April 20, 2009

News that the public has been paying for members of the Millcreek Township Water and Sewer Authorities to treat themselves to dinner came to light in the midst of an interesting political season.

But the source of the information is not important. And the response that authority members are volunteers and that the dinners are simply a way to reward them for their uncompensated service doesn’t wash.

What’s relevant is that water and sewer customers now know how some of their dollars are being spent. We’re happy that Millcreek Township supervisors have decided to take another look at the dinner expenses after initially acting as though this were common practice.

Richard Figaski, a Democrat running for Millcreek supervisor and a member of the Cheaper Cleaner Water Task Force, spoke at a supervisors meeting a week ago Tuesday and said that the two authorities had spent $22,384 on restaurant expenses over three years. Figaski said he was highlighting the expenditures as a representative of the task force and also as a private citizen.

The task force objects to the fact that the 7,000 customers of the Millcreek Water Authority pay more for their water than the 10,000 customers in Millcreek who are served by Erie Water Works. The task force wants Erie Water Works to supply water directly to the customers served by the Millcreek Water Authority. The three other candidates for Millcreek supervisor, incumbent Larry Curtis and challengers Sue Weber and Mike Dougherty, also support cheaper rates; they are running in the Republican primary.

The value of learning about the dinner expenses is that it provides the opportunity for discussion about whether volunteers who serve on public authorities should be compensated.

In Fairview Township, seven people serve on both the sewer and water authorities and are paid $100 per month, as allowed by state law. That’s straightforward.

The Erie Sewer Authority spends about $5 or $6 per person for lunch for its five-member board.

The nine-member Erie Water Authority Board attends one paid dinner a year, after the December meeting. The bill was $370.50 in 2008 and $351.86 in 2007.

We expect government officials to spend public money wisely at all times. In this uncertain economy, amid public outrage about overspending in both the public and private sectors, it’s even more critical for government officials to demonstrate frugality.

There’s one other concern about the after-meeting dinners hosted by the two Millcreek authorities. Such get-togethers could easily be interpreted as a way to get around open-meeting laws.

Both authorities should rethink the way they spend public money. Otherwise, expect a drip-drip-drip loss of public confidence.

Re-posted from goerie.com: Read the original article here