PITTSBURGH \u2014 Another P-Card controversy in the city of Pittsburgh. The city controller\u2019s office is raising questions about a $600 for catering at a councilman\u2019s home. <\/p>\n
The food was for a memorial service at a council member\u2019s home. <\/p>\n
The council president approved the purchase. <\/p>\n
City Controller Rachael Heisler\u2019s office says it\u2019s one thing to send flowers, but $600 worth of catering on the taxpayer\u2019s dime is too much. <\/p>\n
While the city council unanimously approved the P-Card purchase without discussion, the city controller\u2019s office is pushing back. <\/p>\n
According to an email obtained by 11 Investigates, the controller\u2019s office is questioning the purchase of more than $600 worth of wraps, chicken tenders, and other food items, including a tip for a memorial service for Councilman Khari Mosley\u2019s house. <\/p>\n
The controller\u2019s office wrote in a letter to the council, \u201cOur office is empathetic to the tremendous grief all City employees experience when they lose loved ones. However, this charge falls outside the Controller\u2019s generally accepted reimbursable expenses.\u201d<\/p>\n
Council President Dan Lavelle authorized the expenditure as a condolence acknowledgement.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve donated food. We\u2019ve donated flowers. We\u2019ve had plaques prepared for those who have been deceased, and related to councilmembers, so to me, there\u2019s nothing out of the ordinary,\u201d Lavelle said.<\/p>\n
While other city council members recall sending flowers in the past, they don\u2019t remember catering a wake. <\/p>\n
Lavelle is defending the purchase, saying Mosley\u2019s father, renowned sculptor Thaddeus Mosley, was more than just a councilman\u2019s father. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn\u2019t just that it was an actual father of a council person, but it was actually a significant figure in the City of Pittsburgh,\u201d Lavelle said.<\/p>\n
Lavelle says the wake was open to the public, but some who attended said they didn\u2019t know that. <\/p>\n
This is the third time in the three years that the controller\u2019s office has raised questions about P-Card. <\/p>\n
The controller\u2019s office is now urging the council to seek an opinion from the ethics hearing board and the law department. <\/p>\n
Some council members are privately acknowledging it\u2019s time to establish guidelines…especially while the city is struggling financially. <\/p>\n
Earle: Even in this day and age, when you passed a 20% tax increase and money\u2019s tight, you think this is a justifiable expense? <\/p>\n
Lavelle: Yes.<\/p>\n
Earle: $600 worth of food paid for by the taxpayers. <\/p>\n
Lavelle: Yes.<\/p>\n
Earle spoke with Councilman Mosley about all of this and he said that he was unaware that the council was sending food until it arrived that day. He says he also ordered and paid for food out of his own pocket. <\/p>\n
The controller\u2019s office also reached out to the law department for an opinion.<\/p>\n
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