Mulieri flip-flops on paying for conference

ADVERTISEMENT Pat Mulieri said com- missioners' $80,000 salaries are enough for them to pay their way.

Last July, Pasco commissioners began the task of cutting $15.8-million from their proposed budget for 2008. One of the first things to go was the commission's own $12,000 travel budget. Commissioner Pat Mulieri originally sought to reduce the account to $5,000, or $1,000 per commissioner, but acquiesced when three others indicated they would not support her idea.

It was a we-feel-your-pain moment from the commission as it attempted to balance revenues capped by the Legislature with spending requests from their own department heads, constitutional officers, business recruiters and social service agencies.

Mulieri went a step further. She told Times staff writer David DeCamp, she would foot the bill herself for a two-night stay at the Renaissance Vinoy Resort in St. Petersburg for a state Department of Agriculture Farm to Fuel Summit she was scheduled to attend the next day. It was a nice touch, though politically expedient, considering she made the pledge after that July commission meeting. The Times had beenresearching a story on Commissioner Jack Mariano's three-year travel bill of more than $10,000.

Unfortunately, the nice touch was out of touch with sincerity. Mulieri's promise of frugality and desire to share the burden lasted 24 hours. The next day she registered at the Vinoy and the $278 room charge ($139 per night for a single room with a king-size bed) was billed to the county. Two weeks later she verified she was indeed sticking the public for the tab when she signed paperwork authenticating the costs and seeking an additional $32.04 reimbursement for mileage.

Mulieri now says she only offered to pay the bill because she thought the 2007 travel account had been exhausted and decided not to when she learned public money was available. But during the same interview, she said a commissioner's annual salary of more than $80,000 a year means "we can afford to go to seminars on our own."

Well, which is it? Do you spend the public's money because it's there, or do you pay your own way because you're already compensated handsomely?

All told, Mulieri's attendance at the conference cost Pasco taxpayers $560.04 including a $250 registration fee. The summit culled together makers and sellers of ethanol, biodiesel and petroleum fuels with farmers and ranchers, government officials, representatives of the transportation industry, researchers, scientists, lenders and investors. The invited speakers included Gov. Charlie Crist, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Charles Bronson and St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker.

Mulieri, a retired community college English professor, frequently emphasizes the need for continuing education. Compared to the county's general fund budget of more than $160-million, her conference tab was minute, but the duplicity was not.

Saying one thing for public consumption and then acting contrarily when you think nobody is watching is politicking at its worst. It was particularly egregious considering the promise of saving public money coincided with difficult budget negotiations in which Mulieri sought to cut funding to charities and lamented the inability to pay for bus service to Moon Lake.

Mulieri said Wednesday there was nothing she could do. Wrong. She could write the county a check for $278. Reimbursing the public till would be an appropriate way to restore acceptance that her statements and actions are made in good faith.

[Last modified February 20, 2008, 19:56:44]