{"id":1327,"date":"2011-10-31T09:26:34","date_gmt":"2011-10-31T13:26:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2011\/10\/75day-lowndes-county-travel-policy-lcc-24-25-october-2011.html"},"modified":"2011-10-31T09:26:34","modified_gmt":"2011-10-31T13:26:34","slug":"75day-lowndes-county-travel-policy-lcc-24-25-october-2011","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2011\/10\/75day-lowndes-county-travel-policy-lcc-24-25-october-2011.html","title":{"rendered":"$75\/day Lowndes County Travel Policy @ LCC 24-25 October 2011"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/a>\nCommissioner Crawford Powell wanted exemptions or exceptions\nto Lowndes County’s travel policy for\n“department heads, elected officials, County Manager”.\nCommissioner Richard Raines just wanted the limits raised.\nCommissioner Joyce Evans preferred they\n
\n…make a statement that we should not exceed a certain amount per day.\n<\/blockquote>\nChairman Ashley Paulk said exceptions were a problem and indicated they\nwould be a bad idea.\nPowell and Raines are the same Commissioners who thought accepting a\nfederal grant for NOAA Weather Radios would be “wasteful spending”\nof tax dollars and who refused a federal grant for an emergency vehicle.\nSpending local taxes seems fine with then when it comes to their travel expenses.\nThey finally adopted a total of $75\/day for meals.\nI hate to agree with Frank Barnas, but \nGSA standard for trips to Atlanta is $56\/day.<\/a>\n

\nAt the Monday 24 October 2011 County Commission Work Session,\nCounty Manager Pritchard said the county’s travel policy had been discussed\nduring their retreat and during budget preparations,\nwith changes for mileage reimbursement, meal limitations, and use of tax forms.\n.\n

\nThis is the policy we have been acting under since the adoption of the budget.\nI just wanted to bring it back before you to make this adoption public.\n<\/blockquote>\nJoyce Evans expressed a concern about it saying the County Manager or his\ndesignee could approve expenses.\nShe seemed to want the designee part removed.\n

\nCrawford Powell said:\n

\n\n<\/a>\n\n\n

\nI’m concerned on the limitations on the meals, uh, that if we get into\na situation where we’re out of town traveling, taking a number of folks\nin and out,\nthat the limits are going to leave some of us exposed\nif you run into that situation.\nOr department heads, elected officials, County Manager;\nis there any exemptions to that or exceptions to that we can write in there?\n<\/blockquote>\nCounty Manager Pritchard said he didn’t remember anything about that, but\nsaid the Commission could make changes.\n

\nPowell resumed his request:\n

\nI’m still concerned that I want a policy that’s practical and that’s frugal,\nbut I don’t want to have one also that’s going to bind somebody and\nput somebody in a bad position if they’re over that amount.\nYou know if there can be an exception written in there with documentation\nbased on department heads, County Manager, elected officials, or something like that.\nI’m just concerned that we’re going to institute a policy that’s so strict.\nAnd I don’t expect it to be uh, something that’s going to happen\nvery often,\nbut I think it would be prudent to put in some exception\nbased on that level.\n<\/blockquote>\nCounty Manager Pritchard offered to draft some language.\nPowell asked a third time.\n

\nFinally Chairman Paulk spoke up:\n

\nThen you get into a definition of what is appropriate….\n

\nI just think it would be a lot of exceptions.\nYou start making exceptions to the rule, it’s not good.\n<\/blockquote>\nJoyce Evans said she thought they talked about it before.\n

\nPowell tried yet again, using downtown Atlanta as an example.\n

\nJoyce Evans got more definite:\n

\n…make a statement that we should not exceed a certain amount per day.\n<\/blockquote>\nPowell kept arguing.\nPaulk again said there shouldn’t be exceptions\n(I think; he had his hand in front of his face and was hard to hear).\n

\nPowell finally asked if the policy would apply across the board to all\ncounty employees or just this building.\nPritchard said there was only one policy adopted by the board,\nand it was applicable to all employees\nunder the direction of the elected officials.\n

\nI would strongly advocate that whatever policy we have applies\nto the Commission and employees, because I think the elected officials should\nlead by example and if we’re\ntrying to be frugal, we should lead by example.\nI think Commissioner Powell raises a point about\nAtlanta or some other larger metropolitan area.\nThis is similar to the travel policy that we have with the company I work for.\nI travel quite a bit and I never exceed the amount we have\nbut I think that our amount is a little bigger for lunch and dinner.\nI think it’s $25 for lunch and I think it’s $50 per dinner, I think our travel policy is.\nBut of course we’re a government, not a for-profit company\nso we can’t expect to go by that same standard.\n<\/blockquote>\nGood preamble, but what’s he going to propose?\nHere it comes:\n
\nBut I think rather than have some exceptions to the rules,\nraise those limits a little bit.\nI think I could go to lunch and dinner on that\nbut I’d hate to see us in a situation where we were,\nwe had to you know turn in receipts if I had a meal\nmeal for $30 and I’m writing a check to the county for $5.\nI’d hate to get into some situation like that.\nYou could probably even raise those amounts by $10 and you’d still be good.\n<\/blockquote>\nJust make a big exception right at the start!\n

\nPritchard got the Attorney to clarify:\n

\nThis is intended to apply to the Commissioners and the employees of the\nCommissioners….\n

\nCommissioner Raines made a good point that elected officials would\nactually lead by example.\n<\/blockquote>\nCrawford Powell then said he hoped this would set a standard across\nthe entire county.\n

\nChairman Paulk remarked that it would be by example, since the\nCommission couldn’t tell the rest of the county what to do.\n

\nHere’s\n\nPart 1 of 2:<\/a>\n

\n