Allen: ‘Every dime’ justified

PALMER — After the city council unanimously supported a vote of confidence for City Manager Bill Allen, Allen responded to concerns raised about credit card spending.

“Every dime is disclosed with who attended and how it benefited the city,” Allen said after his employee review was completed this past week.

Before the review, Councilman Richard Best expressed concerns about restaurant tabs and expenses that appeared to fund trips the manager took to board of directors meetings. It also looked as if city employees were receiving pay raises that exceeded guidelines.

While Best made his concerns public, he only discussed matters that were part of the public record. Still, Allen felt he could not respond until the council made its conclusion and came out of executive session.

Tuesday’s 7-0 vote, including Best, broke his silence.

“There were some reasons that caused confusion, there were some accounting issues,” Allen said. “I can see where (Best) was coming from.”

He points to his trip to Seattle for an Alaska Airlines board meeting. He admitted on the surface this looked preposterous. However, the airline paid for his ticket, just like it has done for 28 years, he said. The charge on the card for the hotel was for the extra night he stayed to do city business, Allen said.

“Everything I have been reimbursed for has been fully disclosed on the expense statement,” he said.

As for the employee pay raises, Allen said there was no favoritism shown to anyone and there is no one making more than the national guidelines for comparable size cities.

The council is supposed to be skeptical, he said, and he harbors no hard feelings.

“The explanations I gave the city council were accepted, and we’re moving on,” Allen said.

Contact Todd L. Disher at todd.disher@frontiersman.com or 352-2252.