Hard Times, High Style (your tax dollars @ work)

BY BILL GEROUX, WILL JONES AND CARLOS SANTOS
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITERS Apr 27, 2003

HOT SPRINGS - Gov. Mark R. Warner rose before a gathering of hundreds of county supervisors at the peak of the state's budget crisis and called on local governments to make sacrifices.

His plea left some supervisors grumbling that they were tired of being told to do more with less. "Which teacher do we fire?" asked Powhatan County Supervisor Roy J. Harrison Jr. "That's where we are."

But where Harrison actually was that day, along with close to 400 other Virginia county officials, was the elegant grand ballroom of The Homestead resort in the mountains of Bath County.

While the state was starting to lay off 1,800 people, the conventioneers were spending more than $300,000 of taxpayers' money at the storied Homestead, where the Virginia Association of Counties meets annually to discuss common issues and plan lobbying strategy.

The least expensive rooms went for $246 a night, including parking and meals in The Homestead's white-tablecloth dining room.

Taxpayers paid for at least 20 spouses of supervisors to stay at the resort, and for a scattering of luxury suites, golf-tournament fees, private mineral baths, cooking classes, rental cars, historical tours, $75 banquets, alcoholic beverages, room service, in-room Nintendo games and movies. At least four supervisors billed their counties for tips to the bell captains who carried their luggage.

When the Richmond Times-Dispatch started examining counties' expense reports in February - three months after the convention - various supervisors quickly reimbursed counties for more than $2,700 worth of questionable expenses. Some said they had not realized they owed the money; others said they simply had not gotten around to settling up.

But some supervisors defended unusually generous policies for the trip to The Homestead, where the counties have held their annual convention for 24 years. Carroll, Nelson and Spotsylvania counties said their taxpayers always pay for spouses to attend.

"It's the supervisors' only outing of the year," said Jimmy Alderman, Carroll County's accounting officer.

Sussex County, one of the poorest in Virginia, sent eight representatives to the convention at a cost of $8,244. Four of the eight were unable to get rooms at the crowded Homestead. So they bypassed the $80-a-night Comfort Inn and other chain motels in nearby Covington and traveled twice as far to stay at The Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., the only lodging in the region as elegant and expensive as The Homestead.

In interviews, Sussex supervisors said they did not know how The Greenbrier was chosen as an alternative. But Sussex County Administrator Mary Jones said, "The supervisors chose The Greenbrier."

At the other end of the spectrum, six of Virginia's 95 counties skipped the convention because money was tight. Madison County Supervisor David Jones said no one on his board even drove up for the day and said the Madison supervisors would not consider staying at The Homestead at taxpayers' expense. "I wasn't brought up that way," Jones said.

Some attendees from Clarke, Fairfax, Fauquier and Powhatan counties paid all or part of their expenses at The Homestead out of their own pockets. Fauquier's Harry Atherton said, "It made me feel a little more comfortable." Other supervisors cut costs by car-pooling and sharing rooms. Greene County supervisors shared rooms at the Comfort Inn.

Many of the conventioneers billed their counties only for registration, travel, food and lodging at The Homestead. But even those basic costs typically added up to $1,000 per person for three nights and $750 per person for two.

And hardly any counties sent just one person. Most counties turned out in force. Forty-four of the counties sent five or more officials to the conference. All told, 415 county officials attended.

Best-represented was Prince William County, which sent 11 people, one of whom drove over just for a day. Prince William was also among the top spenders, at $8,208. The officials spent more than $1,000 on food and drink, including $262 for wine shared by the group on two evenings.

Gov. Mark R. Warner rose before a gathering of hundreds of county supervisors at the peak of the state's budget crisis and called on local governments to make sacrifices.

There is a chart of what the counties spent on the outing, but I couldn't find Msrky's tab.

"It's the supervisors' only outing of the year," said Jimmy Alderman, Carroll County's accounting officer.

Those poor long suffering supervisors, they should raise our taxes so they can attend twice a year.

This is an excerpt, plenty more details, additional articles, and dates for next outing @ Hot Springs to be found @ source.

Not a bad deal for the politicians.
My wife and I were fortunate to take a weekend vacation (our only vacation in 14 years) at Natural Bridge, Virginia – during the off season. The room rates were about 25% of on season rates and the service was superb.

You can stay at a Super 8 for about $60, double occupancy. It was only a $100 per night when we stayed at the Holiday Inn in Las Vegas, NV (company paid for) when we went out there to do work for them. We ate at the Sunset Casino's resturant for about $10.00 per meal tip included on average per person.

They were ripping the taxserfs off for a fancy taxserf funded vacation.

When the ex-gov of TN went on vacation to Europe...i.e. one of those "business" trips, he stayed at a blooming CASTLE and cost the "broke" state over $100,000.

Once again I think I should have majored in political science and not sociology.
Of course, I’d have to rid myself of a conscience and learn how to lie with a straight face.

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