Sep 11, 2009 10:35 pm US/Mountain
Swanky Dinners, Lunches In Face Of Budget Cuts
Colorado Education Commissioner Dines At Fancy Restaurants, Much Paid For With Tax Dollars
By Brian Maass
DENVER (CBS4) ―
Colorado's Education Commissioner says he will curb his appetite for pricey dinners and lunches charged to taxpayers after a CBS4 investigation questioned his spending.
"I think that will cease and desist," said Dwight Jones during an interview with CBS4 Investigator Brian Maass.
The probe found that since he took over the Education Department in 2007, Jones has routinely treated his staff, consultants, former state dignitaries and others to restaurant meals at some of Denver's most expensive restaurants. Many of the expenses come even as school districts across the state are being told to tighten their belts and brace for millions of dollars in budget cuts.
Virtually every dinner involved alcohol -- sometimes lots of it -- but in every case Jones said the meals were legitimate business meetings. And in each case Jones reimbursed the state for money spent on alcohol -- a non-allowable expense under state spending rules.
For example:
- August 7, 2007: Jones spends $182 on dinner for three people at Simms Landing in Golden. He was joined by then- state education board member Pam Suckla and her husband Steve. An invoice shows the group drank two Tanqueray tonics and two Crown Royals and Coke. Jones reimbursed the state for the liquor costs.
- June 2, 2008: Jones spends $389.03 at Panzano restaurant in Denver on dinner for himself, three of his top staff members and one non- CDE employee. The group downs on $88.00 bottle of Merlot and a second bottle of $60.00 Merlot. Jones contends this is a business dinner, although he is required to reimburse the money spent on wine.
- May 23, 2009: The education commissioner and his wife take DPS superintendent Tom Boasberg and his wife to dinner at Strings restaurant in Denver. The tab is $228.36 including cocktails. Jones reimburses about half the dinner cost to cover the spouses and liquor. Taxpayers pick up the balance.
- A week later, June 1, Jones is back at Strings with Anna Tilton, executive director of the DPS foundation. Jones reimburses the portion of the bill spent on liquor. The purpose of the meal: "getting acquainted," according to state documents.
- On Father's Day, June 21, Jones takes two consultants, a school superintendent his wife and six year old son to Elway's restaurant in downtown Denver. The bill comes to $584.61 for a dinner that included a $50 filet and a $41 strip steak. Jones reimburses the state for liquor costs and food costs for his six year old son and wife. Still, taxpayers fork over $340 for the balance of the Elway's tab.
"It was a working dinner," said Jones. Queried about how meals involving family members and liquor are business functions, Jones said his spouse and son went along because it was Father's Day.
"I think the only concession I could get from my wife to do that meeting on Father's Day was that they were also going to be there. So it was a large group and it was a working dinner'.
Jones is known around the Colorado Department of Education as a hard worker who puts in long hours. He has criss- crossed the state visiting 130 school districts. But he now believes taxpayers might not appreciate his spending on meals, so he says its going to stop.
"I think what will change is I will probably be paying for those myself. I will conduct those meetings and say that's a personal expense of mine.'
CBS4 also found that when Jones frequently travels out of state for a conference, speaking engagement or meeting, he regularly parks in the most expensive, close in garage lots at Denver International Airport, passing the cost along to taxpayers. He said he never even thought about parking in a less expensive lot, farther from the terminal.
"When I go I just park closest," said Jones. "I'm usually just parking to go in and get ready to fly."
He says he won't change that, but will likely reimburse taxpayers in the future for the difference between close-in garage parking and the cost of a less expensive, more remote lot.
However Jones makes no apologies for spending $13,000 this summer on new furniture for his executive offices. He said the old furniture was 15 to 20 years old and was "deteriorating" and in "bad shape."
He recounted how a desk was so decrepit it fell on an employee, prompting the refurbishing. The $13,000 was "a small amount of money" he said. But in a June 22 memo obtained by CBS4, no specific mention is made of a safety issue with his office furniture. The memo states that "the current furniture is mismatched and not conducive to open, collaborative communcation ..."
The memo goes on to say that if the money is not spent on furniture it "will not be available in subsequent fiscal budget years."
(© MMIX CBS Television Stations, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
316,000 Bongs Disguised As Ornaments
Obama Sculpture Does A Cool Trick
Slideshow: Colorado's Weirdest House
Stumble It!
Reporting
Comments