How City Council members spend your money

Trips out of town and restaurant meals are often the first things to go when we are pinching pennies.  But would you hold back on luxuries if someone else is footing the bill? 

While everyone pulls back on their personal budgets, someone else is spending your tax dollars on things like food, flights and phones.

It’s happening with what is called the city’s discretionary fund.  All 15 members of Baltimore’s City Council get one, with a spending limit of $5,000 a year. 

Taxpayers we talked to hoped the city would be cutting back on these funds, "I would hope that with everybody cutting back, I would hope they would also cut back."

But ABC2 News Investigator Joce Sterman found, many are not.  As part of an ABC2 News Investigation we looked at the way council member spend your cash. 

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We found fancy meals out, repairs to personal cars, cross-country trips, all while the city searches for cuts to clear a huge deficit.

In the last 2 years some members of Baltimore’s City Council spent nearly $20,000 for trips out of town. 

Places like Los Angeles, Reno, DC and Ocean City, even staying oceanfront during the busy summer season for conferences and retreats.

ABC2 Investigator Joce Sterman found a lot of money spent on “power lunches” too.  We found more than $6,500 worth of food. 

And when they can’t meet in person they just pick up the phone and charge you for the call, with more than $8,000 spent on cell phones for some members.  

According to the city, it’s perfectly acceptable as long as council members follow specific rules and get approval.  Their expense accounts can only cover certain things and they must have receipts. 

Some choose not to spend at all, like Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke, “I don’t want to have to be explaining city money to buy myself lunch or somebody else.”

Mary Pat Clarke didn’t spend a dime of her discretionary funds.  She says it’s too much paperwork, but that doesn’t bother Rikki Spector, “Everything I turn in is based on a legitimate city council expense.”

She turns in more expenses than any other council member and was open to talk about it to ABC2 News. 

While she says she spends a lot of her own money on city business, she has also been reimbursed for more than $12,000 in the last two years for things like mileage, meals and travel, “That to me is I’ve earned it.  I’ve worked for it.  I work nine days a week. In my opinion, I don't waste anybody's money - mine or anybody's."

When it comes to waste members of council are trimming the fat from city hall in other ways. 

Council members have slashed as much as 10% from their individual office budgets in the last two years.  For some that means smaller staff, buying supplies out of their own pockets, or even spending less of those discretionary funds.  Councilman William Cole says, "I think there have been a lot of cutbacks and I do think people are being very frugal with the money now, as they should be."

But whether they’re being frugal enough isn’t up for a council vote, it’s a matter of public opinion.  City tax payer Mary Page says, "If I knew of them overspending or spending ridiculously, that would have something to do with my vote."

And keep in mind, even those who don't spend tax dollars through their discretionary accounts, may spend other funds.  Council members Mary Pat Clarke, Carl Stokes, Edward Reisinger, Nicholas D'Adamo, Robert Curran and Warren Branch have all driven cars leased by the city during the last two years.  But Clarke and Stokes have both returned their vehicles.

We offered all members of City Council the opportunity to speak with us about their spending on-camera.  Only Councilman James Kraft, Councilman William Cole, Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke and Councilwoman Rikki Spector agreed to be interviewed and answer questions about what they spent and why.