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Surf City spends $10,433 on meals for city council
October 6th, 2008, 7:00 am · 24 Comments · posted by Teri Sforza, Register staff writer
In 22 months, the Huntington Beach City Council gobbled up dozens of dinners costing $10,433, according to city records.
Providing sustenance to the 7-member council and city staffers before the twice-monthly council meetings is considered a survival mechanism.
“We have study sessions at 4 o’clock, and usually our department heads attend that as well as City Council members,” said spokeswoman Laurie Payne. “They go into closed session at 5, and the meeting starts at 6. They don’t get a chance to go out prior to that.”
Meetings, of course, can go well past 10 p.m., depending on the controversy-du-jour.
These are not fancy meals, Payne stresses. They’re served buffet-style, in trays with little heaters under them, and eaten off paper plates. (The city tries to recycle.)
Who gets to pick the grub? The job rotates among the councilmembers. They choose a local restaurant - Chinese, Italian, barbecue - and the city buys enough to feed 25, meaning the council plus department heads. There’s a main dish, salad, bread, rice or pasta, drinks. If the council meeting stretches past 10 p.m., “sometimes we’ll bring in a vegetable tray,” Payne said.
Here, drawn from city expense records, are all entries labeled “council meeting dinner” between Oct. 23, 2006 and Aug. 20, 2008, and their totals:
|
DATE |
AMOUNT |
|
10/23/2006 |
$ 159.42 |
|
10/23/2006 |
$ 200.00 |
|
11/7/2006 |
$ 12.94 |
|
11/8/2006 |
$ 212.89 |
|
11/21/2006 |
$ 212.27 |
|
11/21/2006 |
$ 25.37 |
|
12/19/2006 |
$ 11.97 |
|
12/20/2006 |
$ 212.89 |
|
12/29/2006 |
$ 134.69 |
|
1/3/2007 |
$ 199.99 |
|
1/3/2007 |
$ 11.97 |
|
1/16/2007 |
$ 215.50 |
|
1/17/2007 |
$ 221.49 |
|
2/7/2007 |
$ 200.00 |
|
2/20/2007 |
$ 219.49 |
|
2/21/2007 |
$ 10.97 |
|
2/22/2007 |
$ 14.98 |
|
2/26/2007 |
$ 150.00 |
|
3/6/2007 |
$ 23.15 |
|
3/7/2007 |
$ 212.89 |
|
3/16/2007 |
$ 200.00 |
|
3/21/2007 |
$ 32.95 |
|
4/5/2007 |
$ 200.00 |
|
4/17/2007 |
$ 32.67 |
|
4/18/2007 |
$ 200.00 |
|
5/2/2007 |
$ 72.19 |
|
5/7/2007 |
$ 225.00 |
|
5/22/2007 |
$ 18.99 |
|
5/23/2007 |
$ 212.89 |
|
6/5/2007 |
$ 10.97 |
|
6/6/2007 |
$ 200.00 |
|
7/5/2007 |
$ 96.74 |
|
7/17/2007 |
$ 25.98 |
|
7/18/2007 |
$ 200.00 |
|
8/7/2007 |
$ 11.97 |
|
8/7/2007 |
$ 218.43 |
|
8/21/2007 |
$ 11.97 |
|
8/22/2007 |
$ 209.17 |
|
9/6/2007 |
$ 200.00 |
|
9/19/2007 |
$ 191.64 |
|
9/19/2007 |
$ 43.10 |
|
10/2/2007 |
$ 297.34 |
|
10/17/2007 |
$ 252.46 |
|
11/7/2007 |
$ 287.42 |
|
11/23/2007 |
$ 250.00 |
|
1/7/2008 |
$ 269.38 |
|
1/24/2008 |
$ 236.30 |
|
2/6/2008 |
$ 278.80 |
|
3/5/2008 |
$ 221.10 |
|
3/10/2008 |
$ 200.00 |
|
3/24/2008 |
$ 258.60 |
|
4/8/2008 |
$ 18.99 |
|
4/9/2008 |
$ 41.82 |
|
4/10/2008 |
$ 250.00 |
|
4/23/2008 |
$ 255.72 |
|
5/8/2008 |
$ 194.58 |
|
5/21/2008 |
$ 233.27 |
|
6/2/2008 |
$ 400.00 |
|
6/17/2008 |
$ 236.19 |
|
7/9/2008 |
$ 255.72 |
|
7/22/2008 |
$ 21.99 |
|
7/31/2008 |
$ 240.00 |
|
8/6/2008 |
$ 255.72 |
|
8/18/2008 |
$ 200.00 |
|
|
$ 10,432.93 |
24 Comments
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I run a small business and this seems completely legitimate.
