Hours after the Anne Arundel County Council passed its annual budget last month, furloughing employees and cutting their pay, council members and their staff feasted on crabs, beer and alcoholic drinks at a waterfront Annapolis restaurant — and charged it to a county credit card.
Council members said this week they paid with the credit card to avoid the logistical problem of splitting the $1,169 bill from Mike's Crab House in Riva among the 30 or so diners, and planned to repay the county.
But county records show that at least two other times in the past year, council members have not reimbursed the county after treating themselves to meals at taxpayer expense.
C. Edward Middlebrooks, chairman of the council, did not attend the most recent lunch but said there were no rules against using the credit card for meals. He said he thought his colleagues had done "the right thing" by offering to reimburse the county, but added that he was "shocked" that alcohol was charged on the county-issued credit card.
"It's inappropriate," said Middlebrooks, a Republican representing District 2. "It's always been the policy that if we had food purchased, for whatever reason, alcohol was never charged. …It's uncalled for. I'm surprised by it."
Council members disputed that they used the county credit card for alcohol, saying a councilman paid for the drinks on a separate check. In an interview earlier this week, Councilman James Benoit said he had paid for the alcohol on his personal credit card. He was not available for comment Wednesday, but according to Judy C. Holmes, the administrator of the County Council, Benoit paid $273.50 for alcohol.
But the itemized receipt from the May 25 lunch at Mike's shows that the $1,169 bill paid for with the county credit card included charges for beer and alcohol — including nine Coors Lights, seven Coronas, five margaritas and two Bacardi and Cokes — that totaled $147.84.
Middlebrooks said he did not think the incident required any discipline or the institution of rules on council use of a county credit card.
"I think the council has to use good judgment," he said.
A spokesman for County Executive John R. Leopold declined to comment.
The card is issued to Holmes, and anything charged on it is tax-exempt. Each county department head has a procurement card, which requires detailed documentation of purchases but does not specifically prohibit food as an expense, according to county policy.
"We always intended to pay for it," said Holmes, who said she was in the process of gathering the money to pay the county cashier for the May 25 lunch.
She acknowledged, though, that the council did not reimburse the county in other instances of using the card to pay for meals.
According to credit card statements, the council spent $208 on May 10 at Hellas Restaurant and Lounge in Millersville. Holmes said the charge paid for dinner before a public hearing on the budget at Old Mill High School that evening.
And on May 28 last year, following the passage of the county budget, the council dined at Jimmy Cantler's Riverside Inn in Annapolis, spending $917.
The receipts for those meals weren't immediately available.
Herb McMillan, president of the Maryland Taxpayers Association, criticized the council's actions, calling the legislators "out of touch."
"People are being furloughed, people are having a tough time paying their property taxes, a record number of foreclosures. …When you see people in government doing stuff like this, it's upsetting," said McMillan. "Pack a lunch or order a pizza. Why should the taxpayers be paying for it?"
Council members Benoit, a Democrat; Ronald C. Dillon, a Republican; Chuck Ferrar, a Republican; Daryl Jones, a Democrat; Tricia L. Johnson, a Republican; and Cathleen M. Vitale, a Republican, were among those attending the May 25 lunch, according to a list provided by Holmes. In addition, Teresa Sutherland, the county auditor, as well as council staff and legislative assistants, were there.
John R. Hammond, the county budget officer, met with council members at the restaurant but said he paid his own way.
"I got a beer from the bar," Hammond said. He declined to comment on the use of the county card.
Jones, who attended the most recent lunch at Mike's, said that it was "probably appropriate" to charge meals "related to work" to the county.
"When we're required to have a meeting, generally we have something to eat," said Jones, who represents District 1. "A dinner or whatever is purchased. I don't think any of the alcohol should have been charged to the county. The better practice is for people to pay their own bill. I certainly would encourage it."
nicole.fuller@baltsun.com