DinnerGate - The Cover Up

Patch readers will recall that earlier this year I looked at “irregularities” in Councilwoman McCullough’s travel expenses, especially since she seemed to be saying one thing and doing something very differently. Almost everything she said was incorrect, and when I looked at the data, turned out to be false.

But going beyond merely distorting the truth, it looked to me like, among other things, Mrs. McCullough was spending City money on her husband’s personal expenses when she traveled to conferences. It also looked like her penchant to ride in limousines and taxis violated the City’s requirement of using the least expensive transportation mode possible.

In other words, not only was she lying about how she conducted herself when traveling on “city business”, it looked like what she did in some cases may have been illegal.

Bear in mind, traveling to conferences is not exactly “city business” in the same way that attending a Council meeting is City business, or attending a meeting of the Fire Authority. Going to conferences is more like a perk. It’s not a requirement of the job and many Council members don’t do it.

I received copies of her reports from 2012 to 2013 and after considerable research found what I considered to be more than 60 instances in which Mrs. McCullough violated the City code, with about $1,000 that appeared to be spent inappropriately. I gave the material to two different and independent CPAs and they confirmed my suspicions. I then informally contacted City staff to inquire into the process by which these things could have happened, and was told that the City basically operated on an honor system and that Council members’ expense statements were not scrutinized to any great extent, and thus it was possible that the irregularities I discovered had in fact occurred. I concluded there was sufficient cause to bring the irregularities to the attention of the proper authorities.

What happened next will amaze you. Stay tuned for the next episode.