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Health & Fitness

Per Diems Cost Taxpayers Money - Seriously??

Good afternoon.  My compliments to the Marietta Daily Journal, and Hannah Morgan, for starting the process of stripping the veneer from the spending of City Council.  http://www.mdjonline.com/view/full_story/23929485/article-Kennesaw-Mayor--Credit-policy-doesn-t-exis...

Folks, take the time to read this article and decide for yourself.  Leonard Church shows massive leadership by saying:  “We are all grown-ups here,” he said. “It is not the card’s fault, it is the one using it.”  Yep, that's leadership at the extreme.  Don't blame the card, blame the one that uses it within a system that has no checks and balances.  Wonderful Leonard.

The quote of the day, however, belongs to Tim Killingsworth.  Remember this one when he comes up for election in 2014.  With hope, Mr. Killingsworth was mis-quoted because this cannot be the utterance of someone who understands business:

A per diem policy, Killingsworth said, would end up wasting taxpayer money. 

“A per diem would be wasteful for the taxpayers, as it would pay you for three meals a day (whether used or not). If you look at my statements, you won’t be able to find me using the card to pay for three meals a day,” he said, whether in Kennesaw or out of town."

Tim, does that mean you use cash, or your own personal card?  Not sure of your logic but let's try.

You don't use your card to pay for three meals a day, but under a per diem system you would take the per diem whether you use it or not?  Are you sure about your logic?  Tim, the idea is to control you.  So if you don't have a breakfast, great, then you should not submit for per diem reimbursement and you can lose a few calories in the process.  That is what a leader does Tim when no one is looking.

Tim may not understand what a per diem is for.  First, it is for official business travel within the official scope of office.  Tim, that means when you go to Savannah, you are LIMITED to a certain expense level.  You want to stay in the Ritz, be our guest, but you are limited to a dollar amount for the hotel.  Want breakfast?  You get a certain amount to spend.  Want to take someone for lunch in the City of Kennesaw, you get a limit on the expenditure.  Anything above that you have to document as to who, what, when, where and how.  

More importantly, anything you spend OVER the per diem level is on your dime, not ours.  

Now, you guys get a certain amount of money to spend on "constituents", so let's limit the amount you spend.  Want to take someone out to lunch?  Great, you've got $25 bucks to contribute to the program.  If it costs $100, you have to document to get reimbursed.  Then we really get to see what goes on with our money.

Go study the Federal guidelines for Federal employees if you need a primer on the subject matter.

We have a City Manager whose job it should be to implement a policy.  However, the City Manager's contract is held by the City Council who is controlled by a voting bloc of the Mayor, Killingsworth, Reidemann and Duckett.  Trying to control those that control you doesn't work very well.  Jenkins and Welsh constitute the minority on the subject, but I am sure they would implement a policy if they had the votes to do so.

Citizens of Kennesaw I hope you get the point here.  It is always about leadership, it is always about controlling those that have access to our tax-funded dollars.  Why should the City Council operate without spending controls, especially when the Mayor (mentioned in the article) upgrades his hotel in Savannah for $30 per night and puts it on the taxpayer?  

Only you can right the situation by voting in November 5th elections.  Think about it....to enact change we need change in the voting bloc that controls your City.  I do support Williams and Sebastian and Jenkins to join Cris Welsh in establishing a new voting bloc that will enact controls and work on tough problems.

If they are elected and do not show leadership in this area....we vote them out.

Wake Up Kennesaw!






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