Agency Chief Ousted

The head of a city agency was forced to resign Wednesday after an audit uncovered lavish spending for lunches, parties, overnight stays at fancy hotels and alcohol.

Roger Talamantez, president and chief executive of San Diego Data Processing Corp., has resigned and will reimburse the corporation for $7,800 in questionable expenses, board President Andrea Johnson announced after an emergency closed-door meeting.

Johnson said Talamantez, head of the corporation for seven years, will leave “by mutual agreement” with the board.

Mayor Dick Murphy praised the move and said he expects the board to “continue to investigate the misuse of funds and take whatever steps necessary to clean up the corporation.”

The resignation came as questions about the agency’s spending threatened to erupt into a major political issue. Hours before the resignation, county Supervisor Ron Roberts, a candidate for mayor, called for a grand jury investigation.

“If these people need booze to do their job, they should be working somewhere else,” he said.

The corporation, a nonprofit agency that deals with computers and information technology for city government, has 400 employees and a $70-million annual budget, 95% of which comes from the City Council.

An audit of the corporation released last week found that the bar tab from four staff meetings for top managers totaled $3,108.74.

Included from one meeting were 13 tequila shooters at $25 per drink, two bottles of cabernet sauvignon at $121 per bottle, and $53.50 for tequila purchased in Mexico.

At a two-day “senior management off-site meeting” at the Inn at Rancho Santa Fe, the liquor expense came to $93 per person. Including the potables, the bill for food, rooms and incidentals for the 13 employees came to $6,740.

The auditor said the exact amount spent by Data Processing Corp. managers on liquor cannot be determined because policies have not required that itemized receipts be submitted for meal expenditures paid for with company credit cards.

Johnson said the corporation board will meet next week to endorse new rules tightening reimbursement regulations and banning reimbursement for alcohol. The five board members were appointed in 2002 by the City Council.

Fourteen watches for 20-year employees were purchased at a total cost of $2,285.38, according to the audit. More than $58,000 was spent between July 2001 and April 2003 on employee meetings and picnics.

Other expenses highlighted by the city auditor were Christmas cards for the corporation president, golf fees, membership at the University Club, airfare for the spouse of a top official to attend a conference in Philadelphia and $16,500 in charitable donations.

The audit was begun after city officials learned that the local CBS affiliate was investigating the corporation and spending by its top officials.