TML expenses low for Mid County

Published 9:18 am Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Some Port Arthur City Council members expressed disapproval Tuesday of a Dec. 2 Port Arthur News story and Dec. 10 opinion column that detailed their expenses while attending the Texas Municipal League conference in Houston in October.

During the meeting at city hall, some of those council members contended that while the newspaper questioned Port Arthur’s expenses at the conference, other Jefferson County cities — those might include Port Neches, Nederland and Groves — also sent representatives to the conferences and were not criticized.  At turns, they called the coverage “biased on the facts.”

But none of those cities spent near the $11,852 Port Arthur did in attending the conference.

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Over in Nederland, the mayor, R.A. “Dick” Nugent, and councilmember Don Albanese attended the conference from Oct. 3 through Oct. 6, according to information from the city.

Nugent’s expenses included $315 for the registration fee, $118 for meals, $99.51 for mileage, $1,036.44 for hotel and $12 for taxi fees for a total of $1,580.95.

Albanese’s expenses were $315 for the registration fee, $118 for meals, $99.51 for mileage, $1,001.80 for hotel for a total of $1,534.31. Their expenses together totaled $3,115.26.

Nugent and Albanese stayed at The Westin in Houston near the George R. Brown Convention Center.

Chris Duque, Nederland city manager, did not attend the conference and has not attended since 2014 and his expenses totaled $312.28.

The city of Port Neches had four people attend the conference; three of which attended for one day only. City manager Andre Wimer said he drove over that morning and returned home that evening. Wimer serves as chairperson of the TML Small Citizens Advisory Council hence the reason for his attendance. His expenses totaled $345.

David Miller, assistant city manager, also attended for one day as well as Port Neches Fire Chief Paul Nelson and their total expenses were also $345, according to information from the city of Port Neches.

Port Neches Police Chief Paul Lemoine attended the conference for two days and his total came to $825.

The expenses included conference registration, travel and parking.

Lemoine stayed at The Westin.

In Groves only councilmember Karen Theis attended the conference, according to information from the city of Groves.

Theis, who stayed at Embassy Suites, attended two days of the conference. Her registration fees totaled $440 and hotel came in at $419.57. She did not ask for reimbursement for meals or mileage.