Cruze shocked by what he discovered in probe of mayor, CAO expenses

Cochrane resident Brandon Cruze calls the travel expenses of Mayor Jeff Genung and CAO Mike Derricott excessive and believes changes are required to rules governing expenses.

Cruze says he was shocked by what he discovered after reviewing documents received from two Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIOP) requests.

The first package of information was 156 pages and included information on the travel expenses of Mayor Jeff Genung and the CAO from September 1, 2022, to the end of January 2023.

"After getting into the release, I found what I call several problematic spending habits, and an ineffective policy that doesn’t align with fiscal responsibility, and further opens the door for the potential misuse by any current or future member of council," states Cruze.

Cruze says he discovered almost $10,000 in hotel stays in that period, including a $4,783.60 expense for a weekend stay at the Hyatt Regency in Calgary for meetings attended by the mayor, CAO, and one staffer.

"Personally, I would have found it more acceptable for them to drive home if possible, or at the very least find cheaper accommodations," says Cruze. "The policy as it’s written today says lodging should not be extravagant, nor substandard, and I do believe that $500 plus a night, per person, per room leans on extravagance.”

In that same period, the mayor and CAO travelled to the Las Vegas, NV to attend the massive Consumer Technology Association Conference with the primary goal of talking to startup tech companies. Cruze says they spent $4,000 to stay at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino for four days, and his research indicates they could have found suitable accommodations for half that price.

He closely examined restaurant receipts in that same FIOP package.

"I found that every receipt within that five-month period that the town provided me were all for restaurants in Calgary, so Earls, Yahoo! restaurant, and the Cactus Club are examples of restaurants they frequented to have team building lunches and working events. You know, when you're constantly taking taxpayer money outside of Cochrane, I just found that it was kind of a little irresponsible for them not to be spending it within our local business community and supporting them versus spending it in Calgary."

He recently received a second package of 295 pages from his inquiry into their expenses from January 2020 to August 2022. He says there was about $20,000 expended for meals in that time paid by Mayor Genung and CAO Derricott, this time primarily at Cochrane restaurants

We reached out to both Mayor Jeff Genung and CAO for comment. Kristin Huybrecht, Cochrane's manager of Intergovernmental Relations & Corporate Communications, responded on their behalf.

She says council and administration are committed to appropriate transparency in financial transactions.

"The expenses reported through the FOIP request dating back over the last 2.5 years reflect the cost of conducting municipal business," she explains in a written statement. "A significant role of the chief administrative officer and the mayor is to advocate for the needs of our community to higher levels of government and build relationships with municipal partners. The result of this work can be seen in the provincial investments being made in our community, including the $100M provincially-funded highway interchange project as well as the provincial investment in the Hwy. 1A improvements project."

She says a reflection of the town's commitment to transparency is the posting of expenses of the mayor and council on the town website every quarter.

In 2022, Mayor Genung's expenses and remuneration were $111,596.24 which includes salary, benefits, and a cellphone allowance. He expended $15,954,01, $7,784.95 for special meetings, $5,015.95 in general expenses, and $3,153.11 in conference registration fees. 

The 2022 summary of all of town council's expenses and remuneration can be found at the end of this article.

A transparency report is released annually, reflecting public sector compensation above a specific earning threshold.

"The 2022 report will be released in coming weeks," says Huybrecht. "In addition, administration regularly reviews and updates our policies and administrative directives to ensure they are aligned with municipal best practices."

Cruze believes the policy needs to be revised and is calling for a town councillor to help instigate changes by making a notice of motion.

He believes all trips should be reported to council 30 days before travel to ensure it aligns with the town's strategic plan and adds value for taxpayers.

He believes a reasonable kilometre distance is established to ensure officials aren't staying in hotels if travelling home is considered reasonable.

He also wants to see a cap on hotel charges per night and a cap on personal meals.

This report is on the town's website and is updated quarterly.