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PALMER -- A Palmer City Councilman is asking City Manager Bill Allen to account for thousands of dollars of city money spent on trips, dinners and alcohol tabs to entertain members of prestigious corporate boards that Allen sits on.
The councilman, Richard Best, also says Allen gave overly generous raises to some city employees in violation of city code and, as a result, city payroll and benefits costs have soared -- by one account 30 percent above a year ago. Allen "respectfully" declined to comment, stating both issues were discussed by the council in executive session. City leaders plan to meet in a second executive session Aug. 11. Allen confirmed that he is still a member of the Alaska Airlines and Foraker Group boards of directors, among other area nonprofits. Some of the expenses Allen submitted cover airfare, lodging and meals related to his attending or hosting Foraker and Alaska Airlines meetings. "After the 11th, I'd be glad to visit about my relationship and the city's relationship to the various boards I sit on," Allen said Thursday. Allen was hired as Palmer city manager in August 2007. Prior to taking the job, he was director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development office in Palmer. He resigned from that job in July just before the federal Office of Special Counsel announced he had violated federal personnel policies by having his secretary work on Mat-Su Assembly business at the federal office. Allen formerly served on the Mat-Su Assembly. He denied charges of wrongdoing outlined by the Office of Special Council, calling them "character assassination" from a disgruntled employee. Members of the four-person team who interviewed Allen for the Palmer job said they hired him because they liked his management style and track record of successful projects in the state. The federal violations "did not come up" during the interview, one interview team member said. In response to a request from Best, city administration director Kelli Veech compiled hundreds of pages tracking Allen's receipts, credit card expenses and discretionary spending between 2007 and 2009. She said city code allows reimbursement of travel and lodging for things such as training and education. The city will reimburse employees for up to $60 per day for meals while away. The code doesn't specify how that money must be spent, she said, although receipts must be provided. The city manager also has the latitude to host functions, such as a January legislative dinner for which $220 worth of beef was purchased at Fred Meyer. Lobbying and business-related expenses come out of a discretionary fund in the manager's budget, Veech said. The council, in setting its annual budget, approves the budget line total. Both 2008 and 2009 budgets include $5,000 for discretionary spending. City code doesn't restrict how that money should be spent, Veech said. "... Presenting the discretionary fund amount to the council, that would be the opportunity to say 'this is what I'm going to use it for,' " Veech said. Best said he didn't begrudge Allen spending on things directly related to council business. But did the council need to spend $140 for six members of the Foraker Group to tour Martin Buser's kennel, plus $330 for three other meals for the group, or foot the $715.21 tab for Allen to attend an Alaska Airlines board meeting in Seattle last December? Some of that time may have been spent discussing city business, Best said, but "does the city need to pay for the whole thing?" The issue of Allen's spending heated up last week, when City Council members met behind closed doors for about three hours to discuss Allen's job performance. The group was scheduled to continue that discussion in another closed-door meeting Tuesday night . Best called for the meetings after asking to review all the city manager's credit card expenses, discretionary spending and requests for reimbursement. Best also asked to see what raises have been handed out to city employees during Allen's tenure. Prior to the Tuesday meeting, Best said he made the requests after city employees -- both current and former -- approached him with concerns about how city funds were being spent. "There were concerns as to using public funds and, essentially, favoritism in some raises," Best said. Best said a city insurance agent compiled an overview of city spending that showed the city spent $5.8 million over 12 months in 2008-2009 on payroll and benefits. Payroll and benefits the previous 12 months tallied $4.2 million, a 28-percent jump. Veech said the comparison isn't completely valid. The earlier audit did not include some benefits that the later audit counted. She said year-to-year spending on payroll did go up, but just comparing payroll alone, the jump is more like $300,000. City code spells out how raises should be awarded for new employees -- a one-step increase after a six-month probationary period. But Best said he found several instances where new employees received multiple step, and even level, increases. A step increase, or a within-grade increase is typically related to merit, while level increases are often based in part on job-related duties. Allen also refused to comment on personnel-related questions, citing the upcoming executive session.