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Staff report

It's Sunshine Week, when news organizations across the country spotlight the importance of open government and put public information laws to the test.

This year, the Post looked back to a dispute over records that occurred between two local boards in 2009 and turned that into a Sunshine Week project.

Rowan County commissioners, questioning why the Rowan-Kannapolis ABC board had failed to generate substantial revenue, sought records related to the ABC system's travel expenses and reimbursements.

ABC officials initially resisted providing those records. When they agreed to provide the documents, they said the county would have to pay for them. The ABC board eventually handed over records that showed thousands of dollars in credit card charges at hotels and restaurants on out-of-town trips.

In light of that series of events, the Post decided to ask other agencies and local governments for their travel expenses in 2009.

The records document travel money spent by elected boards such as the Rowan County Board of Commissioners or appointed bodies such as the ABC board, as well as high-ranking bureaucrats in each government or agency.

Just as important, though, was to see how the governments and agencies responded to requests for this information, which is public under N.C. General Statutes, meaning any citizen should be able to make the same request and expect to get the information.

On Thursday, the Post ran responses from the Rowan-Salisbury School System, the Department of Social Services and the Rowan County Health Department. Today, we're focusing on Rowan County and its municipal governments.

One town would not provide the requested records, and one charged for copies.

Here are their responses and the information they provided:

Rowan County

A phone request made to Rowan County on a Tuesday afternoon was routed to Laura Moore in the county manager's office. She gave the message to Carolyn Athey, clerk to the board of commissioners, who asked Wednesday that the records request be put in writing in an e-mail. She received the e-mail soon afterward and forwarded it to staff members in the finance department.

Wendi Heglar, assistant finance director, sent an e-mail Thursday afternoon with travel expense records for 2009.

From Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, 2009, a total of $232,922.11 was spent on travel among all Rowan County departments. County commissioners receive $300 per month for travel, and the county does not require receipts.

Commissioner Carl Ford, board chairman, spent $137.50 on Jan. 30 for mileage to a chairman's conference. He also spent $294.96 on Feb. 27 for a hotel while attending an orientation for new county chairs.

Commissioner Raymond Coltrain spent $53.35 on Jan. 23 for mileage to a meeting of the Centralina Council of Governments.

County Manager Gary Page spent $53.80 on Feb. 20 for mileage and parking fees related to an Essentials of County Government course at the School of Government. He also spent $259.33 on a hotel on Feb. 27 for a North Carolina city/county managers conference.

Salisbury

In 2009, the city of Salisbury spent $11,557.56 for travel expenses for City Council members, the city manager and the assistant to the city manager.

A Post reporter submitted a request for the records to City Clerk Myra Heard on March 9. They were delivered to the Post a week later by Doug Paris, assistant to the city manager. He noted city staff worked the previous Saturday to finish gathering and go over the records.

City Manager David Treme said the city was short staffed that week, requiring Saturday hours to comply with the request.

Former City Council members Bill Burgin and Mark Lewis did not have any travel reimbursements in 2009. Council members William "Pete" Kennedy, Paul Woodson, and Mayor Susan Kluttz did.

Kluttz took eight trips, with expenses totaling $4,382.37.

Of that total, the city spent $3,280.50 for Kluttz to attend the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Washington, D.C. She went to a health spa at the Capital Hilton, where she stayed in Washington, but deducted that and some other items as personal expenses, city records show.

The remaining expenses submitted by Kluttz were for hotel rooms and reimbursement for mileage to and from conferences in Raleigh, Concord and Pinehurst, including N.C. Justice Commission on Professionalism, N.C. League of Municipalities and N.C. Metropolitan Mayors Coalition meetings. The city paid and $72.88 for Kluttz to stay in a Raleigh hotel Feb. 10 and $109 for a night at the Embassy Suites hotel in Concord on Aug. 27.

Kluttz also submitted a $19.40 receipt for fragranced soaps bought from Queens Gifts on Sept. 1. She gave the soaps to Gov. Bev Perdue as a gift for attending the Mayors Coalition Crime Summit in Salisbury in August.

Kennedy took two trips in 2009, one to Washington, D.C. in March for the National League of Cities Congressional City Conference, and the other to San Antonio, Texas, for a National League of Cities conference in November.

Total expenses for both trips totaled $4,455.04. Registration for both conferences was $1,165.00.

Woodson also traveled to Washington, D.C., for the League of Cities conference in March. The total cost of the trip was $2,122.19. Registration for the conference was $465, the flight was $303.70 and meals were $211.

The city also paid $218.06 for a rental car so Woodson could return to Salisbury for a City Council vote.

