Water District Spends Money on Steakhouses and a River Cruise

by Amanda Griffin-Johnson According to a recent New York Times article, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago has been racking up some interesting credit card expenses in the past few years– all on the taxpayers’ dime. Expenses include travel to professional conferences, luxury hotel stays, a chartered evening cruise on the Chicago River, and...

by Amanda Griffin-Johnson

According to a recent New York Times article, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago has been racking up some interesting credit card expenses in the past few years– all on the taxpayers’ dime. Expenses include travel to professional conferences, luxury hotel stays, a chartered evening cruise on the Chicago River, and meals at steakhouses like Gibson’s Bar & Steakhouse and David Burke’s Primehouse. The district’s executive director, Richard Lanyon, has traveled to “14 out-of-town meetings of professional organizations in the last 19 months.” The New York Times reports:

After the last district board meeting, Mr. Lanyon treated three of the agency’s retirees, who were recently inducted into the N.A.C.W.A. Hall of Fame, and some current employees to lunch at Rosebud on Rush Street before walking back to district headquarters at 100 East Erie Street for another meeting on the agency’s budget crunch.

It was one of many restaurant tabs on Mr. Lanyon’s expense reports, including:

• $3,289.43 for a pizza party for district employees in McCook
• $1,800.05 for a luncheon with dozens of union officials who forged a new labor agreement with the district
• $1,635 for a reception in Washington in November 2007. The district treated them to artichoke and goat cheese croquettes, “artisan flat breads” and a $22-per-person open bar for 40 people, according to the district’s contract with the venue, Lounge 201
• $576.98 at Gibson’s in Rosemont for six high-ranking district employees and an official of the national water agencies’ association

Mr. O’Brien and Mr. Lanyon defended using agency money to pay for the meals, describing them as tokens of appreciation for people who had helped the district. Mr. O’Brien, who has been on the board for more than 20 years, said executive directors had bought meals for union leaders after contract talks concluded “as far back as I go at this institution.”

Last year’s 90-minute river cruise on Summer of George cost taxpayers more than $3,400.

Mr. O’Brien said the boat trip helped show local leaders why it could be too expensive to begin disinfecting waste. Critics of the district say disinfection, which is common practice in much of the rest of the country, would result in cleaner waterways.

Asked if he would have hosted the event had he known how bad the district’s financial situation would get, Mr. Lanyon said, “Probably not.”

Are these expenses the best use of tax dollars? You can read the full article at the New York Times website. To learn more about wasteful spending in Illinois, check out our Spotlight on Spending seriesor our transparency website, IllinoisOpenGov.org.