Blog: Frazier Continues to Milk Mileage Funds

Using a Public Information Act (PIA) request for County documents, I recently did a follow-up to a previous PIA request  which revealed that Commissioner Robin Frazier had received six times the mileage reimbursement dollars as other Commissioners. She has continued that trend through September of 2011 by demanding mileage payments for $657.00 in travels to such places as the Phony Forum held in Pikesville and a Fire Department  parade in Manchester.

The epitome of her petty, desperate requests for payments from the County Comptroller is her submittal for driving to a 9 – 11 ceremony in Taneytown on September 11, 2011 for $11.25; however, this could be trumped by her payment of $22.50 for attending a Women for Democracy American Tea Party meeting in Westminster on September 27, 2011. This is what public revenues, our taxes, are to be used for?

The fact that Commissioner Frazier attends these meetings is not at all troubling to me. She is free to go where she wants and do what she wants. But to expect the taxpayers of Carroll County to pay her for doing so is the rub. Six hundred fifty-seven dollars is not very much money in light of the County’s overall budget. That sum is quite a bit though when you consider she is asking the rest us of in the County to pay for her travels – and it is interesting to note that the other 4 Commissioners are going to similar meetings but haven’t the nerve to ask the County Comptroller to pay them for driving to and from such meetings.

The County has a very lax method of examining these mileage expense reports and should face an IRS audit for being so careless when itcomes to reviewing the requests of politicians when it demands much more accuracy and accountability from its staff. Even County staff is directed to complete the required forms with their starting and ending odometer readings, yet the Commissioners are allowed to skip that critical step.

Commissioner Frazier owes the taxpayers of Carroll an apology and should fully reimburse the County treasury for all of her mileage reimbursements, save those for attending Maryland Association of County meetings and conventions which have traditionally been reimbursed.  At the least she should be held to the same standard as County employees by  receive only a partial reimbursement for use of her personal vehicle when a County vehicle was available.

The Board of Commissioners should review its policy on mileage reimbursements and consider using perfectly acceptable pool vehicles for their travel. They demand it of their staff. Why not themselves?