Skipping a Meal: Elk Grove Council Members to File Amended Economic Disclosure Statement
UPDATED 6:40 PM During the most recent Elk Grove City Council meeting there was a lengthy discussion about the merit of lobbying Republic...
https://www.elkgrovenews.net/2010/04/skipping-meal-elk-grove-council-member.html
UPDATED 6:40 PM
During the most recent Elk Grove City Council meeting there was a lengthy discussion about the merit of lobbying Republican Congress member Dan Lungren in context of the annual Cap to Cap lobbying trip.
A mainstay of the Sacramento Chamber of Commerce, the annual Cap to Cap lobbying trip is a collective effort by business and government entities to lobby Washington DC on behalf of Sacramento metropolitan area interests. Elk Grove has participated in this trip for at least the last three years.
Last year Elk Grove’s delegation included then Mayor Pat Hume and Council members Gary Davis and Sophia Scherman. Mayor Hume wrote glowingly about the benefit of the trip.
As part of his participation in the Cap to Cap, council member Davis disclosed meals he received on last years trip. The three meals totaled $268.02 from three companies; PG&E, Sutter Health and Teichert Construction.
During the 2008 Cap to Cap trip Davis and council member Jim Cooper participated and both listed group meals totaling $321.57 and $317.14 respectively. Davis and Cooper received four meals, three of which for both were from the same organization.
According to the California Fair Political Practices Commission, Davis and Cooper were required to report any meals at conferences where they were not a speaker or participated in a group/panel type discussion (see page 17). While it is the responsibility of the government official to report these meals and their value, it is a common practice and courtesy for the host to provide recipients with a value for the meals.
While Davis reported his meals during the 2009 trip, he travel companions and fellow council members Hume and Scherman did not report accepting any meal from any organization in their respective original Statement of Economic Interests filings with the Elk Grove City Clerk’s office.
Hume told EGN that he would be filing an amendment form. “In the moving of offices my paperwork disappeared and so I forgot to list them,” Hume said via an e-mail correspondence.
Scherman has not responded to e-mail requests seeking information on whether or not she accepted meals.
6:40 PM Scherman has e-mailed EGN saying she will file an amended disclosure for 2009.
During the most recent Elk Grove City Council meeting there was a lengthy discussion about the merit of lobbying Republican Congress member Dan Lungren in context of the annual Cap to Cap lobbying trip.
A mainstay of the Sacramento Chamber of Commerce, the annual Cap to Cap lobbying trip is a collective effort by business and government entities to lobby Washington DC on behalf of Sacramento metropolitan area interests. Elk Grove has participated in this trip for at least the last three years.
Last year Elk Grove’s delegation included then Mayor Pat Hume and Council members Gary Davis and Sophia Scherman. Mayor Hume wrote glowingly about the benefit of the trip.
As part of his participation in the Cap to Cap, council member Davis disclosed meals he received on last years trip. The three meals totaled $268.02 from three companies; PG&E, Sutter Health and Teichert Construction.
During the 2008 Cap to Cap trip Davis and council member Jim Cooper participated and both listed group meals totaling $321.57 and $317.14 respectively. Davis and Cooper received four meals, three of which for both were from the same organization.
According to the California Fair Political Practices Commission, Davis and Cooper were required to report any meals at conferences where they were not a speaker or participated in a group/panel type discussion (see page 17). While it is the responsibility of the government official to report these meals and their value, it is a common practice and courtesy for the host to provide recipients with a value for the meals.
While Davis reported his meals during the 2009 trip, he travel companions and fellow council members Hume and Scherman did not report accepting any meal from any organization in their respective original Statement of Economic Interests filings with the Elk Grove City Clerk’s office.
Hume told EGN that he would be filing an amendment form. “In the moving of offices my paperwork disappeared and so I forgot to list them,” Hume said via an e-mail correspondence.
6:40 PM Scherman has e-mailed EGN saying she will file an amended disclosure for 2009.
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5 comments
Scherman brown-bagged it!
Did Mayor Scherman have an excuse on why she didn't file to start with?
This seems to be a pattern with Hume and Scherman. Doesn't the law require all elected officials take a course and sign that they understand what is reportable?
Hume and Scherman have both had to amend their reports quite a bit over the years.
Begs the question: Are they hiding something? But luckily they can always fall back on the "bad bookeeping" excuse.
So did Hume and Scherman wake up one morning this week thinking, "I think I filed by Form 700 incorrectly again. I just remembered eating at Cap to Cap."
If you believe that, I have some land in the floodplain for sale, only if you promise not to build on it.
They probably used the same accounting practices when approving the Great Prommen-odd!
I'm still waiting for an explanation on the article published March 15th "Eating at the Public Trough" regarding expenses paid by the City of EG for a private entity and why those funds are intermingled with the cities.
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