$589 a night?
What room did she stay in at Caesars? The Roman Orgy Room? Oh wow. I must apologize for giving you all that mental image of our former beloved Governor.
Here is the image of the bill, courtesy of the News Journal.
This bill is from a trip to Atlantic City for the Council of State Governments’ Eastern Regional Conference. She spend over $1,000 during this tip, including a $350 registration fee and, as shown above, $679.46 for one night at Caesars Atlantic City Hotel and Casino.
A reservations clerk with Caesars said the room listed on Minner’s receipt is a deluxe room and that the price is normal for a Saturday night during peak season. According to the hotel, a deluxe room will make you “feel like you’re walking on hallowed ground as you traverse the dazzling, modern hallways to your guest room,” and includes dark wood furniture, artistic lighting and a flat-screen television.
$125 a night at the Sheraton a block away would have killed her? Now, the News Journal article details other official trips like this one to Atlantic City, and details how much was spent on these trips. Indeed, during a National Governors Association meeting in Philly in July, she charged the state $1,138.39 for two nights at the Philadelphia Ritz Carlton!! Yo RAM, Wilmington is a 20 minute drive away! While she can and should be criticized for taking these trips while the state budget is in crisis, at least they were for official state business, and thus it would be proper for the state to reimburse her for her expenses, no matter how inappropriate or outlandish.
Where the former Governor could be in actual legal trouble is getting the state to reimburse travel expenses for political activities, like campaigning in Iowa or the DNC convention in Denver. She apparently spent $1,000 for the partisan travel to Iowa and $3,000 for the convention in Denver. Minner is supposed to pay for these trips herself, either from her own money or from her own campaign funds. The News Journal reports her campaign fund had $18,824.25 available in January, the leftovers of two bids for governor and her years as lieutenant governor and in the Legislature. Using those funds for these partisan trips to Iowa and Denver would have been legal. And she has plenty of those campaign funds to use. But what does the bitch do? Charge us! She should be arrested.
This is what I don’t get:
Minner could not recall Friday exactly how she paid for campaign appearances in Iowa and at the Democratic National Convention in Denver in August.
And this isn’t all — there are other travel situations where she couldn’t recall the payment details. How does that happen?
Campaign finance law if pretty clear and the state’s policy seems clear too. You’d think that a politician of all people, much less the head of state, would get the basic nuts and bolts here. You’d think that she’d be vigilant — given the stakes and the need to be a role model — about how this stuff gets paid for. That doesn’t mean that she has to do it herself, but jeez, at least follow up with the people handling it to make sure the right pots get spent. It all seems awfully arrogant.
I can’t recall… the leading excuse when you got nothing left.
Here’s a little something else it seems few people know about. On Jan 16, four days before she left office, she sent out via post from the Gov’s office a large manilla envelop with $5.20 postage to Legislators and God knows who else an 8.5X11 bound book titled “The Legacy of Ruth Ann Minner” subtitled The Minner Years 2001-2009. It displays the State seal prominently on the front with her protrait and is tabbed with 16 sections for the Departments of state government. There is page after page of pictures featuring her and copy touting her spectacular achievements. There is no publisher listed, but since it displays the state seal in several places, it can only be assumed that tax dollars were used to fund this vanity book since it would be a campaign finance breach to use the state seal on material paid for out of campaign funds. A letter was enclosed with the book on the Gov’s gold embossed letterhead.
Here we are in economic crisis and she publishes the first ever Legacy book left behind by a departing governor.
I heard about the book as well. I’m not sure why this isn’t a big scandal. There’s really no excuse for her misuse of state funds. Will she pay the funds back now that it has been called to her attention?
PI
Did Farley printing do it for her?
There’s another reason why Carney should be KAPUT. With all the shouting you do, why the hell weren’t you watchdogging your own gov.? Because, uh, you can’t recall…Too little too late, once again Delaware gets phucked.
Where have you been vyllyness? RAM was never a favorite around here. We have been criticizing her for years.
And it was because of RAM and Carney’s refusal to disassociate himself from her that led us to support and endorse Markell! Oh, did you conveniently forget that too, you lying piece of shit?
Queen of Sleaze!
she sent out via post from the Gov’s office a large manilla envelop with $5.20 postage to Legislators and God knows who else an 8.5X11 bound book titled “The Legacy of Ruth Ann Minner” subtitled The Minner Years 2001-2009.
I saw that book sitting on an end table in the Delaware Talk Radio studio. The cover picture was old and pictured her favorably (for RAM, that is).
There is page after page of pictures featuring her and copy touting her spectacular achievements.
Like the time she saw her feet?
Jason, I didn’t know cameras were invented that long ago 🙂
That page is a woodcut.
LOL!
You guys sound reasonable until you start attacking people based on their physical appearance or weight. Then you just sound like a bunch of assholes.
(Sorry, cassandra, but you did chime in…)
So what — the woodcut comment was funny….
anon2700, I’m almost as fat as Minner, and I can find the humor in the jokes. It’s a way of not crying over the mess that was the Minner administration 🙂
There is no publisher/printer identified in the book. And, no the bathing suit shots were not included in the book.
The book essentially goes through all of the functions of each department in state government…as if NO OTHER governor has had a workforce that did anything before she came along. It truly is pathetic. Not to mention a total waste of taxpayer dollars.
Do you think she hired “escorts”?
hey – Gordonberry put out their ‘photo album’ on the pretext that the next administration was going to ‘color’ their contributions to New Castle County. It was printed to ensure a legacy. At least Minner isn’t shy about her intent.
I’m with anon2700, I don’t like attacks against a person’s appearance. Someone’s appearance is really unimportant – it’s their actions that count.
Would the book be available through a lawmaker or via a FOIA request? If it was paid for at least partially with state money, and the governor’s office is not covered by a FOIA exemption, anyone should be able to see it.
Also, because of a lack of a FOIA exemption, all those records RAM’s office refused to provide to TNJ should be accessible.
Reminds me of the vanity (publishing) book on jazz that Mayor Baker wrote.
After Baker left council Blunt gave councilmembers each a copy of the book at Christmas. The council office had a ‘pile’ of these books. Who paid for them? Was taxpayer $$$ involved? Need a FOIA here too.