Indio City Manager Glenn Southard has a meeting in the afternoon of his first day on the job April 18, 2005, in Indio. Southard previously worked as city manager of Claremont. / the Desert Sun file photo
If you go
The Indio City Council will meet for a special closed session meeting at 4p.m. today inside City Council chambers, 150 Civic Center Mall.
The city will discuss a “golden handshake” early retirement incentive and the “performance evaluation” of City Manager Glenn Southard.
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Indio's city manager on Tuesday defended the city's use of credit cards as fiscally prudent, even as officials review spending policies and begin reining in meal expenditures.
City Manager Glenn Southard's comments to The Desert Sun came hours before the City Council issued the agenda for a special closed-door meeting planned for today that includes discussion of Southard's “performance evaluation” along with the city's proposed early retirement incentive. Council members say the credit card use likely will be discussed.
Widespread credit card use by city staff has drawn scrutiny from council members and residents after an investigation published in The Desert Sun on Sunday reported that the city's 62 cardholders had charged more than $805,000 since January 2008.
As of October, charges in 2009 were on pace to exceed those in 2008. Statements included charges for nationwide travel, frequent meals at local restaurants and tickets to three national sporting events.
“Credit cards are a good vehicle for purchasing,” Southard told The Desert Sun during an hour-and- a-half meeting Tuesday. “It's dependent on having good policies. But I don't know of anything that really is better and less time consuming.”
He also on Tuesday defended the charges as legitimate costs of doing routine city business. Several council members earlier this week also told The Desert Sun that most spending adhered to city policy.
Southard had previously declined to respond to the paper's 11 written questions about the city's credit card spending and specific charges, prompting calls from at least two council members for more answers.
On Monday, at the urging of Mayor Gene Gilbert, most of the city's cards were pulled back and oversight was tightened. Only department heads, key managers and council members will retain direct control of their cards. The rest will be in the finance department's control.
Charges specifically explained by the city manager on Tuesday included:
An April charge showed taxpayers paid for a ticket for Southard's wife so she could join him on a trip to Quebec.
Card statements showed a $533.10 charge on Southard's card for the September trip. Later that September, taxpayers covered a $15 baggage fee for his wife for a trip to Sacramento.
The city's travel policy states “expenses for spouse or family members who accompany an employee on a trip are the employee's responsibility.”
Southard blamed a mix-up in cards for the Quebec trip, saying his personal card covered the cost of his ticket when it should have been reversed. Because the city would have paid for his ticket, Southard argued there was no need for reimbursement.
Southard said he would reimburse the $15 fee.
“I don't feel the city was cheated in any way,” he said.
On July 11, 2008, two bills at the La Quinta Cliffhouse totaling $2,019.86 were covered by the card issued to Human Services manager Dave Ison.
Southard, in a written statement to The Desert Sun, said the charges were for a Youth Advisory Council dinner and part of a “going-away party for an employee who was a mentor to the council.”
The charges, he said, were covered through an Indian gaming grant geared toward youth programs. That's money typically used by cities to pay for street repair, police and other programs in order to mitigate the downsides of gaming in the community.
During the 22-month period reviewed, almost $9,200 was charged on assistant to the city manager Mark Wasserman's card for two trips to see the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim play baseball and one trip to see the Minnesota Vikings play football.
The Angels games were part of city-sponsored trips for employees and their families. Employees paid for part of the trip. City staff is still researching how the remainder was funded.
The Vikings game was part of the youth council's trip for a conference in Minnesota.
Neither Wasserman nor his family members benefited from the trip, city officials said Tuesday. Wasserman also has voluntarily closed his city card.
Southard said part of the youth program is to provide real-life experiences to the participants. The trips are recapped in presentations to council.
“What people don't really understand is they lack a lot of life experiences,” Southard said. “Most people that took the trip to Minnesota had never been on a plane. They had never been to a football game.”
Surprised by findings
When complete, a review of the city's credit card policy will be presented to the council. Southard said he has “no doubt” some cards will be reissued after the re-evaluation, saying other employees need the cards to do routine city business.
Moving to a different spending method such as purchase orders would require more manpower in the finance department, Southard argued.
Council members said they don't regularly review credit card charges before approving the final payment to the bank.
Four council members have told The Desert Sun this week that they were surprised to learn how many cards had been issued to city staffers.
“There is a policy; why they've deviated from it, I don't know,” Councilman Glenn Miller said. “There is no justification. It's really not that difficult to control.
“The reason I blame Glenn (Southard) is he's CEO of the city. He's told me multiple times the employees work for him.”
City officials already have announced a cut back on travel as they try to close a $9 million budget deficit.
Southard on Tuesday defended the meals on listed on credit card statements as pre-approved events and business meetings. But he said the amount of eating would be curtailed in the future.
“They're (residents) very upset with things that have happened because they think it's excessive and I agree,” Miller said about the spending revealed in The Desert Sun's report.
Councilwoman Lupe Ramos Watson said The Desert Sun's review of credit card statements “certainly did open my eyes,” adding officials “need to more clearly define the issuance of credit cards.”
“I'm glad that you did bring it to our attention,” Watson told The Desert Sun on Tuesday. “I'm glad this information has come forward. It makes us make better decisions.
“I'm confident we'll work through it. We'll come out stronger and leaner and more in tune with our policy.”
