Sedgwick County commissioner says colleague’s trips expose problems in county policy

A Sedgwick County commissioner is calling for changes to the county’s travel policy after one of his colleagues charged two trips on the county credit card that he says have nothing to do with county business.

The call for change comes as new information has surfaced surrounding thousands of dollars in private donations that partially reimbursed the county for Commissioner Lacey Cruse’s 2020 county-funded trip to Ghana.

Cruse, a Democrat, again used public funds to travel to the New York Botanical Gardens in the Bronx on Wednesday for a round-table discussion promoting investment opportunities in Africa, discussing what she learned on her 2020 Ghana junket.

Both trips represent a small slice of the more than $25,000 in public funds commissioners have spent on travel in the past three years, The Eagle has found.

But Commissioner Jim Howell says Cruse’s trips expose gaps in county policy and state law that could allow officials to spend taxpayer money for personal expenses with virtually no oversight.

“The only thing county commissioners have to do if they want to use the county credit card for things like air travel is talk to our front staff who makes the arrangements,” Howell said. “They select the hotel, they pay the conference fees or whatever there is if there’s any fees . . . You charge it to your county credit and when it comes back with your receipts, they provide the receipts to finance, which pays the bill.”

County commissioners are allowed to charge travel-related expenses on their county credit cards without any public discussion, approval or disclosure. County policy sets no limits on how much money they can spend or where they travel.

On the New York trip, Cruse said she planned to share her experiences from a 2020 trip to Ghana, where she met with foreign dignitaries, visited a hospital and toured a chocolate factory. County officials say they don’t know how much county money has been spent or will be spent on the New York trip.

Cruse said she’s traveling on county business.

“I’m here because I was invited to learn about and create new economic opportunities in emerging markets for Sedgwick County,” Cruse told The Eagle on Wednesday. “I’m also taking this opportunity to promote all that Sedgwick County has to offer, particularly in the aviation and healthcare sector.”

In a Wednesday Facebook post, Cruse characterized her trip to New York as an important opportunity for Sedgwick County.

“This Roundtable is a flagship program designed to generate ideas, share germane information, and consciously connect the Global Black Diaspora to the numerous business and investment opportunities in Africa, particularly Ghana,” Cruse wrote in the post.

“The creation of the 6th economic region of Africa purposely for the African Diaspora and also the establishment of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) has unearthed remarkable wealth creation and opened up multidimensional business and investment opportunities in the newly created Savannah Region.”

Howell, a Republican, said Cruse’s trips don’t have any apparent ties to the work of the Sedgwick County Commission.

“Whatever happens on the other side of the planet — or even in New York for that matter — seems to have very little relevance to Wichita, Kansas, or Sedgwick County, Kansas,” Howell said. “Unless somebody can please explain to me that there is some kind of economic connection, right now there appears to be none.

“Those are dollars that should not be utilized for things that don’t help our people here in our county in some pragmatic or practical way.”

Cruse told The Eagle last week that she would give a 45-minute presentation about international aviation opportunities and her 2020 trip. She also said she plans to meet with the owner of an airline while in New York.

“We can either maintain the status quo or we can actively pursue new economic opportunities,” Cruse said.

Private donors for public business?

The 2020 Ghana trip sparked controversy after she charged $2,967.17 on a county credit card, went to great lengths to explain its relation to Sedgwick County government and then vowed to reimburse the county.

At the time, she said she planned to solicit donations from companies that would “share in the benefits of this excursion to share in the expenses of these discussions.”

Instead, Sedgwick County received $2,820 in donations on Cruse’s behalf from Democratic politicians, Cruse supporters and a consulting firm that regularly represents clients with business before the county, records show.

Howell says the donations should be publicly disclosed.

The donations, ranging from $25 to $1,000, were given directly to the county and so never appeared on Cruse’s campaign finance forms or financial interests disclosures. The state’s top ethics officer said the donations don’t count as political contributions or gifts because they went to the county instead of Cruse.

The donations came up $147.17 short of covering the entire trip.

State Treasurer Lynn Rogers, a Wichita Democrat who at the time was Gov. Laura Kelly’s lieutenant governor, donated $100 to the cause. He did not return a phone call seeking comment Wednesday.

Ferris Consulting, a firm owned by former Wichita City Council member and Genesis Health Clubs lobbyist Greg Ferris, donated $475 on April 27, 2020. Ferris represents a diverse clientele that often seeks approval from city and county government, from T-Mobile to towing companies to storage unit businesses.

The late Reginald Robinson, who at the time was president and CEO of the Kansas Health Foundation, gave $250 on Feb. 21, 2020.

The largest donation came from Jill Docking, a former Democratic lieutenant governor candidate who ran with Paul Davis in 2014 and is now on the Kansas Health Foundation Board of Directors. She donated $1,000 on Feb. 24, 2020.

Docking said she has no business interests in Ghana but supports the strengthening of diplomatic and economic relations with the west African nation.

“It’s more about building a strong business community going forward in Kansas, so my instinct was not for me to get business,” Docking said. “I mean, obviously I wouldn’t have much business in Ghana but I think it’s a good thing for commissioners to be doing that.”

It’s unclear who gave $670 in donations. Two anonymous donations came to the county on Feb. 21, 2020, in cash and a cashier’s check issued by MidAmerican Credit Union.

Pat Lehman, Joseph Johnson and Janet Nichols each gave $100. Mary Caruso donated $25.

More scrutiny

Commissioner travel has come under heightened scrutiny after Cruse accused two of her colleagues of having cozy relationships with developers on a trip to San Antonio.

Eagle reporting found Commissioners David Dennis and Sarah Lopez accepted previously undisclosed gifts in the form of private flights from Lange Real Estate and Hutton Construction.

Traditionally, Sedgwick County picks up the bill.

Records show commissioners have spent more than $25,000 on travel expenses since 2020. They include multiple trips to Washington, D.C., a more than $2,500 trip to Denver and $3,760 to send two commissioners to Oklahoma City, a 2 1/2 hour drive south of Wichita.

The most prolific spender of county travel funds since 2020 has been Cruse, who has racked up nearly $11,400 in expenses since 2020. With the private donations, her expenses drop to $8,569.22. Those totals do not include this week’s trip to New York.

Sarah Lopez, a Democrat who took office in January 2021, has charged more than $10,900 in county travel expenses.

During the same time period, the Republicans on the commission have done little traveling. Commissioner David Dennis spent $2,187.74 on a trip to Washington, D.C., and Pete Meitzner spent $701.48 on a trip to Las Vegas. Howell has not spent any money traveling since 2020.

Howell said he wants to see a change in the county’s travel policy to require commissioners to disclose on the county’s website where they traveled, how much money they spent, and how the trip would inform best practices or provide “return on investment” for the county.

“In my opinion, you should post the details of what you just spent money on after you did it on some sort of transparent disclosure page on the website,” Howell said.

“Here’s what I did, where I went, and some details about my expenditures.”