As a taxpayer, I appreciated the News Tribune's investigation of travel expenditures claimed by St. Louis County commissioners ("County Board travels on our dime, with little oversight," Sept. 19, and, "St. Louis County commissioners' travel expense reports varied widely," Sept. 20).
Once the legitimate mileage expenses of the Iron Range commissioners were excluded, it became clear that one board member had travel expenses completely out of line with all others. That board member was Dennis Fink. In fact, from 2006-10, Fink singlehandedly was responsible for 38 percent of all hotel and airfare expenses of the seven-member board.
As a public employee, my out-of-town travel is carefully regulated. Travel must be work-related, and there are strict spending limits. I never would be allowed to spend $300 a night for a hotel, as did Commissioner Fink on one of his
taxpayer-funded Washington trips. While no such rules apply to the County Board, Commissioner Fink was the one member to so radically abuse his travel privileges.
It is true that board travel is just a small percentage of total county spending. Commissioner Fink's outrageous travel spending, however, is disrespectful to both taxpayers and hard-working county employees who have been asked to do more with less in these difficult economic times.
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Joel Sipress
Duluth
