In a letter requesting $10,559 for the Biloxi trip, Veterans Service Commission Board President David Bauer wrote “the purpose of the trip is mandatory continuing education to maintain accreditation with the veterans’ organizations.”
The conference will be held at the IP Casino Resort and Spa in Biloxi, the letter says.
Attending are LeValley — who is on the agenda as an unpaid instructor — and three other agency administrators.
The cost includes registration, lodging, meals, mileage, airfare and baggage fee, rental car and ground transportation. Bauer requests the daily meal allowance to be increased “due to Biloxi being a high-cost resort area.”
“This looks kind of bad,” Lohnes said. “I just think there’s a better use for that money and a better way around all that training.”
While Bauer’s letter says the training is scheduled from June 6-10, the trips are requested from June 2-11, or through the preceding weekend.
LeValley said in a phone interview that this was a mistake; that the conference actually starts with registration Saturday and guest speakers and a reception Sunday. He will arrive at the conference site on June 2 and the others will arrive on June 3.
“We have no choice on where the training is,” LeValley said. “We go wherever they go.”
The trip to Independence, Ohio is for continuing education, Bauer wrote. The trip is scheduled for May 3-6 for a total cost of $3,472.
LeValley said the local agency brought $23 million in benefits into the pockets of local veterans last year.
“Why do we bring that in? It’s because we take advantage of every training opportunity that’s made available to us,” he said.
LeValley said the funding request is only an estimate. “Typically we do not go through that kind of money,” he said.
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