Dennis Leone on Damon's letter re: Credit card open records

Dennis Leone to John Curry, November 24, 2006

Subject: Re: Asbury to Curry 061122

Hi John -- got your call. Also got in today's mail a copy of what Damon sent to you. He sent the same thing to Dave Parshall and to all board members as well.

Here is my reaction: What I find interesting about the report is the usage by Board members Debbie Scott and Eugene Norris in 2004 and Steve Puckett in 2005 -- all members of the board when the spending was completely out-of-control in 2000-2003. Why weren't they required to turn their cards in like the staff members did? I am greatly bothered by the term "Business Lunch" and "Business Dinner" that we see on the report. Note that the precise dates are NOT shown -- which to me is important because one would be able to determine when, for example, the "Business Dinner" occurred. I doubt they occurred when Board meetings were held. If Board members were allowed to determine on their own what constituted a "Business Lunch" or a "Business Dinner," then this is completely inappropriate -- especially after what erupted in 2003. I wish to know what credit card expenditures occurred during the month of September 2006. (Why did the report you received stop in August 2006?) I believe that 2 board members might have used credit cards to pay for lodging (and perhaps meals) the evening AFTER and the day AFTER the board meeting ended on Thursday, September 14 -- in order to attend OEA functions on Friday, September 15. I plan to ask a lot of questions about this.