Did Beachwood Mayor Overbill His City for Conference in Early 2013?

Beachwood’s mayor is the focus of a news story suggesting an alleged misuse of city funds to attend a mayors/city managers meeting in Columbus in early 2013.

According to a story Thursday by the Northeast Ohio Media Group (Cleveland.com), Mayor Merle Gorden could have had a free bus ride to and from a five-hour meeting of the Northeast Ohio Mayors and City Managers Association (NOMCMA) on Feb. 6, 2013.

Instead, records uncovered by the Cleveland.com reporter indicate Gorden drove his city-supplied SUV from Beachwood to Columbus, then billed Beachwood more than $500 for the trip. That billing included $397 for two nights (Feb. 5 and 6) at the Hampton Inn & Suites at the Easton Town Center mall near the I-270 Outerbelt. That’s more than 10 miles from downtown Columbus where the municipal officials’ event was held.

The 9:30 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. Feb. 6 conference was free, though it did include a $50 lunch, according to the Northeast Ohio Media Group report.

Of the 40 Northeast Ohio city officials who attended the NOMCMA event, 10 of them rode the bus, association Director Lisa Barno told the Northeast Ohio Media Group.

The article included statements from four other Northeast Ohio mayors who attended the Feb. 6 conference, who said they either take the bus to the annual one-day conference, or else drive to and from the event on the same day.

Barno told the Northeast Ohio Media Group that about 90 percent of the mayors and city managers who attend the event leave right after the meeting, though some might stay if they’re meeting with state legislators from their House and Senate districts.

One Beachwood City Council member said he thought Gorden did have some other meetings, but the reporter couldn’t find any records to confirm that.

“He was there the night before because there are meetings in the morning, and he was there after the meeting adjourned because there are meetings that go on afterward,” Beachwood City Councilman Mark Wachter told the Northeast Ohio Media Group in another article on Oct. 28. He gave no specifics, the article said.

Gorden, who yesterday’s article noted is “the highest paid elected official in Ohio” – did not respond to the Northeast Ohio Media Group’s request for a comment, the article said.

Photo: Mayor Merle Gorden in a photograph on the city of Beachwood website.