News

Election 2004

Martinez flew first-class at a price

The Senate candidate flew on more expensive tickets as HUD secretary because of a back problem, he says.

By BILL ADAIR
Published July 23, 2004

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WASHINGTON - Government officials usually are required to fly coach. But when Mel Martinez was President Bush's housing secretary, he had a note from his doctor so he could fly first-class.

It cost taxpayers $2,103 to fly Martinez round trip from Washington to Chicago. His New Orleans flight cost $2,038. A Miami trip cost $2,115.

His wife also flew first-class and business class when she accompanied him on a government trip to Russia. Her travel voucher said the luxury seats were necessary "to maintain her security."

Records obtained by the St. Petersburg Times under the Freedom of Information Act show that Martinez, who resigned from the housing post to run for a U.S. Senate seat from Florida, took first-class and business-class flights that totaled more than $50,000 in 2002 and 2003.

Some were political trips paid for by campaigns or local Republican groups. But most were for speaking engagements and housing conferences where taxpayers picked up the tab.

Martinez said he flew coach his first two years as housing secretary but switched to first-class in 2002 because of back and neck problems, which began about 20 years earlier after an automobile accident. He said he has a narrowing of the disc space in his spine, which causes sporadic pain.

"I've had (the pains) recently because I've been traveling a lot," he said Thursday. "I woke up at 3:30 this morning because of them."

He said first-class seats relieved the strain on his back because the seats had more cushioning and additional leg room.

Flying first-class added thousands of dollars to the cost of his trips.

For example, he flew from Washington to New Orleans in April 2003 for a two-day visit with community leaders and local housing officials.

The government paid $2,038 for his first-class ticket.

A coach ticket for that trip today would cost $520, even if he bought it at the last minute when tickets are more expensive, according to figures from Orbitz, an Internet travel service.

His Chicago trip, which cost $2,103, would cost $342 if he flew coach, according to Orbitz.

Federal rules require government employees to fly coach for most trips.

They are allowed to go first-class if those seats are the only ones available, if they have "a disability or special need," for foreign trips longer than 14 hours, if there are "security reasons," or if frequent flier benefits or private money is used for an upgrade.

Dr. Charles W. Heard Jr., Martinez's doctor, sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in October 2002 that said his patient should fly first-class.

"I am currently treating Mr. Martinez for Chronic Cervical Spine Syndrome," he wrote. "He medically requires a first-class seating arrangement so as not to worsen his condition."

After receiving that letter, the HUD general counsel's office said in an internal memo that the neck ailment was a "special need" that justified the first-class trips.

Dr. Harry Van Loveren, chairman of the neurosurgery department at the University of South Florida, said that unless surgery is needed, that kind of condition is usually treated with rest, massage, moist heat, and anti-inflammatory drugs.

Would he recommend first-class travel for such a patient?

"I think it's largely a matter of comfort," Van Loveren said. "To determine whether it's a matter of medical necessity, the physician would need to examine the patient and review his X-rays."

Martinez's travel records show the government paid $4,097 to charter a Learjet to take him from Miami to Orlando in June 2003 so he could attend events on home ownership and a conference of a Hispanic group.

A government memorandum said the charter plane was needed because no commercial flights would get Martinez to Orlando in time for the events.

Martinez said he was not involved in the decision to take the charter flight.

"How I get from one place to another was in the hands of people who handle the travel," he said. "It was never my request to fly in a private jet. It was never my intention to create a larger bill for the government."

For the Russia events, the U.S. government paid for his wife, Kathryn Martinez, to accompany him on the November 2003 trip because she had been invited by Russian authorities.

The U.S. government paid $5,916 for her first-class and business-class tickets.

Mel Martinez said Thursday that he was not involved in the decision and did not know why it was decided that she should fly in the more expensive seats.

"I don't make judgment calls about security," he said. "I never questioned those decisions."

She did not normally receive HUD security protection unless she was accompanying her husband, according to Jennifer Coxe, a spokesman for the Martinez campaign.

Coxe said security for the trip had been coordinated by officials in the State Department and the HUD security office.

A HUD spokesman said the officials who provided security for that trip are no longer with the agency and there is no one left who knows the details of the Russia trip.

A State Department spokesman was unable to provide any information about the trip.

- Times staff writer Steve Bousquet contributed to this report.

[Last modified July 23, 2004, 09:01:03]

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