Receipts detail meals, car washes, insurance

By Rick Armon
Beacon Journal staff writer

Summit County MRDD Superintendent Tom Armstrong is meticulous about keeping receipts to back up his expenses.

In the last three years, he has been paid nearly $32,000 in expenses, ranging from meals to hotel stays to auto repair bills, according to a Beacon Journal review of his expense reports.

The receipts show:

• He has lunch and dinner meetings several times a month. He favors bars and taverns as opposed to high-end restaurants, often eating at places such as the Rusty Bucket Corner Tavern, Fado Irish Pub, Winking Lizard Tavern and Bennigan's.

''I'm not an extravagant guy,'' Armstrong said. ''I'm not trying to wine and dine on the county's dime.''

• The MRDD has a policy of not paying for alcohol. And while receipts often show alcoholic drinks, Armstrong doesn't seek reimbursement for them.

• County government workers aren't reimbursed for travel and meals inside the county. Armstrong is. MRDD is governed by an independent board and supported by a levy, with different rules applying to agency employees.

• Some of Armstrong's lunches and dinners are with board members and MRDD workers. Asked why meetings couldn't take place without billing taxpayers for a meal, board President Linda Bordenkircher and member William Ginter said the expenses are justified.

Lunch or dinner may be the only time available to meet, they said. Many meetings often take place without a meal, they added.

• Taxpayers paid his $750 membership to the NAACP in 2006.

• Armstrong doesn't skimp on car washes. He often has his car washed at the Ultimate Wash & Lube in Hudson and is charged $14. He usually provides a $3 tip — which also is picked up partially by taxpayers.

Armstrong said the washes are a legitimate maintenance expense.

• Taxpayers have paid $1,160 toward his personal auto insurance over the last three years. That expense also is justified, Armstrong said, because he has to pay more for insurance since he uses his vehicle more for work.

• Armstrong has his 2001 Land Rover Discovery II serviced at the Land Rover dealership in Akron. In February 2007, he paid $83 to have three new windshield wipers installed. Taxpayers picked up more than half that cost.

Carolyn Holladay, president of the Weaver Workshop and Support Association, representing 290 MRDD workers, said the union has raised questions about Armstrong's expenses in the past, but their concerns have been ignored.

''The taxpayers are going to be horrified, I think,'' she said.

Rick Armon can be reached at 330-996-3569 or rarmon@thebeaconjournal.com.

Summit County MRDD Superintendent Tom Armstrong is meticulous about keeping receipts to back up his expenses.

In the last three years, he has been paid nearly $32,000 in expenses, ranging from meals to hotel stays to auto repair bills, according to a Beacon Journal review of his expense reports.

The receipts show:

• He has lunch and dinner meetings several times a month. He favors bars and taverns as opposed to high-end restaurants, often eating at places such as the Rusty Bucket Corner Tavern, Fado Irish Pub, Winking Lizard Tavern and Bennigan's.

''I'm not an extravagant guy,'' Armstrong said. ''I'm not trying to wine and dine on the county's dime.''

• The MRDD has a policy of not paying for alcohol. And while receipts often show alcoholic drinks, Armstrong doesn't seek reimbursement for them.

• County government workers aren't reimbursed for travel and meals inside the county. Armstrong is. MRDD is governed by an independent board and supported by a levy, with different rules applying to agency employees.

• Some of Armstrong's lunches and dinners are with board members and MRDD workers. Asked why meetings couldn't take place without billing taxpayers for a meal, board President Linda Bordenkircher and member William Ginter said the expenses are justified.

Lunch or dinner may be the only time available to meet, they said. Many meetings often take place without a meal, they added.

• Taxpayers paid his $750 membership to the NAACP in 2006.

• Armstrong doesn't skimp on car washes. He often has his car washed at the Ultimate Wash & Lube in Hudson and is charged $14. He usually provides a $3 tip — which also is picked up partially by taxpayers.

Armstrong said the washes are a legitimate maintenance expense.

• Taxpayers have paid $1,160 toward his personal auto insurance over the last three years. That expense also is justified, Armstrong said, because he has to pay more for insurance since he uses his vehicle more for work.

• Armstrong has his 2001 Land Rover Discovery II serviced at the Land Rover dealership in Akron. In February 2007, he paid $83 to have three new windshield wipers installed. Taxpayers picked up more than half that cost.

Carolyn Holladay, president of the Weaver Workshop and Support Association, representing 290 MRDD workers, said the union has raised questions about Armstrong's expenses in the past, but their concerns have been ignored.

''The taxpayers are going to be horrified, I think,'' she said.

Source