DeKalb County Commissioner Elaine Boyer says she and her top aide will temporarily stop using their county Visa cards.
Boyer and her chief of staff, Robert Lundsten, have fallen under scrutiny after an investigation by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution found the commissioner charged thousands of dollars in personal purchases, and that both of them spent more than $11,000 on restaurant meals over a two-year period.
Two men have filed complaints against Boyer and Lundsten with the county’s Board of Ethics, which has power to remove elected officials and fire employees.
“Effective immediately,” Boyer said in a written statement released Friday afternoon, “I am ordering a suspension of all P-card use by my office. Neither I, nor any of my staff, will use a P-card for any expenses whatsoever until the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners has adopted a clear policy for permissible use of the county P-cards.”
She announcement came as The Atlanta Journal-Constitution questioned interim Chief Executive Officer Lee May and commissioners about why her card hadn’t been revoked.
“In my 20-plus years of service to the people of DeKalb County,” Boyer said, “I have always been frugal, transparent, and accountable. I deeply regret that any of my actions have led to the misperception that I was abusing the trust the voters have placed in me. My record as a fiscal conservative and as an advocate for smaller and better government has taken decades to earn, and I hope that I will be judged on my entire record of service to the County.”
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