Newsome, Seagle biggest spenders during city trip

Expense reports submitted by six Dothan City Commission members show disparity in what politicians were comfortable asking taxpayers to pay for on a recent trip to Washington, D.C.

While attending the Association of the United States Army (AUSA), one commissioner used a credit from a February city trip canceled due to bad weather, to pay for his plane ticket purchase, while another commissioner incurred additional fees of $375 by checking an extra bag on the trip and changing his flight and hotel reservation.

During the three-day meeting Oct. 5-7, taxpayers also paid for snacks that took the place of meals, daily valet parking at a Washington hotel, and premium gasoline for one commissioner who drove the 1,700-mile round trip.

Commissioners’ length-of-stay for the meeting also varied greatly, with three officials charging two nights hotel rooms to the city. Two commissioners stayed three nights and a fourth was reimbursed for a six-night stay.

Commissioner Larry Matthews did not attend the AUSA annual meeting because of a previous commitment.

The following is a list of commissioners’ spending, as provided by City Manager Mike West after the Dothan Eagle requested expense reports from the trip.

Commissioner Amos Newsome spent the most on the trip – $2,127.54 – because he drove. Premium gasoline to and from Washington cost the city $406. His driving costs were less than or comparable to airfare charges made by other commissioners, but hotel charges increased expenditures greatly.

Newsome’s primary expense was lodging at $1,421, all of which he put on his city credit card. He left Dothan on Friday, Oct. 3, spending the night at the Days Inn in Haw River, N.C. ($77), arriving at the Hilton in Washington D.C. the next day. The Hilton bill included four nights’ stay at $318 a night, including taxes. On his return trip on Wednesday, Oct. 9, Newsome stayed in a $112 room at Courtyard by Marriott in Charlotte, N.C.

While in Washington, Newsome used valet parking four times at $28 per use and had a daily $3.36 garage tax added to his bill. Officials said valet parking is not an option at downtown Washington hotels.

He submitted $144 in receipts for seven meals. The most expensive meal Newsome charged to the city was a $45 dinner (including tip) on Sunday, Oct. 5 at a restaurant at his hotel.

Newsome used a taxi and a toll road while in Washington. These charges totaled $30.60.

Newsome had this to say about his expenditures: “I usually drive. I haven’t flown since I went to Johnson City, Tenn. It is a little more economical when I look at the cost of flying. Driving saves a little money for the city. The additional hotel stay is a concern.”

Newsome said the drive takes two days and he was not aware the hotel charged valet parking. “That valet parking, several times (in the past) I parked without the valet costs. That is quite expensive to park and hotel costs are quite expensive.”

Newsome took his van and paid between $3.58 and $4.02 a gallon for premium gas. “Occasionally I do use premium. It is a fuel that I feel is best for my vehicle and I use that occasionally. I use mid-grade sometimes too. I bought fuel at some military bases,” he said, which saves on costs.

Newsome said by driving, he gets to spend more time in meetings, thereby gaining all the knowledge he possibly can. But in these difficult economic times, travel, Newsome said, “is something we are going to have to look closely at.”

Commissioner Keith Seagle submitted an expense report for $1,948.71, most of which he put on his city credit card. Seagle’s flight was the most expensive among the commission, costing $734 from Dothan, because it included a $100 (round trip) excess baggage fee and a $200 fee to change his flight.

According to receipts, Seagle was initially staying four nights, but moved his departure up one day. He also paid a $75 early departure fee at the Hilton. His lodging expenses totalled $999.

His food cost the city $127, and included charges for a $3 diet Coke at the Atlanta airport en route to D.C. and a $4 ice cream cone at Atlanta Harsfield Airport on his return. The city also paid $2.56 for an afternoon donut and coffee at Dunkin Donuts on Oct. 7. His most expensive meal on the city dime was $33.55. Seagle said he often ate snacks and not true meals because the food was expensive.

Seagle also submitted $63 in receipts for taxi cabs and a metro rail pass and $24 in parking fees for his vehicle left at the Dothan Regional Airport. Seagle said his wife was traveling so he had to drive his own car to the airport.

“I did not realize there was an extra $50 fee for extra baggage until I got to the airport and neither bag was small enough for carry-on,” Seagle said.

Seagle said he figured the early departure fees would be a wash in terms of saving the city some money by not spending another night. “After our meetings on the 7th with Senators Sessions and Shelby, there was not much reason to stay. I spoke to the manager on the early departure fee at the hotel and asked that it be waived. He said it was against Hilton policy.”

Commissioner Taylor Barbaree, who was accompanied by his wife, Jenna, spent $1,448.39, which included the cheapest air fare in the group. Barbaree flew out of Tallahassee for $361. The city paid $39 in airport parking fees for Barbaree and $108.81 – or 58.5 cents per mile – in mileage for the drive to the airport. With mileage and parking, Barbaree’s transportation still cost less than his peers.

The city did not pay any of the costs for Jenna Barbaree. The hotel rate was the same for one or two persons, Barbaree said.

The Barbarees stayed three nights in D.C. The hotel bill, charged to the city credit card, was $803. The couple stayed at the Omni, which had an average cost of $267 per night for three nights.

Barbaree did not ask for reimbursement from the city on any of his meals. His taxi cab expenses totaled $136.

Commissioner John Craig spent $1,383.65 on the trip including $652 for airfare and $616 for two nights’ stay at the Hilton, where Commissioners Seagle and Newsome also stayed. He placed both of these expenses on his city credit card.

Craig was reimbursed for four meals over three days, totaling $69.38. His most expensive meal on the city dime was also dinner on Oct. 5, which cost $42.35.

Craig’s taxi-cab charges were $46.25.

Over three days, Mayor Pat Thomas spent $1,313.26 – paying cash or using his personal credit card during the entire trip. Thomas’s airline ticket cost $616.98. Two night’s stay at Hotel Lombardy, where Commissioner Paul Lee also stayed, cost $549.92.

The city paid for four of Thomas’ meals totaling $54.32, including three in his hotel room, and a $6.60 omelet sandwich and bottled water breakfast at Einstein Bros. Bagels. Thomas was reimbursed for $85 in cab fare and $7 for miscellaneous hotel tips.

He has a city credit card, which he rarely uses and did not use on this trip, except to charge airline tickets for Craig and Seagle. Both men had ordered city credit cards but they had not arrived by the time the flights were booked.

Commissioner Paul Lee was the most frugal with city funds, spending $810. Lee, who was accompanied by his wife, Ellen, utilized frequent flyer miles and a credit from a previously scheduled city trip, so a $472 flight cost $48 out of pocket.

The city did not pay for his wife’s airfare or any of her other expenses. Most restaurant receipts submitted by Lee were marked “one-half,” indicating half the charge was reimbursed by the city.

He submitted receipts for two nights stay at the Hotel Lombardy, for a total cost of $502. His meals cost the city $142, with his most expensive meal out being a $23.90 dinner on Oct. 5. Lee submitted receipts for 10 cab rides totaling $118.