Town Board Expenses: Putting Things in Perspective

October 10, 2011 9:15 am | Filed under: Government,Investigations,News,Politics | Posted by: The Huntingtonian

Recently the Long Islander Newspaper ran an article about Herb Morrows’ reimbursed expenses as Mayor of the Incorporated Village of Huntington Bay. Morrow is a Republican candidate for Town Council this year. The total amount in question was $1,310.44. The focus was on business meals that Morrow was reimbursed for that were approved by the Village Board.

Why didn’t the Long Islander FOIL the reimbursed expenses from the present Town Board members to make a comparison? The yearly salary for a Town Council member is $76,841, as compared to Herb Morrow, who is unpaid. When we look at the list of Town Board expenses below we are wondering if food and drink is included in the Association of Towns Conference fees?

This is what The Huntingtonian did (we FOILed the last five years of reimbursed expenses for the Town Board) and some of what we found is the following:

Susan Berland was reimbursed for more than $13,142 in total over the last 5 years ($2628/year on average)
Susan Berland was reimbursed for more than $6,572 for mileage over the last 5 years, We will find out what the cost per mile is so that we can figure out how many miles she is charging us for. It was around 38 cents a mile but we think it was changed recently.
Susan Berland was reimbursed for almost double Mark Mayokas (Mayoka has been in office since January 2010) expenses for the Assoc. of Towns Conf. in 2011
Glenda Jackson was reimbursed for more than $6,162 in total over the last 5 years
Mark Cuthbertson was reimbursed for more than $5,211 for cell phone usage over the last 5 years (about $80/month). We wonder what kind of plan we are paying for.

Below is data provided by the Town in answer to a FOIL request:

NAME	INV DATE	AMOUNT	INVOICE DESCRIPTION
*PETRONE, FRANK P*	2/26/2010	1,062.00	Assoc Of Towns
	Total:	$1,062.00

*MAYOKA, MARK*	03/04/2010	884.00	Assoc Of Towns
	03/16/2011	690.00	Assoc Of Towns
	Total:	$1,574.00

*JACKSON, GLENDA*	12/15/2006	100.00	Assoc Of Towns
	12/31/2006	399.90	Cell Phone
	2/2/2007	149.00	REIMBURSEMENT
	2/19/2007	512.50	Assoc Of Towns
	2/20/2007	960.00	Assoc Of Towns
	2/17/2008	627.54	Assoc Of Towns
	2/19/2008	1,133.25	Assoc Of Towns
	6/8/2008	519.87	Cell Phone
	2/13/2009	573.00	Legislators Conf
	2/16/2009	495.00	Assoc Of Towns
	3/9/2010	692.10	Assoc Of Towns
	Total:	*$6,162.16*

*BERLAND, SUSAN A*	2/20/2007	1,230.86	Assoc Of Towns
	2/17/2008	1,398.40	Assoc Of Towns
	5/30/2008	146.95	Mileage REIM
	6/30/2008	85.35	Mileage REIM
	8/5/2008	70.20	Mileage REIM
	8/28/2008	37.44	Mileage REIM
	9/29/2008	106.06	Mileage REIM
	10/1/2008	129.48	Mileage REIM
	11/30/2008	19.89	Mileage REIM
	12/1/2008	32.76	Mileage REIM
	1/31/2009	136.95	Mileage REIM
	2/18/2009	1,481.78	Assoc Of Towns
	2/28/2009	93.50	Mileage REIM
	3/31/2009	179.30	Mileage REIM
	4/30/2009	81.40	Mileage REIM
	5/31/2009	145.20	Mileage REIM
	6/30/2009	223.85	Mileage REIM
	7/26/2009	129.80	Mileage REIM
	8/20/2009	102.30	Mileage REIM
	9/30/2009	231.00	Mileage REIM
	10/31/2009	298.10	Mileage REIM
	11/30/2009	63.80	Mileage REIM
	12/31/2009	120.45	Mileage REIM
	1/31/2010	139.50	Mileage REIM
	2/17/2010	1,176.30	Assoc Of Towns
	2/28/2010	105.50	Mileage REIM
	3/31/2010	201.00	Mileage REIM
	4/30/2010	221.50	Mileage REIM
	5/31/2010	222.00	Mileage REIM
	6/30/2010	346.50	Mileage REIM
	7/31/2010	228.50	Mileage REIM
	9/1/2010	208.50	Mileage REIM
	9/30/2010	117.50	Mileage REIM
	10/31/2010	214.00	Mileage REIM
	11/30/2010	104.50	Mileage REIM
	12/31/2010	195.50	Mileage REIM
	1/31/2011	179.52	Mileage REIM
	2/20/2011	1,282.84	Assoc Of Towns
	2/28/2011	120.84	Mileage REIM
	3/31/2011	186.66	Mileage REIM
	4/30/2011	218.28	Mileage REIM
	5/31/2011	270.81	Mileage REIM
	6/30/2011	351.75	Mileage REIM
	7/30/2011	340.21	Mileage REIM
	8/31/2011	165.95	Mileage REIM
	Total:	*$13,142.48*


