At the November 9, 2010, MCPS Board of Education meeting Superintendent Jerry Weast talked about the upcoming FY12 MCPS Operating Budget. He talked about the contact that the Board of Education President Patricia O'Neill has had with state legislators to discuss the budget. Included in President O'Neill's contact with state legislators was "dinner."
Who paid for the dinner? Did taxpayers pay through a MCPS American Express credit card (Mrs. O'Neill has been issued one of these cards) or through a legislator credit card or some other method? The Parents' Coalition looks forward to posting the receipts from dinner meetings between Board President Patricia O'Neill and state legislators.
Who will be the first to shine some sunshine on dinner meetings between Board members and state legislators?
I am sick and tired of you folks constantly nitpicking on this dinner thing. Are you jealous that you weren't in on it? If so, get elected. Are they supposed to use Giant coupons for Hamburger Helper or get McDonald's Happy Meals for all? I agree that there are excesses, but when they meet in the evenings during the dinner hour, are they just supposed to suck it up?
ReplyDeleteThat's exactly what parents do when they go from work to school functions during the "dinner hour" they "suck it up!"
ReplyDeleteExactly when is that magic "hour" anyway?
If you, dear anonymous taxpayer are so willing to pay extra taxes to feed Mrs. O'Neill and State Legislators then please, cut them a check. Don't let us stop you from contributing to the dinner fund!
And please, do tell - when you work late does your employer take you to dinner at a restaurant, or do you have a catered meal delivered to your desk like the folks at 850 Hungerford Drive?
We'd love to hear what other Montgomery County employers are feeding their employees at local restaurants when they work late.
The state’s legislators also have to file gift and meal disclosures.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that elected officials should be eating out on the taxpayer's dime. I don't think that MCPS employees should be eating catered lunches and dinners on the taxpayer's dime. If I had won the election (which I didn't), my plan was to either pay the cost of my food...or bring my own.
ReplyDeleteMCPS is not a corporation. It is not a business. Nevertheless, review the credit card logs on the PC website and see how many times the Carver staff dined out (just in one 12 month period) and called it a "business lunch." Each of those $60 dollar lunches represents an hour of speech therapy that was denied to a disabled child. The hundreds of dollars in catered lunches and dinners for MCPS staff represents money that could have been used to buy supplies for classroom teachers. Either we're having a budget crisis or we're not. If we are, then we need to cut costs. Even the Office of Legislative Audits found fault with MCPS's credit card usage.