This Is Reno obtained two-and-a-half years of City of Reno public records on discretionary spending to see how the Mayor and City Council members spent those funds. Hours were dedicated to poring over numerous travel receipts, city council donations, candidate disclosures and other documents. Findings reveal that some council members have repeatedly submitted travel requests and expense reports that may violate city policies. Expenses also have unclear benefits for the Reno community.
This is part eight in a 10-part series, which is being published over the coming days. Read the complete series here. Subscribe here to get access to all This Is Reno articles.
Public records received as part of an investigation into city council discretionary spending revealed several violations of Reno’s city travel policies by council members and city leaders. Expense reports were mostly approved by City Manager Doug Thornley.
Thornley is hired and evaluated by the council members whose travel expenses he approves.
John Pelissero, director of government ethics at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University, said it isn’t unusual for a city manager to approve council member expenses.
“This is not necessarily a problem because many cities have their city manager oversee the expenses of city council members and other elected officials,” he said. “The manager’s duty is to ensure that the expenses are consistent with laws and city policies.”
Violations appear to include council members and staff purchasing first-class or upgraded airline tickets, charging for extra hotel nights with no evidence they were conducting official city business, collecting per-diem reimbursements when meals are offered as part of conference registrations and submitting travel requests—approvals to spend money required before traveling—well after trips were completed.
This Is Reno requested that the city provide documentation to show if these expenses were consistent with city rules and if council members reimbursed the city for the extra expenses. City officials did not respond to numerous questions to explain these travel expenses, nor could they provide additional documentation, despite requests.
“I have never submitted formal travel requests myself. Instead, I inform my assistant about my travel plans to make arrangements.” -Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve
City Council member Devon Reese and Mayor Hillary Schieve implied city staff were at fault for errors on travel requests and expense reports.
“We’ve had higher than normal turnover in the admin staff for those positions, so I’m not sure what their records/files are like,” Reese wrote in an email to This Is Reno. “The Council members book the trips and submit the receipts to staff.”
“I have never submitted formal travel requests myself,” Schieve also wrote in an email. “Instead, I inform my assistant about my travel plans to make arrangements.”
Council members and the mayor, however, sign off on the documents before they are submitted to Thornley for approval.
City policies require travel request forms to be submitted at least 10 days in advance of travel and expense reports to be submitted to the finance department within 10 days after travel is completed. Those requirements are often not met by council members but are nevertheless approved by Thornley.
Thornley, who is required to accurately review such requests and ensure they are in compliance with city policies, regularly signs off on late, incomplete or inaccurate documents, as revealed in documents obtained by This Is Reno through a public records request.
One such policy is regarding reimbursements for meals and lodging at U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) rates. GSA has a city-specific hotel room and meal costs. State of Nevada agencies and local governments follow GSA’s rates. Rooms costing more than the GSA rate are allowed if they’re approved by the city manager prior to travel. Thornley, though, often signs off on these requests after travel has already been completed, sometimes on the same date the expense report is submitted.
What is per diem and GSA rate?
The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) is a government agency that helps to manage and support the basic functions of federal agencies. As part of its work, it sets annual allowances that federal agencies use to reimburse their employees for expenses incurred while on official travel, including lodging, incidentals and daily meals (also called “per diem”).
GSA reviews reimbursement amounts at least every three years and adjusts based on market prices. Additionally, rates vary based on location—a hotel room in New York City generally costs more than one in Elko. Per diem rates are set for each meal—breakfast, lunch and dinner—and also include a reimbursement for incidental expenses, such as tips. Many non-federal government agencies use GSA rates for travel reimbursement to their employees, including the State of Nevada and City of Reno.
When Schieve, Assistant City Manager Ashley Turney and City Council Liaison Manager Jenica Finnegan traveled March 2-6, 2023, to the U.S. Conference of Mayors Winter Leadership Meeting in Miami, their hotel rooms cost an average of $338 each, over the $215 GSA rate. Approval for the surplus cost was provided on March 14, 2023, after they returned. The trio’s travel expense requests were also submitted and approved March 14. Their expense reports were dated and approved the next day.
In some instances, council members did not include the approval for hotel rooms in excess of the GSA rate, so it’s not clear whether those hotel charges were even approved. None of the records This Is Reno was provided indicate the purpose of extra hotel nights before or after conference dates or why records show council members were reimbursed for those expenses.
Council members and some city staff have also been reimbursed for each daily meal, or “per diem,” they claimed on their expense reports, despite meals being served as part of their conferences or meetings.
Claiming per-diem expenses when meals are provided is considered double-dipping and is against the city’s travel reimbursement policy. Such policies are consistent among government entities.
Auditors reviewing travel expenses during a recent internal audit of University of Nevada’s Extension service noted on one finding, “We recommend employees be reminded to attach conference agendas to Expense Reports. This will enable those reviewing and approving these transactions to determine whether proper meal per diems were claimed and reimbursed.”
That kind of documentation is often not included with City of Reno travel expenses.
Schieve, Council members Reese and Miguel Martinez, Assistant City Manager Turney and Council Relations Manager Finnegan have all been reimbursed for lunches and dinners at the per-diem rate at conferences that included lunches and dinners as part of the conference registration. Conference agendas are not included in most of the submitted travel documents. This Is Reno was able to locate some conference agendas online, however.
In describing travel costs for U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) events she attends with Schieve and Finnegan, Turney said costs incurred while Schieve is president of the organization are just the per-diem meals and incidental expenses.
“That’s only taken if … we’re not having meals covered by the conference,” Turney said, acknowledging awareness of the city’s travel policy.
Multiple expense reports for travel to USCM leadership meetings and annual conferences for Turney, Finnegan and Schieve, however, all include reimbursement requests for daily breakfasts, lunches and dinners. Meeting agendas included in travel records show at least one dinner is provided as part of the USCM event.
The agenda for the USCM 2024 Winter Meeting in Washington, D.C.—an event that follows a similar format each year and that Schieve, Turney and Finnegan attended in 2023, and again this year—shows attendees are provided a breakfast buffet and lunch for all three days of the conference. Two evening receptions are also included.
Council member Kathleen Taylor, at the June 2023 USCM conference in Columbus, Ohio, didn’t request per-diem reimbursement for lunch on two days of the conference. A draft agenda for that meeting showed lunches were served for three days of the conference. She did, however, get reimbursed for an additional $309 in meal charges not documented with any receipts—despite a public records request for those documents—which Schieve approved.
Both Reese and Martinez, who have extended their trips two or more days outside of conference dates, have been reimbursed for both lodging and meals on those extra days. No documentation was provided on their expense reports indicating those extra travel days were used for city business.
Reese said he paid for any personal activities while traveling for city business, but he provided no evidence to back up that claim, despite a request.
“Any expenses that are personal to me and not required of my travel I pay for out of my pocket,” Reese wrote in an email to This Is Reno. “For example, if I went early to a place for a personal reason, I pay for my own food and lodging for those nights.”
His statement isn’t reflected in the city’s documentation, which does not show that he paid the city back for any of his extra days of travel.
Neither Martinez nor city officials would respond to questions or provide additional information about these extra charges.
Despite what appear to be clear violations of city travel policies, Thornley’s signature is on most of the expense reports. Schieve has also signed off on documents that appear to violate policy. City officials refused to explain these discrepancies and refused to respond to numerous questions about these expenses.
Read part nine tomorrow.
