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GALVESTON CRIME, INC. |
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Home | News | Documents (TEC Complaints, etc.) | More Public Funds Abuse | Citizens Comment Mayor Joe Jaworski | Candidates for City Council | Cell Phone Abuse | Chamber Of Commerce Steve LeBlanc | Barbara Lawrence | Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas DA Kurt Sistrunk | Craig Eiland | Contact
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Public Fund Abuse by Galveston Public Officials Credit Card Leblanc 06/08 The credit card bill shows a number of expenses including a Wal-Mart charge on 05/04/08 and a $259 charge at The Abmiralty, a gift shop. There appears to be use of public funds for purchase of items at this gift shop. Also, on 06/24/08, the public officials are charging taxpayers for purchase of bakery items at Sun Flower Bakery. Credit Card Leblanc Food Numerous bills for restaurants including Mario's Italian Restaurant, Landry's, Gaido's, The Market on Avenue, Saltgrass, Happy Buddha Restaurant, Quizno's Sub, A. Smecca, Inc., Queen's BBQ, Fish Tales, Gloria's La Estacion. Hotels Numerous bills for hotels in Las Vegas, Nevada, Washington, D.C., Marriott in The Woodlands, Radisson in Austin, Texas, Hyatt Regency in Austin, Texas, and Rosen Center Hotel in Florida. Here are three websites sent to us by The State Comptroller of Public Accounts at (512) 475-1046. State employees are reimbursed up to $85 per night hotel room and up to $36 per day for meals. As you can see, Dianna Puccetti billed the taxpayers $409 a night for King Hotel Suite for her trip in March, 2008. Also, the amount she billed taxpayers for her meals far exceeded the reimbursement rate for State employees. Also, Brandon Wade stayed in Las Vegas in April/May, 2008 and his hotel bill far exceeded reasonable amount. Brandon Wade stayed at the Marriott in The Woodlands and billed the taxpayers over $300 for that stay. Barbara Baruch stayed at the Radisson in March of 2008 and her room charge exceeded the travel reimbursement rates for State employees. Barbara Lawrence billed the taxpayers $275 per night on her Luxurious stay at Hyatt Regency Austin on Town Lake in January, 2008. The room rate of $275 far exceeds the travel reimbursement rate for State employees, which is $85. Robert Simmons stayed at Rosen Centre Hotel in Orlando, Florida in March of 2008 and billed the taxpayers a room charge of $152, which far exceeds the Travel Reimbursement Rate for State employees of $85.
Textravel General Services Administration Travel Regulations and Entertainment Policies City-owned Cellular Phones The City of Galveston's cell phone policy indicates that telephones are to be used for city purposes. However, personal calls and messages are also allowed. The City of Galveston is allowing City employees to make personal calls. Therefore, the city employees are charging their personal calls to the taxpayers. This is one more example of City officials using public funds for private use. Steve LeBlanc - Cell Phone Bill 2008 An Open Records Request was sent to the City of Galveston on 02/25/09 for a copy of the year 2008 itemized cellular telephone bills paid for by the City of Galveston for telephone use by City Manager, Steve LeBlanc. The Assistant City Attorney, Barbara Baruch, is putting up obstacles to getting that information. She is requesting the Attorney General allow the City to remove personal calls from the cell phone bill of Steve LeBlanc. Use of personal calls with a publically owned cellular phone is a violation of law. *Update* Steve LeBlanc's cell phone bills for 2008 can now be seen under Cell Phone Abuse. Barbara Baruch - Cell Phone Bill 2008 An Open Records Request was submitted on 02/26/09 for a copy of the year 2008 itemized cellular telephone bills paid for by the City of Galveston for telephone use by City Employee, Barbara Baruch. To date, the information has not been received. The City is putting up obstacles for trying to get this public information. Barbara Baruch, Assistant City Attorney, has requested that personal phone calls be removed prior to public citizens reviewing the information. She has requested an Attorney General Ruling. However, she has used the City-owned cellular telephone for personal use. This is use of public funds for private purposes. Cell Phone Summary Pages An Open Records Request was submitted on 03/16/09 for January, 2009, cellular