A couple hundred bucks to feed 7 people is reasonable and seeing that most of these council members are part-time and have other responsibilities it’s fair to give them some food before asking them to work till some unspecified time.
No story here.
_
nom nom nom…mmmmm
How could anyone think this is a big deal? I agree with JimWilliams - no story here.
They feed 25 people, not 7.
So, twice a month these people cannot figure out a way to bring their dinner or foot the bill themselves? I work full time, have 2 kids, do regular volunteer work and my church and manage to bring or buy my own lunch to our monthly meetings. After everything that this city’s government has done over the last 15 years, I’m not suprised.
I agree. Nothing unusual. $200 to feed city council members and departments heads is cheap. It is not like they went to Orange Hill every time.
Where I work, if some worker have to work into the night, the company will order food like pizza or hamburgers.
Really, a non issue.. must be a slow news day.
That’s nothing, Dana Rohrabacher got a free trip for his family to France compliments of Airbus.
What is the point of this story? That does not seem extravagant at all. Great reporting.
legit expenses over the course of 2 years… Feed 7 people and spend over 200 bucks. that is not big flipping deal.
Well now here’s the thing, if it’s so not such a big deal then why can’t they all chip in and pay for it themselves? Granted this is nothing on the oreder of the Fair board perks, or some of the other controversies we’ve seen but I know that as an average joe nobody pays for my meals. The argument that they can’t leave doesn’t mean thay can’t pay and as for them only being part time they still probably make twice as much money in that time as most people make in an 8 hour day.
I think it’s not an issue here. OC Dog Watchers should follow something bigger, such as how did OC Supervisors spent on their office funitures?
That $10,000 came out of HB taxpayers’ pockets and everyone has a right to know about it.
Yet another example of big government excess, especially during a time where we need financial restraint.
My company doesn’t pay for my meals when I work during lunch, why should they be any different. Did these clowns ever consider maybe scheduling their meetings before or after a meal, like the rest of us do? Or maybe eat early, or god forbid… go hit the vending machine and grab a bag of doritos.
politicians == out of touch
Thank you OC register for continuing to push people to clean up.
Normally things like this upset me, but this just seems to be the cost of doing business. Nothing to see here folks. Move along.
Not a big deal - budgeted out. Why not also mention that the Planning Commissioners get free meals when they have meetings?
Why is this news that listed on the first page? Dumb. I worked at a City Hall before, in the Finance Dept at that. This is very common to order food before council meetings. Especially if they are contributing to local restaurants.
Yeah it isn’t a huge deal But they really should pay for themselves.
FYI, that only comes out to $15.63/week per member. That’s one dinner a week per person.
OC Register can’t do math???
This should not have made this story at all… Not a big deal.
I bet a few people spend more on Starbucks over the same time period! Doh. Anyway, they could cut the drinks and serve water. Sounds healthy to me. Or maybe they could have someone catch some food off the pier. Oh, wait, HB coastal water…never mind.
Non-story. Who cares that the council members have a meal before their meeting? Good Lord!
I agree with the majority. Non-issue. But informative.
While the OCR can report it, I don’t see any newsworthiness in it. HB isn’t alone. This happens to I suppose nearly all cities around OC, LA and surrounding counties. And this doesn’t seem like a lot over a total of nearly three years. Not sure what the OCR saw in this story.
Average Meal = $163.01
Average Attendees = 25 (according to article)
Average Cost per Attendee = $6.52
Anyone for a six-dollar burger?
A public servant is not allowed to accept meals on the taxpayer dollar. I guess the City of HB has thier own rules. This would be considered a gift of public funds.
perhaps we should remind the readers about Judge MacEachern who has stepped down for a 200 dollar meal.