Treme and Paris also took a trip July 27-28, with Kluttz, to Raleigh, where the three lobbied for a city hotel occupancy tax. Treme stayed two nights in a Raleigh hotel, and Kluttz and Paris stayed one night. Total expenses were $597.96.

China Grove

A records request made by telephone on a Tuesday to Town Clerk Amanda Eller was referred to Town Manager Bill Pless. In a telephone call by a Post reporter to Pless the next day, the town manager said he would provide the information. That afternoon, Finance Director Mary Jo Bopp faxed the records.

No one asked why the reporter wanted the information.

Members of the China Grove Board of Aldermen did not seek travel reimbursement in 2009, town officials said.

Pless attended a N.C. City and County Managers winter seminar in February at a total cost of $616.36, including conference registration and hotel. In October, he attended Appalachian State University's Local Government Alumni Annual Conference in Boone at a cost of $384.80.

Mileage was covered by a $350 a month car allowance. No meal expenses were submitted to the town for either trip.

Landis

The town's mayor and aldermen spent nothing for travel in 2009.

Town Administrator Reed Linn said the two workshops they normally attend, Town Hall Day and an ElectriCities conference, were not held last year because of budget restraints.

Linn's only travel was to attend a five-day risk management workshop in Wilmington at a cost of $1,356.26 that included food and lodging.

A Post reporter called on a Tuesday to request the records and Linn left a message the next morning with the total expenses. He asked if the town was being investigated or if the reporter was doing an expos .

The reporter called again on Wednesday to get a list of the expenses. By that afternoon, town staff called with specific information.

Spencer

A Post reporter requested Spencer records on a Tuesday and Town Clerk Lisa Perdue returned the call within a few hours and provided the information.

In 2009, Spencer spent $243.31 on travel expenses.

Alderman Tracy Aitken attended an Essentials of Municipal Government training course at a cost of $108.45.

Spencer Town Manager Larry Smith attended a Municipal Administration Course through the UNC School of Government, which totaled $134.86.

Granite Quarry

The Granite Quarry Board of Aldermen spent a total of $2,019.31 on travel in 2009.

Much of that money went toward the board's expenses for Town Hall Day in Raleigh.

The board has five members, so the average per person was almost $404.

Town Manager Dan Peters had $611.71 in travel expenses.

Town Clerk Becky Shives supplied the numbers on the same afternoon as the Post's request.

Rockwell

Rockwell's town board, clerk and mayor had no travel expenses in 2009.

Sue Morton, town clerk, said officials may have some travel expense this year. New board members plan to go to a work session in Charlotte for newly elected officials.

"They are talking about carpooling, so it shouldn't cost much," Morton said.

Cleveland

Cleveland Town Clerk Cathy Payne was asked to provide copies of travel expenses for all town officials, former Mayor Jim Brown (Present Mayor John I. Steele Jr. was only mayor for two weeks in December) and the Board of Commissioners.

Payne faxed the Post reporter who made the request a Request for Public Records form, but did not require it as the reporter had already sent an e-mail restating the verbal request on the phone.

The town charges for copies of public records and included an invoice for $7.95 for 23 regular copies at 15 cents each ($3.45) and 15 redacted copies at 30 cents each ($4.50). The redacted copies were of credit card receipts, for which the credit card numbers had to be marked through.

The total amount of requested travel expenses was $2,956.16. The total travel expenses for the mayor and commissioners was $801.40, of which $390 was for a conference, $115.50 for meals and $295.90 for mileage.

The total travel expenses for town administrative staff was $203.08, which included $55 in conference fees, $82.08 for hotel accommodations and $66 for mileage.

Payne was very cooperative in answering questions about the expenses.

Faith

Town Clerk Karen Fink promptly e-mailed the amount of $580.55 in travel expenses for herself, which included $174.91 in mileage and $405.64 for training, education and meals. The $405.64 was incurred when Fink traveled to the annual Clerk School held in Raleigh.

The town's mayor and Board of Aldermen had no travel expenses for 2009.

Fink was very cooperative in answering questions about the town's expenses.

East Spencer

An initial request for records from the town of East Spencer on a Tuesday was met with a response of "no comment" from Town Clerk Anneissa Hyde.

When she heard further explanation of the request, Hyde said the town keeps records of travel expenses but probably didn't have many in 2009. She asked for a call back later that afternoon, at which point she asked for another day to see what she could do.

Calls made to Hyde's office Wednesday and Thursday were not returned.

Staff writers Jessie Burchette, Kathy Chaffin, Karissa Minn, Shavonne Potts, Shelley Smith and Mark Wineka contributed to this report.