--no, country? If Bell, California does it, then meh, let's just chalk it up as 'one of those govvie things...'

[armory]

The last thing anyone in Maryland state government needs is a taxpayer funded automobile or credit cards for any reason at all. The governor is trying to tax us for rainfall at this point and the always honest politicians of Maryland, state or local, are programmed for graft; I have seen it over and over through the years. I don't know how a state can compete with Illinois for corruption but Maryland gives it a run.
Strip all county and state employees - elected, appointed or hired of all cards/cars. The rest of us don't get them yet foot the bill for them...

[molukai]

Originally Posted by armory

The last thing anyone in Maryland state government needs is a taxpayer funded automobile or credit cards for any reason at all. The governor is trying to tax us for rainfall at this point and the always honest politicians of Maryland, state or local, are programmed for graft; I have seen it over and over through the years. I don't know how a state can compete with Illinois for corruption but Maryland gives it a run.
Strip all county and state employees - elected, appointed or hired of all cards/cars. The rest of us don't get them yet foot the bill for them...

I think that as in with the private sector, there is a case to be made that necessitates credit cards for business use. In the case of government, it just needs to be held to an even higher degree of scrutiny. Every transaction made with the card should show up on a public site; that alone would keep politicians honest.