Reading Light Dept. defends extravagant spending
Published on December 12th, 2001
READING, MA - Reading Municipal Light Department (RMLD) Manager Leonard Rucker says he can explain the $109,000 in company credit card charges for hotel, dinner and personal items from January 1998 to September 2000.
Rucker and his staff are preparing a written response to Mass Inspector General George Sullivan’s report released this week that took issue with RMLD spending and accounting procedures.
Stoneham Selectmen recently discussed becoming a client of the RMLD, which provides electricity to Lynnfield, North Reading, Reading and Wilmington. NStar it seems may be the devil Stoneham knows. But Rucker says the RMLD did nothing wrong.
“We are going item by item and attaching the paperwork that explains everything,” Rucker said. He said he and his staff haven’t done anything wrong and questioned the motives of the Inspector General.
Town Accountant Richard Foley concedes that under Mass General Laws municipal light departments have autonomy from the rest of town government. He said this is why he has not had full access to the RMLD books. But in light of the report he said something must be done.
“Some sort of modifications should be made (in accounting practices) whether at the discretion of the Light Board or the Board of Selectmen,” Foley said.
Per RMLD policy the Chairman of the Board of Commissioners and “other commissioners” review weekly expense statements and reimbursements.
The Inspector General’s report quotes RMLD Board of Commissioners Chairman Allan Ames, saying he “never questioned the expenses of any RMLD employee.”
The report details spending, including $589.49 spent by Light Department Assistant General Manager Linda Bernat for one night at the Bellagio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas on June 3, 2000. The credit card bill submitted for payment contained the handwritten notation “APPA,” in reference to the American Public Power Association,” but the APPA had no events in Las Vegas in June 2000.
Rucker said the conference was an Itron conference; Itron is a manufacturer of meter reading equipment and software, and the RMLD was looking into new software at the time. A last minute decision to send Bernat along with the Electrical Maintenance Manager and Senior Meter Technician led to the confusion. Bernat did not have a room at the cheaper conference hotel. The three people were sharing a rental car, so she wanted to stay nearby. The hotel told her to try across the street. The Bellagio across the street was booked accept for some expenses rooms. The next day Bernat moved to the cheaper hotel.
A $147.47 purchase from Filenes Neckwear was an accident, according to Rucker. Bernat made the personal purchase, mistaking her company card for her personal card, Rucker said. The RMLD caught the mistake, and Bernat reimbursed the company. Both cards are the same color.
Seventy-four percent of the charges were made by Rucker and Bernat. Rucker said his report will explain it all. Dick Finocchio, a spokesperson for the Inspector General’s Office, said a lack of information about reimbursement was one of the main reasons the office suspected funny business.
Rucker is not laughing. He said his department’s spending is in line with their budgets. And rates for RMLD customers have not changed since 1993 and won’t change for another four to five years, according to a statement Rucker made at a recent Reading Town Meeting.
Reading Town Manager Peter Hechenbliekner said he is waiting to hear all the facts. He challenged a statement attributed to him in the Inspector General’s report that his questions about RMLD spending went unanswered.
“I asked questions, and they were answered,” Hechen-bliekner said. “There was a charge at the Atlantic market; it was for employee turkeys for the holiday. Another dinner I thought was high, I still think is high, but it was legit.”
Since no charges have been filed by the District Attorney or the Ethics Commission and the Department of Energy and Telecommunications has issued no statement, the people of Reading will decide the fate of the RMLD.
“The Commissioners and the Selectmen are all elected,” Finocchio said. “We’ll see what the people think.”
Reading Selectmen Chairman George Hines said even if the expenses are legitimate, his board wants to take a close look at the RMLD’s spending policies.
“There are two sides to every story, but what I see in that report is disturbing,” Hines said.
The Reading Selectmen were scheduled to meet with RMLD officials Tuesday night to get some answers.
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