P-Card colonoscopy

Sun

Jul 29 2007

06:53 pm

By: R. Neal

Dwight Van de Vate issues an official response from the County Mayor's office regarding the use of county purchasing cards for personal medical expenditures:

It has come to my attention that a story will be published in the Halls Shopper News regarding a charge on the Mayor’s p-card. The gist of the story is that the Mayor charged the co-pay for a medical procedure on his card. Although this may be new information to the Halls Shopper News, it is not new anywhere else. The Mayor discussed this with WBIR last month. Apparently they didn’t believe this particular matter merited public discussion.

[..]

We readily acknowledge that serious, substantive issues regarding the p-cards have come to light. At the core of these issues are serious allegations of misconduct over the use of these cards by three former employees of Knox County. An attempt to confuse an honest mistake by any employee of Knox County, including the Mayor, with these other issues is both ridiculous and reprehensible.

Memo to County Commission attached (PDF format).

Attachment	Size
CommissionersMayorp-card.pdf	11.17 KB

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Just more of the same

Submitted by Joe Taylor on Sun, 2007/07/29 - 7:50pm.

Honest my foot... they will try to get away with anything... I bet the p-card has printed on it "Knox County"... makes it kind of hard to confuse it with your Amex card which does not say "Knox County"...

enough is enough...

Shopper bit

Submitted by Pickens on Sun, 2007/07/29 - 9:55pm.

So they claim it was nothing.

But someone from Ragsdale's office had to go in the office on Sunday to draft this memo to County Commission.

Then the draft probably had to be reviewed by one of the Mikes first before going out.

Then it was distributed.

And then it someone got it to Knoxviews.

Obviously nothing.

Seems like if it was nothing, the response would've been nothing. Particularly if it was a nothing on a Sunday.

Heh.

I guess Dwight was worried

Submitted by Bbeanster on Sun, 2007/07/29 - 10:11pm.

I guess Dwight was worried that the shit's going to hit the fan over this one.

(Sorry. Couldn't resist)

yawn

Submitted by Tess on Sun, 2007/07/29 - 8:12pm.

I really don't want to pile on here. But, it would never occur to me to charge a personal medical procedure to a county credit card (if I worked there.)

I cannot fathom whenever that would be appropriate for anyone who worked for the county.

I am pretty sure they have insurance down there.

Dick Cheney?

Submitted by Bizzy on Sun, 2007/07/29 - 10:25pm.

While Mike was under having his colonostomy, who was in charge?

I'll politely disagree

Submitted by Tamara Shepherd on Sun, 2007/07/29 - 11:55pm.

My husband and I have only one credit card, which I don't even carry in my billfold, but he carries it, and manages to use it by accident about twice annually, usually for some small charge he could have easily placed on our debit card.

None of us can truly know if the charges Van de Vate cites were accidental, but it's my personal experience that these sorts of accidents can and do happen.

(Disclaimer: If there's more to this story, I suppose I'll read it tomorrow in the Shopper...)

A seven paragraph memo from

Submitted by CBT on Mon, 2007/07/30 - 3:07am.

A seven paragraph memo from the Mayor's office to the press and Commission (generated on a Sunday) for a one line 'story' in Gossip and Lies. Paranoia reigns!