leader says audit needs to reach further back than 鈥檚 report

鈥� Tom Fletcher (@tomfletcherbc)

Royal wedding paraphernalia, a wood splitter, designer suits, personal subscriptions (including Palm Springs Life Magazine) and personal vacations are just some examples of the 鈥渇lagrant overspending鈥� that House Speaker Darryl Plecas alleges Sergeant-at-arms Gary Lenz and and Clerk Craig James charged to the Legislative Assembly.

In a 76-page report released Monday, Plecas laid out a picture of expensive personal indulgences and professional disregard, with sums of 鈥渋nappropriate payouts鈥� and spending in the millions of dollars.

READ MORE:

The speaker鈥檚 office also released 31 鈥渆xhibits鈥� to support the report, each internal documents which include attendance lists, expense claims, travel expenses and requests for payout and life insurance.

In a joint statement released Monday, Lenz and James denied the report, calling allegations 鈥渇alse and untrue鈥� and its public release without contacting them an effort to 鈥渇urther blacken our reputations.鈥�

READ MORE:

Plecas鈥� full report can be read , but some highlights include:

UK Trip

Plecas said he first noticed unreasonable spending on a trip to the United Kingdom with Lenz and James, which was originally for an M15 meeting, but that most interactions were social. Alleged expenses included:

• Staying at a 鈥渧ery expensive hotel鈥� directly across from the Houses of Parliament
• Meals at high-end restaurants
• The purchase of a new speaker鈥檚 hat from an 鈥渉istoric and expensive store鈥� followed by the purchase of a suit and cuff links, totalling $1,157.26
• Souvenirs, including Royal wedding paraphernalia, card games, stamps, note books, three watches, 鈥淨uotable Churchill鈥� paraphernalia, recreational books, pens, and cuff links totaling $1,360.22

ALSO READ:

Unusual Office Expenses

Plecas noted a series of alleged 鈥渦nusual office expenses鈥� that seemed to be of 鈥減ersonal nature鈥�. These included:

• James鈥� expenses on his personal subscriptions to magazines, including Palm Springs Life Magazine, Electric Bike Magazine and Arizona Highways Magazine. These totalled over $5,000.
• James was reimbursed $658.45 for a waterproof camera, $78.39 for a camera case, $515.18 for memory cards and $800.78 for a tripod
• James was reimbursed $504.44 for Bose noise-cancelling headphones
• James was reimbursed $785.85 for 鈥淒ial A Geek鈥� computer services, including for an 鈥渋Mac with weird zoom issue.鈥�
• James was reimbursed over $5,000 from April 2017 to July 2018 for Apple products
• The Clerk鈥檚 office processed over $10,000 for a 鈥淟egislative Assemblies Business Continuity Network Conference.鈥� Plecas noted 鈥淣either the purpose of the conference nor the reason why the British Columbia Legislative Assembly would be hosting a conference in Washington State, is evident from the documents.鈥�

ALSO READ:

Alcohol Expenses

• Plecas received reports that allegedly a 鈥渓arge amount of alcohol鈥� was loaded onto Lenz鈥檚 truck, apparently for former speaker Bill Barisoff. The alcohol was valued at $8,789.84, it鈥檚 unconfirmed whether Barisoff received it.
• The Clerk鈥檚 office bought 48 bottles of wine for $1,631.27

Wood Splitter and Trailer

• Allegedly, $13,230.49 was expensed by James to the Legislative Assembly for a wood-splitter and work/tools trailer. None of these purchases were brought to Legislature, and instead were delivered to James鈥� personal residence for his and Lenz鈥� use.
• The RCMP intervened and took possession of the wood-spliter, while the trailer 鈥渟ubsequently materialized鈥� in the Legislature parking lot after Nov. 20, 2018, 鈥渨ithout any indication of how it got there.鈥�
• James claimed he was 鈥渉olding鈥� the wood splitter because there was no room. Plecas noted that if there was no room there was question why it was purchased in the first place.

ALSO READ:

Salary Increases

Internal efforts by high-authority figures, including former House-Clerk George MacMinn saw continuous annual salary increases 鈥渨ithout rationale鈥� for James and Lenz鈥檚 roles.

• By March 2018, Lenz鈥檚 salary was $347,090.00, more than the Chief Judge of the provincial court of B.C.

Vacation Payouts

Legislative Assembly staff are supposed to use a minimum of 15 days of vacation time per year. If there are unused vacation days, they can be rolled over or paid out, though 鈥渁dditional days are not to be paid out in lieu unless there are extraordinary circumstances.鈥�

• Allegedly, both James and Lenz regularly took payment in lieu, despite also taking time off, though they did 鈥渘ot record these as official vacation days.鈥�
• James was 鈥渞arely to be seen at work on Fridays鈥�
• Both have claimed between 28 and 54 days of vacation payout per year, totalling tens of thousands of dollars

ALSO READ:

Retirement Allowance

In 1984 a benefits program was developed for three senior clerks since they did not fall in terms of the Public Service Act Retirement Allowance. The program ended in 1987, however James wrote a memorandum in 2012 that argued that outstanding accrued liabilities had to be paid out, since he was hired in 1987 before it ended.

• James received a payment of $257,988.38
• Three other senior staff members received a combined total of $401,525.42 for this allowance

On Nov. 20, 2018, James and Lenz were escorted out of the B.C. Legislature by police and put on administrative leave while the RCMP continue an investigation.

nicole.crescenzi@vicnews.com

Send a Tweet:

Like us on