GOP, state auditor wrestle over receipts

Posted at 1:16 PM on July 19, 2010 by Tim Pugmire (1 Comments)
Filed under: Campaign 2010

State Republican party officials are taking shots at DFL Auditor Rebecca Otto, for some of the travel expenses she reported in 2007 and 2008.

After an extensive examination of data requested from Otto's office, GOP Chairman Tony Sutton held a news conference today to show off hotel and meal receipts that he described as lavish and inappropriate. Sutton said Otto attended four conferences and spent a total of $2172.56 for eight nights of lodging. Her meal receipts ranged from $24.90 to $44.52

"I'm not saying you shouldn't go on trips," Sutton said. "But when you go, you might want to be a little frugal, especially in light when back home we're facing billions of dollars in budget deficits.

Sutton said Otto routinely exceeded the state maximum reimbursement on meals. He says the auditor owes an apology to taxpayers.

Otto countered by accusing Republicans of conducting a fishing expedition. She also poked a significant hole in the GOP claims about her meals. Otto said no matter how much she spent on any given meal, her reimbursement was never more than the state maximum of $31. She said she stayed in the same hotels where the conferences were held, and paid conference rates.

"Tony Sutton has had a problem with numbers for a while," Otto said. They're trying to create a story."

Otto is running for re-election against Republican Pat Anderson, who she defeated in 2006. Sutton worked for Anderson during her term as auditor.

Comments (1)

If you go to the MNGOP website, they have a link to the expense reports.

The attendees stayed at the hotels where the conferences were held ... it's possible that there could have been other hotels that would have been less expensive but then their would have been car rental or cab fares ... it's 20/20 hindsight, but it looks to me like Otto made the right call.

I noticed that there is no mention that the air travel was done on Saturday which allowed a savings of at least $500 (according to the email in the paperwork).

Shouldn't we THANK the travelers for traveling on what would normally be an off-day.

Is this worthy of a POLIGRAPH examination ... is Otto right that meals were only re-imbursed at the state allowed amounts (which is noted on the paperwork ... just because the receipts says they paid more, that just proves they spent the minimum allowed for a lunch or dinner.)

Also, in looking at the "tips" left for the meals, I don't think there were any $100,000 waiters involved ... if so, they were probably angry at the $3 and $5 tips.

Lastly, I see that there was no charges for alcohol ... is this my employee choice or state policy ?

Posted by Minnesota Central | July 19, 2010 10:12 PM

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