Pembroke Park has reigned in questionable spending, months after a government watchdog’s critical report that the town allowed its elected officials to use town credit cards “without proper controls and oversight.”
Among the changes: spending limits for elected officials, a written promise not to use town money on themselves, and reimbursement for some purchases, including for ride-hailing services, such as Uber.
In September, the Broward Office of the Inspector General blasted the town for its failures to oversee its spending, which left them open to “risk for abuse.”
“We condemn the failures that we observed in Pembroke Park, as they demonstrated an utter disregard for a government’s obligation to guard the public’s purse against wasteful spending,” Broward Inspector General Carol Breece said in a statement last year.
Among the “concerning” examples: $81 on Amazon for a Bluetooth loudspeaker, almost $100 at a Hollywood waterfront restaurant to test the menu in advance of a Christmas party and nearly $1,900 on a United Airlines flight to Nevada for a mayor’s conference.
The Office of the Inspector General, which is the government watchdog assigned to snuff out ethics violations, said at the time that it was the town of Pembroke Park, not the commissioner who spent the money, that was at fault since it had “inadequate guidance regulating” the purchase cards, known as P-cards, and travel expenditures.
In December, Breece’s office asked the town to show how it made changes. Among the findings:
— The commission passed an ordinance that established travel policies and rates.
— Officials now sign a six-point credit card user agreement that includes a pledge that under no circumstances it would be used to make personal purchases.
— Much of the spending critique centered around Commissioner Geoffrey Jacobs, who is also a former mayor. The report shows that in January he handed over his destroyed town credit card to the interim finance director.
— Five purchases made on the town credit card were refunded including $424.36 from Jacobs for a charge from Spirit of Life Power, described on its website as a Hollywood-based furniture store, and another $25.96 from Jacobs for two Ubers.
— The town created a spending limit for its eight users, including $5,000 for mayor, commissioners, and their executive assistant; $2,500 for the police chief; and $20,000 for the acting town manager.
— There is now a policy to “encourage town staff to reject questionable expenditures and create a process by which they can do so without fear of repercussion.”
Breece wrote in her Tuesday memo: “Although it tolerated unchecked p-card use in the past, with the implementation of virtually all of the OIG’s September 2023 recommendations, it no longer does so.”
The Office of the Inspector General warns more work still has to be done. It said the town has yet to determine how to implement advance approval for p-card purchases and travel, determine whether purchases from 2019 to the present were made for a primary public purpose, and what disciplinary measures, if any, the town will implement for violations of the policies and procedures, Breece wrote in a statement Tuesday.
Lisa J. Huriash can be reached at lhuriash@sunsentinel.com . Follow on X, formerly Twitter, @LisaHuriash
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