Admitting he should have acted sooner, interim DeKalb CEO Lee May on Monday issued an executive order, and a new policy, designed to give him greater power to stop misuse of county-issued charge cards.
The move comes a month after The Atlanta Journal-Constitution revealed County Commissioner Elaine Boyer spent more than $12,000 on airline tickets, rental cars and other travel expenses with her county-issued Visa. Boyer reimbursed many of the charges shortly after making them. But she has said, despite signing an agreement not to use the card on personal expenses,that she was unaware she had done anything wrong.
The new policy makes clear that elected officials - including Constitutional officers such as the sheriff or district attorney - must abide by those rules. It lays out specific areas where the cards may be used and grants May the power to suspend or revoke a card if there is abuse.
“The P-card is an administrative function,” May said. “We’ve got to do a better job of monitoring it.”
May’s order calls for moving P-card oversight to the county’s finance department, which can stop payment on any card. It also requires that all cardholders receive annual training and every card be audited yearly.
Boyer asked for much of those changes in an email to the county’s chief operating officer on April 17. Monday, she told the AJC exclusively that she welcomes the changes and greater supervision.
For a full report on the new policy, please visit www.myAJC.com.
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