CLC board cracks down

It used to be pretty easy for a College of Lake County board member to receive reimbursement for dinners or other charges after attending an out-of-town conference.

Elected trustees at the Grayslake-based two-year school needed only to complete an expense report. Itemized receipts or the names of individuals who attended a dinner hosted by a CLC official weren't required for bills that sometimes topped $1,000.

However, recognizing the need for tighter financial controls in an era when local governments are scraping for every possible dollar, CLC now has a set of revised rules designed to make officials more accountable for their travel spending.

Some think the rules don't go far enough.

"These are real good steps and real good improvements, but there could be stricter improvements," CLC board Chairman William Griffin said.

Griffin said he wanted to stop reimbursements with public money for CLC board members' alcohol purchases, but didn't gain enough support. He needed a majority of seven board members to back the idea, which didn't require a public vote.

CLC's recent move came about five months after a Daily Herald review showed a vast discrepancy on how elected officials at suburban community colleges can spend on business trips. Some officials had strict $30-per-day food allowances, while others had few or no rules to follow.

Along with CLC, the examination found McHenry County College in Crystal Lake and Sugar Grove's Waubonsee Community College lacked detailed travel spending policies as of March. Of the three schools, only CLC has since enacted stricter travel spending controls.

Elsewhere, Harper College in Palatine, Des Plaines-based Oakton Community College and College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn have had established per diems and other spending rules. Trustees and employees at Illinois' four-year universities also have strict spending regulations.

The Illinois Higher Education Travel Control Board allows a maximum $28 per diem for employees and trustees at the four-year schools when they travel out of state. There's no reimbursement for alcohol, or spouses' meals or plane tickets.

Under College of Lake County's revised guidelines, board members must have receipts for reimbursement of reasonable meal expenses with specific documentation. Names of individuals who ate on CLC's dime must be listed on the receipts.

The new guidelines also require the board chairman sign and review all reimbursement requests from trustees.

While appreciative of the enhanced spending controls, a member of the CLC teachers union political action committee, Wendy Brown, said officials could have done more, such as halting alcohol reimbursements. Some faculty members pressed the CLC board for change earlier this year.

"One of our requests was to clearly identify per diem. And they didn't do that," said Brown, who met with Griffin about the issue last month.

Griffin said he favored a set per diem on the road, but that idea didn't gain enough support from six other board members when they agreed on the revised operating guidelines in a legal, closed-door meeting. He said he intends to try again for per diem and elimination of alcohol charges.

But fellow CLC board member Richard Anderson said not seeking reimbursement for alcohol from a business trip dinner is easier said than done. He said CLC officials typically host meals for government representatives they hope to influence in Washington, D.C., and Springfield.

Anderson said the meetings are networking opportunities or chances to lobby decision-makers for grants to benefit taxpayers served by community colleges.

"There are times I'm sitting there with eight people and I don't know who's paying for the dinner," Anderson said. "I have no control over what people are eating or what they are drinking."

Meanwhile, two government watchdogs credited the CLC board for becoming more accountable.

Cindi Canary, executive director of Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, said elected officials don't need to take a "vow of poverty" when they travel. They just need to be cognizant of how they spend public money, she said.

Jay Stewart, executive director of the Better Government Association, said human nature dictates a need to have public officials abide by clear spending rules.

"When it's not your money," Stewart said, "you tend to treat it differently."

Unlike College of Lake County, there is no move by Waubonsee Community College to specific rules for out-of-town travel.

"At this time, the college is not evaluating any changes to the travel reimbursement policy," Waubonsee spokesman Jeff Noblitt said. "We do not reimburse spouse travel, there is no per diem and all receipts have to be turned in."

In March, Waubonsee received repayment from board Chairman Richard "Shorty" Dickson after it was discovered taxpayers covered a $187 flight to Seattle and meals for his wife when she accompanied him to a conference in September 2005.

McHenry County College has been trying to establish a set of formal out-of-town travel spending standards for elected officials, said Marlene Kopala, assistant to the school president and board liaison.

"It is still a work in process," Kopala said. "It just hasn't been a priority item lately, with all of the other things going on here. But it's on the list, and eventually we'll get to it."