Gary Kespohl called Wednesday for a “common-sense reallocation” of $25,000 from the City Council’s taxpayer-funded travel budget – which Ward 3 Councilman Karl Skala has consistently overspent – so the city can pay for its share of installing downtown safety cameras.
Kespohl renewed his call for an immediate moratorium on Council spending of taxpayer dollars for out-of-state travel, and repeated his pledge not to take taxpayer-funded trips if elected Ward 3 Councilman.
“I will keep faith with Columbia voters, who I believe will join me next Tuesday in overwhelmingly approving Proposition 1 giving the police chief authority to deploy safety cameras,” Kespohl, a businessman challenging Skala’s re-election.
Skala has consistently opposed the city’s deployment of downtown safety cameras, calling them “stupid technology.” This is one of several clear differences between Kespohl, who has been endorsed by the Columbia Chamber of Commerce, and Skala, who consistently voted “NO” on key job creation projects as well as rejecting downtown safety cameras.
Kespohl has revealed that Skala spent more than $16,000 in taxpayer funds for gourmet junkets to vacation destinations including New Orleans, Orlando, Charleston, S.C., Washington, D.C., Chicago, Albuquerque, San Antonio, Seattle, Portland and Louisville. Skala and his party billed taxpayers for lavish meals including Surf and Turf, Filet Mignon, Duck, Lamb and Oysters on the Half Shell, plus fancy desserts.
Skala consistently over-spent his annual allocation of $4,500.00 for taxpayer-financed travel, and he consistently spent more on meals than is allowed under the city’s longstanding travel policy for rank-and-file city workers. Skala routinely spent more than the mayor to attend the same out-of-state meetings, and Skala often extended his junkets by adding travel days beyond official conference dates.
After learning his pattern of wasting taxpayer dollars on gourmet junkets was under investigation, Skala claimed he had suddenly agreed with un-named Council colleagues to limit meal spending to the amounts spelled out in the travel policy. There was no public discussion, public vote or public comment about the supposed Council agreement claimed by Skala.
“Karl Skala refuses to apologize for wasting tax dollars while hard-working Columbia residents deal with the worst economy since the Great Depression. So I am calling for an immediate moratorium on taxpayer-funded Council travel,” Kespohl said. “And in the next city budget, we must get our priorities straight. I propose a common-sense reallocation of $25,000 from the Council’s $40,500 annual travel budget to pay for the city’s share of downtown safety cameras.”
Kespohl noted the irony of Skala’s declaration to Columbia Missourian that on one of his taxpayer-funded junkets, he learned about “the proper perspective to approach budgetary problems” – even as Skala disdained the idea of “home-grown solutions.”
Kespohl said Columbia’s small business owners and families know the proper perspective on budgetary problems without taking junkets: “You set budget priorities and stick by those priorities, including reallocating resources to make the most of taxpayer dollars.”
The Council travel budget has grown more than 20 percent since Skala was elected three years ago, to a total of $40,500. And Skala’s lavish travel spending has gobbled most of that increase. “It’s hard to find other segments of Columbia’s economy that have grown in prosperity by some 20 percent since 2007 – so we clearly need a common-sense reallocation,” Kespohl said.
“For myself, I will not take taxpayer-funded trips – not when most Columbia families couldn’t afford to travel like Skala during this week’s Spring Break,” Kespohl added.
“I stand with our families and businesses in calling for the City Council to place the highest priorities on fighting crime, enabling job creation and renewing common-sense values in Council decisions.”