*CUTHBERTSON, MARK A*	12/28/2006	254.82	Cell Phone
	12/31/2006	199.95	Cell Phone
	2/20/2007	870.80	Assoc Of Towns
	4/16/2007	339.76	Cell Phone
	7/25/2007	254.82	Cell Phone
	11/16/2007	339.76	Cell Phone
	12/31/2007	169.88	Cell Phone
	2/16/2008	84.94	Cell Phone
	2/17/2008	956.40	Assoc Of Towns
	6/19/2008	254.82	Cell Phone
	8/16/2008	254.82	Cell Phone
	12/16/2008	339.76	Cell Phone
	4/18/2009	254.82	Cell Phone
	7/6/2009	254.82	Cell Phone
	11/24/2009	424.70	Cell Phone
	12/23/2009	1,000.00	Assoc Of Towns
	2/16/2010	254.82	Cell Phone
	3/4/2010	779.00	Assoc Of Towns
	8/18/2010	424.70	Cell Phone
	3/9/2011	820.80	Assoc Of Towns
	4/27/2011	424.70	Cell Phone
	4/27/2011	339.76	Cell Phone
	8/16/2011	339.76	Cell Phone
	Total:	*$9,638.41*

Notes added by the Town:

Two points need to be made by way of explanation for the data:

1) Instead of receiving a town-issued cell phone, Mark Cuthbertson and Glenda Jackson opted to receive a monthly stipend to be applied toward the cost of using their personal cell phones for Town business (other Town officials have made the same choice and receive the same stipend). Susan Berland has a Town-issued cell phone that is used for Town business (as do some other Town officials who carry two cell phones: one for town business and our personal ones).

2) Susan Berland, by Town Board resolution, is the duly designated alternate to the board of the State Association of Towns, and must spend an extra day at the annual conference, which explains why her bills for the annual conference are larger than her colleagues’. By way of comparison, the bills submitted by Jo-Ann Raia for the Association of Towns annual conference were $1,091 in 2011, $1,309 in 2009 and $1,036 in 2008. Jo-Ann did not attend the conference in 2010.

The Huntingtonian: We would like to add that we did not FOIL any information on Jo-Ann Raia and we wonder why this information was freely given without a FOIL request.

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6 Responses to Town Board Expenses: Putting Things in Perspective

Cuthbertson’s cellphone bills are outrageous! Most people have plans that give unlimited texts or unlimited voice for mobile to mobile at the very least. Are we paying for his whole family and their cellphone usage? It sure looks like it.

And Berland’s mileage is equally outrageous. Where is she going everyday?

I think Town Board members should be required to use town-owned cellphones that have a plan that covers their needs. I think during the day, when doing town business, they should also be required to use town-owned cars, parking them at Town Hall at night thank you.

These added costs may be peanuts in the whole scheme of things, but as with criticism of school budgets and administrator’s “perks”, our town board members should be held to the same standards we expect of others.

My Town Too
October 11, 2011 7:54 pm at 7:54 pm
To:My Town Too,

It should be noted that Mark Mayoka does not have a town issued cell phone and he does not accept the monthly stipend from the tax payers. He uses his own cell phone for Town business. He is the only Town Council member that does this. We also learned that Herb Morrow does not have the tax payers of Huntington Bay pay for his cell phone use.

Ilene Fucci - Editor
October 11, 2011 9:33 pm at 9:33 pm
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The Huntingtonian Shedding Light on the Town of Huntington

Town Board Expenses: Putting Things in Perspective

6 Responses to Town Board Expenses: Putting Things in Perspective