What happens in Vegas is supposed to stay in Vegas, they say. But when word reached NorCo Controller Steve Barron that two human resources staffers went there for training, followed by another trip by one of them to New Orleans, he began to look at training budgets of departments throughout the county. Just as he blows the whistle at the football games he refs on weekends, he’s blowing the whistle on the potential for waste and abuse. In a lengthy memo to council, he is suggesting that county employees require council approval for trips that are more than 100 miles away.

Trips to Vegas

and New Orleans

In Northampton County, the controller is an independently elected official who has the authority, on his own initiative, to audit the fiscal transactions of any agency that receives or disburses county funds. His review of county spending for human resources in 2016 reveals that the spending jumped from $5,749 in 2015 to $56,758 in 2016. That’s nearly 10 times as much as has been spent in each of the previous five years.

His memo refers to an airfare charge for a two-night trip to Las Vegas’ Mirage Hotel for a conference in October. There is a hotel bill for that time period for two human resource employees, a male and female, at the Mirage Hotel, at a cost to the taxpayer of $2,434, not including meals. The Department of Defense only allows $102 max for a hotel and a $166 per diem total in Las Vegas.

Two months after the Vegas trip, one of these same human resource staffers attended a workers’ compensation conference in New Orleans, at a cost to taxpayers of $1,297. That’s without including conference fees or meals. Barron notes the Department of Defense per diem rate in New Orleans is $192-220, and the funds expended by the county appear to have been in excess of that allotment.

Barron also noted this same staffer is currently registered for a Harrisburg Workers’ Compensation Conference in June. “This begs the question whether the New Orleans travel was really necessary, as there are clearly conferences much closer,” he said. “Also, how many training conferences does this employee need to be proficient in Workers’ Compensation?”

The controller also flagged a $7,050 bill paid to Northampton County Community College for five employees to take courses like “Effective Interactions” and “Situational Leadership.” The county spent $1,400 per employee for these courses when the total training cost for a corrections officer, including various first aid courses, is only $700 per officer.

Potential Procurement Card Abuse

In addition to staff training and travel, Barron is concerned about expense reports being submitted by county employees and possible misuse of something called the “P-card,” which is a county credit card used to make purchases.

In response to a Right-to-Know request filed by this reporter, independently of the controller, over 500 pages of documents have been released by the county, with more on the way. It appears that the HR department has billed the county to purchase lunches for staffers at the courthouse in violation of a county policy that only permits reimbursement of lunches if an employee is 50 miles or more away, and then only for $10.

On Feb. 17, 2017, HR Director Amy Trapp authorized the payment of $80 for eight lunches purchased at the courthouse cafe. On Oct. 31, 2016, the HR department paid $30.51 to Dunkin Donuts, $102.15 to My Place Pizzeria for six lunches, and $22.51 to Panera Bread for bagels. On Sept. 6, 2016, the HR Department paid another $22.54 of taxpayer funds for bagels in apparent contravention of county policy.

This Right-to-Know request also reveals that Northampton County paid $992.48 for a human resources staffer for four days at the Philadelphia Marriott, where she also charged taxpayers for meals in excess of what is authorized by county policy. This staffer even called room service and used the county P-Card to spend $22.39 for an apple cobbler and root beer float.

Barron told council it appears that meals and other purchases being charged appear to be in violation Northampton County’s Policy on Travel, Meal and Mileage Reimbursement. He told them his office has started a procurement card audit, and wants to take a countywide look at the purchases.

Reactions to Barron Report Mixed

At council’s April 20 meeting, Executive John Brown defended the money spent on training. He called it an attempt to build the foundation of human resources by providing better training to managers and supervisors in other departments. “It is the number one thing we need to do,” said Brown. He said he’ll be increasing the amount of money the county spends for staff development and training. He argued that county employees themselves recognized, in a recent survey, that they need more training when named to supervisory roles.

Council President John Cusick is a big proponent of a statewide county organization called CCAP (County Commissioners Association of Pa.) and has for years encouraged even his fellow council members to participate, but CCAP meets at places like Mechanicsburg, not Las Vegas or New Orleans. “The optics of that don’t look particularly good,” he said. Brown still justified the trips because they were highly recommended by a third-party consultant.

Hayden Phillips said the idea of conferences and conventions is diminishing. He thinks council might consider, as Barron suggested, a greater role in approving outside travel.

Bob Werner also is concerned because CCAP is more locally located. He added, “There are best Western hotels.”

Brown was unable to say whether the county seeks discounted rates.

Mat Benol, however, is angry at Barron. “This type of report is nothing more than a political football,” he said, calling it inflammatory. “At the next meeting, I plan on taking some action on the controller because the controller is a financial position, it’s not a political position. To me, it’s a bean counter position. I understand that this is one of the areas that technically falls to that position, but if you’re going to do an objective report, you talk to both sides.”

For his part, Barron said he is doing is the job the people elected him to do. “If I really wanted to be political, I’d gather this information and just sit on it until September,” said Barron. “I told council about it now because I want to keep staff training and travel expenses in check. If I failed to disclose it now, Benol would be asking, ‘Where’s the controller?’”

Barron has previously found abuses in expense reports filed by Brown and Administrator Cathy Allen, and they reimbursed the County $1,500.