OPINION: Florence City Council needs to show more accountability for travel expenses

Florence’s travel policy needs revamping and attempts to refine it are not intended to tear apart relationships Councilmen Billy D. Williams and Ed Robinson have made in Washington, D.C.
To the contrary, they are an effort to keep the city fiscally responsible and to make money available to other council members for travel expenses. Council has precious few dollars to spend on travel, so it needs to use its allocations wisely.
Williams and Robinson have spent $62,584.93 in travel expenses since January 2007, compared with $13,046.83 for the other five council members. The number is skewed because Williams and Robinson serve as board members for national organizations.
Still, the proposal by Councilman Bill Bradham at Monday’s regular council meeting to limit members to two in-state conferences, with a cap of $2,500 in expenses, strikes us as prudent. His push to keep out-of-state travel to one meeting per year, with a $2,500 cap, also seems reasonable.
Williams and Robinson have taken Bradham’s proposal the wrong way. They say they have worked to establish relationships with influential Washington leaders and decision-makers.
“For several years, in addition to lobbying trips by members of city council, we have been paying a lobbyist in Washington, D.C., $84,000 per year to seek funding for the city of Florence,” Bradham said. “What have they given us in return?”
The question is fair, and the answer is difficult to ascertain. Florence receives thousands in federal aid, and Williams and Robinson have made good contacts along the way.
But how much of the money flows because of the lobbyist’s influence or the effectiveness of Williams and Robinson?
“This is not fair to us. We’ve got a presence in Washington now mainly because of the work of Councilman Ed Robinson and myself,” Williams said of Bradham’s proposed changes. “We try to save the city money. The money’s up there in Washington. Let’s don’t police ourselves to death. If we don’t get it, somebody else will.”
No one is asking for Council to police itself to death. Rather, council members need to process travel requests through the city clerk’s office. Bradham has proposed to hold council members to the letter of the city’s travel policy, and we agree with him.
“Any city council members expenses in excess of authorized and approved funding, or not accompanied by required documentation, shall be the sole responsibility of the city council member,” Bradham wrote in his proposal. “Failure to comply will result in unreconciled funds being deducted from the city council member’s next payroll check.”
Growth in Florence has occurred mostly in District 3, on the south side of the city. That has meant more funding, in some cases, for Councilman Buddy Brand’s district. It has to do with growth patterns, not an intent by the council to disregard Williams in District 1 (north and northwest Florence) and Robinson in District 2 (north and northeast Florence).
“All the growth in Florence has taken place in District 3 (represented by Brand),” Robinson said. “All the growth has taken place on one side of the city and none in the other. The system is wrong. We haven’t had fair and equitable representation. Now that we’ve found means to make the field more equitable, you want to cut it down.”
The lobbyist in Washington must file more reports to Council, making her more accountable for her $84,000 retainer. What kind of funding requests have been made? What’s the status of requests? Who has been contacted on behalf of the city? What is the total funding received based on work for the city?
Williams and Robinson will lose substantial funding for travel, and that hurts because they feel they’ve established legitimate contacts.
If that’s the case, enlighten us.
We think Bradham is on the right tack in seeking more accountability.

Unsigned editorials represent the views of this newspaper. Editorial Board members are Mark Laskowski (regional publisher), James Bennett (regional editor), Sam Bundy (sports editor), Kimberly Ginfrida (news editor), David Johnson (regional circulation director), Charles Tomlinson (Lake City News & Post editor) and Jackie Torok (metro editor).