Three top city officials attended a funeral for a Columbus Police Department lieutenant’s mother in Detroit, Michigan, in early September.
The trip, made by Mayor Robert Smith, Police Chief Oscar Lewis and Assistant Police Chief Fred Shelton, cost $4,130.79, according to documents The Dispatch obtained through an open records request. The cost includes $1,121.76 for two nights’ lodging, $2,866.10 for flight expenses and $142.93 for two meals.
Documents obtained through an open records request filed by The Dispatch show the three went to Detroit on Sept. 1-3 for the funeral. They stayed in three rooms at a Hilton Garden Inn.
The Columbus City Council ratified reimbursements to the mayor and chiefs as an item on the consent agenda at its Sept. 6 meeting. However, five councilmen told The Dispatch on Wednesday they weren’t aware of the specific cost at the time they voted. Ward 2 Councilman Joseph Mickens said he wasn’t aware of the trip cost until the Dispatch contacted him.
Ward 1 Councilman Gene Taylor declined to comment on the cost. However, Taylor said he does believe the city did the right thing in sending representatives to the funeral.
“The only thing I could say is that we take officers and their families to heart,” Taylor said. “I believe that we should do everything necessary to comfort them in their time of loss or whatever their situation might be.”
Smith, when contacted before the Sept. 6 meeting, said while there’s no city policy setting exact parameters for sending city officials to events like funerals, the trip to Detroit was not his first funeral to attend for a city employee’s relative.
“I’ve attended funerals ever since I’ve been here of department heads’ relatives and all employees, whether in town or out of town,” Smith said.
According to documents, the city budgets $40,000 for travel for the city finance and administration officials, and $45,000 for the police department.
A ‘worthy expenditure’
Ward 6 Councilman Bill Gavin said he wasn’t aware of the exact expenditure numbers when the item was approved on the consent agenda. However, he said he expected the costs to fall in the $4,000 range from his own experiences traveling.
Gavin said the council approving things without being aware of the exact cost does happen, though infrequently.
“It depends for things like emergency quotes or last-minute trips,” Gavin said. “Sometimes we’re not able to get the quotes in before the council meeting. It doesn’t happen often, but it can happen based on the situation and timing.”
He said the question of spending tax money to send city representatives to an employee’s family member’s funeral falls on a fine line, but he believes it’s a worthy expenditure. Gavin said that’s especially true for CPD, which he said is struggling with morale and losing officers to resignations.
“If we can be supportive, it does go a long way in building morale for the employees themselves,” Gavin said. “Of course we have to look at if it’s the best use of taxpayers’ dollars. Some people would argue ‘no’ and some would say ‘yes.’ But if we can do things like this to build morale and keep police officers, it may save us a lot of money in the long run.”
Ward 3 Councilman Charlie Box also said he supported the trip, adding the city has approved similar trips for years.
“I don’t see anything wrong with it,” he said. “We’ve established a precedent over the years of doing it.”
Marty Turner, councilman for Ward 4, said he isn’t concerned at all about how much the trip cost. He believes it’s extremely important for the city to show support.
“This is the way the city of Columbus cares about the police,” he said. “The mayor took out the time to go see the fallen mother. The police chief took out time. The assistant chief felt comfortable with leaving a captain or a commander in charge of the police force to take out time for this individual cop.
“I think that speaks volumes,” Turner added. “I support well-doing whether it comes from the citizens, the police department, or if it comes from the mayor or an elected official — I’m for the people.”
Mickens and Ward 5 Councilman Stephen Jones expressed support for the trip. Mickens said city leaders once went to Louisiana to support a former fire chief after a relative died.
The Dispatch could not reach Lewis or Shelton for comment by press time.
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
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