Want to know how your tax dollar is being spent?
Every taxpayer dollar will count as our cash-strapped cities face a tough economic cycle in 2010. Several cities already are wrestling with deficits and potential cuts.
It's even more important for us to ask how elected officials and governmental staffs are spending your money. Have a tip for one of our reporters about a local governmental agency? Contact them at localnews@thedesertsun.com or call (760) 778-4637.
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As questions go, it's a relatively simple one: How are public governments in the Coachella Valley spending taxpayers' money?
But as this morning's Page One reveals, the answer can be startling — for city residents and even members of Indio City Council. Our investigative report spotlights more than $800,000 in purchases made on taxpayer-backed credit cards since January 2008 in Indio.
We reviewed nearly 1,000 pages of credit card statements in a 22-month period that ended in October and were puzzled by the thousands of city dollars that paid for trips, meals (and lots of them), merchandise from a teen girls' fashion store and even tickets to an NFL and Major League Baseball game.
At a time when the city is experiencing a significant economic downturn and staring at potential staff cuts, budget reductions and taxpayer-sweetened early retirement incentives, why is this kind of spending being racked up on 62 credit cards?
And, no, that's not a typo: 62 credit cards.
We asked repeatedly for an explanation from City Manager Glenn Southard, who was fully aware of what we found after sifting through the documents.
At the very least, we were hoping he'd tell us why a $533.10 charge was on his city-issued credit card to pay for a trip to Quebec for his wife to join him at a conference for city managers.
But he declined, saying he and his staff needed more time to research the charges.
Seriously, Mr. Manager?
You really couldn't provide an explanation even after your staff gave us the documents on Nov. 25, received e-mailed questions last week about our findings and were peppered with numerous requests for details so we could ensure balance in our reporting?
What's especially puzzling is that sources in Indio tell me that Southard and his staff have met with at least one council member to review the four-inch stack of public records, and there was a strong rebuke of the spending being swiped on the cards more than a week ago. Don't be surprised if details of that exchange surface later this week.
“We got blindsided on this,” Mayor Gene Gilbert told Desert Sun reporter Xochitl Peña late last week. “We have a problem, and we can't go on like this. It seems to me like overall, some people are living on the credit cards.”
Why Gilbert and Indio City Council's other four members weren't fully aware of this “problem” until Peña and fellow reporter Erica Felci pointed it out to them is a question that also requires an answer.
I have a hunch, however, it won't be the only one directed at the City Council by Indio residents, many of whom are voters. High on that inquiry list should be this one: Why aren't you paying closer attention to the city's spending, budget and expenses tallied by your city manager and his staff?
Southard did issue a statement through Mark Wasserman, an assistant to the city manager and public spokesman, which, at first blush, seems to dismiss the $805,000 figure. It was described as less than 1 percent of the city's annual expenditures.
Actually, the city's annual general fund budget is about $52 million — money received directly from taxpayers. Wouldn't $805,000 go a long way to putting more police officers and firefighters on the streets or keeping some vital city services afloat at a time when Indio is pinching pennies?
I must emphasize that my reporting and editing team here at The Desert Sun does not subscribe to “gotcha” journalism. We're not focused recklessly on digging up improprieties or publishing irresponsibly headlined stories.
We invested dozens of hours of reporting and editing to this project to ensure accuracy, fairness and balance.
We believe Glenn Southard when he told city employees in a December memo, “The downturn in the economy continues to challenge many cities throughout the state, and Indio is no exception. It is critical that we continue to operate in a fiscally prudent manner.”
Fiscal prudence is an essential mandate for every public official, agency and government in the desert these days — including Southard and all holders of Indio's 62 credit cards.
And, yes, we're looking at more spending issues that we've uncovered in Indio, as well as examining the credit card use and expenses in all desert cities. That's what our readers expect us to do.
For today's story, Felci and Peña analyzed records that any taxpayer can request and asked a very simple question: How are they spending your money?
It's a question we'll be asking a lot in 2010.
Happy new year, and thanks for reading The Desert Sun and mydesert.com.
Rick Green is executive editor of The Desert Sun and mydesert.com. E-mail him at rick.green@thedesertsun.com, or call (760) 778-4637.
