Report: Money spent on food should be repaid

The Tampa Bay Workforce Alliance took great liberties with federal money when ordering food and should repay the government, according to a report issued by the inspector general of Florida's Agency for Workforce Innovation.

The inspector general determined the alliance spent $133,714 on food during the one-year period it examined. Of that, investigators found that $24,477 spent for staff meals is unallowable and should be repaid to the government with nonfederal funds. An additional $81,231 in food-related purchases is in question; the alliance must provide documentation to justify the expenses.

State Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, called for the investigation after a News Channel 8 report revealed that the jobs agency spent thousands of dollars on food and expensive desserts.

Fasano said the alliance has 20 days to justify the costs in question. If it can't, the work force agency will be responsible for repaying them.

If the alliance can't come up with the money, Fasano worries taxpayers will be forced to pay.

"Now we are finding that taxpayers of Hillsborough County, possibly if they (Workforce Alliance) can't raise it from the private sector, are on the hook for at least $25,000, probably more than that for the unethical practices by their president," Fasano said.

The alliance routinely ordered food at taxpayer expense for meetings held during business hours. The inspector general's report states many of the meals purchased by the staff cost more than $30 a person.

Meals, meetings excessive

The report says that the number of meals ordered, the frequency, the costs that could have been avoided, the high expense and the purpose for which they were used fell short of serving a public purpose. The sheer number of meetings led the state to conclude the expenditures were excessive.

Staff from the alliance argued the meetings were necessary and that the time spent in these meetings justified the many food deliveries with associated delivery charges.

Among the expenses disallowed by the state were $479 for a scholarship workshop at the Spaghetti Warehouse; $8,138 for an end-of-the-year celebration at the Sheraton River Walk Hotel; and $698 for pizza for a year-end budget meeting.

Staff and executive team members ordered food for regular lunch meetings, choosing to order out at alliance expense rather than bring in their own food or pay for their own meals or food items.

In some cases, staff paid exorbitant prices to feed themselves.

News Channel 8 reported in November that at meetings, executives enjoyed iced tea priced at $13 a gallon and cheesecake that set them back $9 a slice. A dozen gourmet cupcakes were delivered to president Renee Gilmore's home at a cost of $50.

Executives ignored rules

The state found that although staff members were told to restrict their spending to about $10 a person, executive team members didn't follow the same restriction. The report found the executive team had no limits on what they could spend for food, tips and deliveries. Delivery charges, the report said, represented questionable use of federal grant funds.

Transactions questionable

Investigators found 22 instances in which credit card charges for food had no requisition or reimbursement forms attached. They also found a case in which Gilmore charged a morning breakfast meeting to the agency and her subordinate, Carol Brinkley, approved the expense.

Gilmore, reached at her office Friday evening, said she had not had time to digest the report.

"We will be reviewing it thoroughly and we will be responding to you," she said. She also said if the alliance is forced to pay back the government, it has the money.