Cries of ‘Charge It’ May Ring Again at City Hall

You’ve got to give members of the San Diego City Council some credit. Or do you?

That’s the question confronting City Manager John Lockwood, who is considering a proposal to put city credit cards back in the wallets of council members and top city staffers for the first time since they relinquished their plastic in the wake of the Uvaldo Martinez charge-card scandal more than three years ago.

Martinez, former councilman for the 8th District, resigned Nov. 12, 1986, after pleading guilty to two felonies in connection with misuse of his city credit cards between November, 1984, and June, 1985. Grand jury indictments accused Martinez of 24 felony counts for using his city credit card to buy unauthorized meals and drinks worth $1,840.

In February, 1986, as charges against Martinez began to mount, council members voted to relinquish their credit cards, and city staffers quickly followed suit.

Using Personal Cards

But some city employees have recently complained about having to load up personal credit cards with charges for air fare, hotels and meals while on city-authorized travel, and follow the cumbersome process of submitting receipts for reimbursement, said Assistant City Manager Jack McGrory. The city budget for out-of-town travel for the current fiscal year is $670,558.

As a result, Lockwood and two city deparments are studying whether to return credit cards to about 50 city employees, including council members, deputy city managers and department heads, McGrory said. Council members would be given the option of giving charge cards to their top assistants, he said.

Unlike the old system, the city would not be extending credit, nor would it face liability for misused credit cards, McGrory stressed. The new credit cards would bear each individual’s name, and he or she would have the ultimate responsibility for expenses charged to the credit card.

Under a proposed plan, the city’s credit union would send credit-card users monthly bills of all charges. Users would certify that all the expenses were for city business, and the city would then pay the bill.

“It’s a convenience thing,” McGrory said. “It would reduce paper work, and it’s clearly not going back to the old, city credit-card system.

“The city’s credit and the city’s liability are not at stake, like in the old process.”

McGrory acknowledged that the new system would provide no additional safeguards against misuse of expense accounts. City employees still could falsely certify that personal expenses were related to city business.

‘No Way to Guard Against Abuse’

“That could happen under the current system,” he said. “There’s no way to guard against the abuse of a credit card, outside of very close scrutiny by the auditor’s office.”

Even if Lockwood approves the plan, there may be few takers, at least among council members.

“If they give us one, I won’t take one,” said Councilman Bob Filner, who now occupies the 8th District council seat. “The public will see it as a potential for fraud and for ripping off money.”

“I can live without it,” said Councilman Ed Struiksma, who was cleared of criminal charges by Dist. Atty. Edwin Miller after a three-month investigation of expense claims he filed for three 1984 business trips. The 1986 investigation, however, forced Struiksma to resign from the race for mayor and resulted in his repaying $815.70 to the city.

Aides to Mayor Maureen O’Connor and Wes Pratt said they would not accept the credit cards, with Pratt’s aide noting that he requests advance money for large travel expenses to avoid putting the costs on his personal credit cards.

An aide to Councilman Ron Roberts, who has traveled extensively in pursuit of his now all-but-abandoned plan for a binational airport on the Mexican border, said Roberts would accept the credit card under the rules outlined by McGrory.

McGrory said that Lockwood, who is vacationing in Germany, would decide on the credit card proposal within the next few months.