Earlier this year, a subcommittee in Virginia’s House of Delegates quashed a bill that would have bolstered transparency about the use of government-issued credit cards by public officials.
The measure’s sponsor, state Sen. Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, argued succinctly and correctly that, “[T]he public deserves to know not only when money is spent and how it’s spent but who’s spending it,” but was unable to sway the Republican majority into adopting the proposal.
The need for legislation such as this — and greater transparency about credit card usage throughout government — was recently made more apparent by members of the Newport News City Council.
Reporting by Josh Janney, who covers Hampton and Newport News for the Daily Press and The Virginian-Pilot, details thousands of dollars in charges made by four members of the city’s elected leadership this year.
According to the story, members paid for flights, hotels, meals and even assistants to help with constituent services using Newport News credit cards. The charges included $700 for airfare, $200 for lodging, about $1,100 in meals and various other costs that aren’t covered by the city’s authorized expenses or reimbursement policies.
Using the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, Janney obtained a May 1 legal memo from City Attorney Collins Owens to City Manager Cynthia “Cindy” Rohlf in which Owens concluded that many of the charges violated state code and the city’s travel policy. “He said he believed city council members and city employees, such as the director of finance and the city manager, could face criminal penalties under state code if the city didn’t seek reimbursements and the council members did not return the money,” Janney reported.
Four members were required to repay those debts: Vice Mayor Curtis Bethany owed $2,756; Councilman John Eley, $1,050; Councilwoman Pat Woodbury, $35; and Councilman Cleon Long, $33. Bethany, Eley and Long took office in January, and Mayor Phillip Jones said many of the introductory briefings about policies such as this were crowded out by the council’s focus on the Jan. 6 Richneck Elementary School shooting.
There are plenty of questions remaining about this episode, including Woodbury telling Janney that the misuse of city credit cards may have played a role in the city manager’s departure, which became effective on Tuesday. Newport News residents deserve a full accounting of that, and council members should be forthright in their answers.
However, it is worth noting that Janney’s FOIA request for the legal memo and credit card statement returned some information, but not all of it. Members’ names were not included, so they were only identified through the city attorney’s letter to the city manager.
That was precisely the practice that Surovell hoped to stop with his legislation earlier this year. It stems from a 2020 interpretation by the Virginia’s Department of Accounts that instructed state agencies to redact credit card numbers and employee names when releasing records under FOIA, per reporting by the Virginia Mercury.
The law only requires that credit card numbers be redacted as a matter of financial security. The Department of Accounts recommended redacting names as well to adhere to Bank of America’s “recommended best practice” to protect account intrusion or theft.
That information should be public, as Newport News has so aptly demonstrated. Including employee names with charges for incidental purchases is critical to oversight and accountability. And even knowing that information will be available to citizens could itself deter fraud and abuse.
The real issue here is that government credit cards represent the use of public money — your money — and citizens have a right to know how that money is used and who is using it. Restoring access to that information, which was public prior to the 2020 policy change, will bring needed transparency and more muscular oversight to purchasing. And, as Newport News City Council members have helpfully demonstrated, adopting Surovell’s measure or one like it cannot come soon enough for the commonwealth.