telephone bill for the City of Galveston, summary pages only. This is generally one to two pages. The Assistant City Attorney, Barbara Baruch, is putting obstacles in our way to try to get this information. As you can see, the letter is to email the information, which is generally one to two pages. To date, she has not done so. Obviously, the City Officials of Galveston are trying to hide something. *Update* Cell Phone Summary Pages can now be seen under Cell Phone Abuse. Users of City-owned vehicles Look at the EXCESSIVE USE of City-owned vehicles by City employees. The documentation listed only the date and time the car was taken. There was no documentation as to the reason that the car had to be used. No private business could possibly get away with this sloppy record keeping. One could only wonder how many personal trips were taken with City-owned vehicles. City-owned Motor Vehicles Part 1 City-owned Motor Vehicles Part 2 City-owned Motor Vehicles Part 3
Veronica Lawrence's Cell Phone Records As you can see, extensive phone numbers were blacked out, which indicates personal use of the cell phone. Therefore, it appears that Veronica Lawrence used her City-owned cellular phone for private purposes. Use of City-owned cellular phones for private purposes violates Texas Penal Code 39.02. Also, the City-owned cell phones for personal use violates the code of the Internal Revenue Service. The Internal Revenue Service requires City Officials and Employees to pay taxes on this personal use. It makes no difference whether or not the personal phone calls will affect the overall bill. We were told by a Galveston business man who was at a recent Galveston City Council Meeting that City Manager, Steve LeBlanc, is making light of the situation by saying that the City pays a flat rate. As previously stated, the Internal Revenue Service requires City employees to pay taxes on any personal use no matter what the monthly rate is. Lupe Rushing, the Galveston Assistant City Secretary, provided a statement. "Accordingly, to the extent the requested information contains the home or personal cellular telephone numbers of city employees who made timely elections under section 552.024, the telephone numbers of those employees must be withheld under section 552.117(a)(1)." Therefore, this further proves that personal cellular telephone numbers have been blacked out. Veronica Lawrence January 2008 Cell Phone Bill Part 1 Veronica Lawrence January 2008 Cell Phone Bill Part 2
City Council member Tarris Woods’ Cell Phone Records Here are the cell phone records of Tarris Woods from 12/09/08 to 01/08/09. The Council member used 4,395 minutes. There were no numbers blacked out however, there were numerous calls made to other states including Florida, Virginia, California, Georgia, Alabama, and Massachusetts. One number was to a Rooms To Go. Other numbers were to private residences! Please notice that the council member made calls on weekends and even on Christmas Day! Obviously, those weekend calls and numerous calls on Christmas Day were not to address City business. Therefore, this Council member has used a City-owned cell phone for his personal calls to friends, relatives, and out of state furniture stores. Mr. Woods needs to reimburse the taxpayers of the City and should pay interest and penalty for the use of his City-owned cell phone for private purposes. In fact, the District Attorney needs to investigate. Council member Tarris Woods used his City-owned cell phone for personal calls. Personal use of City-owned cell phones is a violation of law according to: 1. Texas Penal Code 39.02 2. Texas Constitution Article III Section 52a 3. Internal Revenue Service Codes Tarris Woods 12/09/08 to 01/08/09 Cell phone bill
Current Chart of Account and current Vendor Listing files
Credit Card LeBlanc January,2009 - August,2009 September,2009 - November, 2009 The credit card statements show a number of expenses for restaurants such as Gaido's, Landry's, hotel bills at Four and Five Star hotels such as the Omni Hotel, Marriott Hotel, Hyatt Regency Hotel, and Westin Hotel, contributions to non-profit organizations such as American Society of Civil Engineers, Texas Society of CPA's, and bills submitted to the taxpayers for "continuing education" with online testing. There appears to be use of public funds for private purposes. Also, there was a bill submitted from CVS Pharmacy.
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