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Councilman's work meals cost Elgin $1,600

The city of Elgin has spent about $3,000 this year to pay for meetings conducted over meals shared by city council members and city staff members, with more than half stemming from meetings attended by one councilman.

The overall expense in 2014 is $3,063 for 81 lunches, breakfasts and dinners, according to information provided by the city. That's an average of $37.82 per meal.

City Manager Sean Stegall said most were meetings between him and council members, and on rare occasions others such as the police chief.

Councilman John Prigge took part in a total of 33 meals totaling $1,607. The figure includes the total cost for all those in attendance.

The expense for meals attended by councilman Rich Dunne was $421, followed by Councilman John Steffen at $396, Councilman Terry Gavin at $178, Councilwoman Tish Powell at $134, Councilwoman Rose Martinez at $86, Mayor David Kaptain at $53, and Councilwoman Carol Rauschenberger at $31.

Former Councilwoman Anna Moeller, who left her post in March to become a state legislator, attended $154 worth of meals.

Councilman Toby Shaw is the only one who didn't incur any such expenses this year.

Prigge said he usually meets with Stegall once a week to discuss city business in detail.

“It's about fine-tuning things,” he said. “(The city manager) is the only guy that the city council is directly responsible for hiring, so I think it's beneficial to meet with the guy that you hired on a weekly basis. You need to interact with him. He runs the whole city.”

Lunches are the most distraction-free way to meet with Stegall, he said.

“We tried in the very beginning to meet at his office, and it was a steady flow of legitimate interruptions,” he said. “It is a legitimate business expense not unlike toner, not unlike other business expenses that we as councilmen go through.”

Stegall said the city pays for the meals because they are exclusively about city business. Seventy-eight of the 81 meals took place in Elgin.

While it's critical for council members to stay informed and give ongoing feedback about city business, they each determine how to do that — via in-person meetings, email, telephone, or a combination, Stegall said.

“The overwhelming majority of my time is spent on council communications,” he said.

Kaptain said he doesn't object to the city paying for meals whose purpose is to conduct city business.

However, “why does one person need 10 times more (meetings) than other people? I think that's a valid question to ask,” he said.

Kaptain said he also meets with Stegall weekly but usually does it at city hall. Other council members do that, too, he said.

Elgin City Manager Sean Stegall
  Elgin Mayor David Kaptain Laura Stoecker/lstoecker@dailyherald.com
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