Dec 28 2007
Charleston Parks Chairman Under Ethics Investigation
Charleston County Park and Recreation Commission Chairman Kevin Hollinshead is being investigated by the State Ethics Commission after using a county credit card to buy $213 worth of tickets to an Indianapolis Colts game, an upgrade to first class and about $300 in other personal charges during a September trip to Indiana.He later wrote the county a $571.57 check to cover those expenses, but records obtained by The Post and Courier show it bounced.
Hollinshead said Thursday he used the county credit card because his wallet was stolen during the trip, and he plans to reimburse the county soon.
“That’s in the works,” he said. “I didn’t do anything wrong, so I’m not sweating it.”
Something about this doesn’t sit quite right with me. To begin with, and this is just a minor observation of mine, but I think it’s kind of strange that he didn’t have the county credit card in his wallet with everything else. I have a corporate credit card with my company that is for travel expenses for company business and it is in my wallet with all of my other cards. Apparently Hollinshead had his kept elsewhere on his person while he was traveling. I just think that’s a little strange unless these were online purchases where he didn’t have to physically present the card in order to use it.
Assuming that his story is true and that his wallet was stolen and the only access he had to money was the county credit card then I could understand him needing to use it for necessary expenses until he returned home. However, I must again raise an eyebrow because Indianapolis Colt tickets and a first class airline upgrade are not necessary expenses. Regardless as to whether or not he intended to pay these off at a later time, I would consider that abuse of the credit card.
Then last but not least, the guy bounces the check he wrote to pay for these personal charges he made. This is not very reassuring.
Perhaps Hollinshead is not guilty of any wrong doing here, but I don’t necessarily know that this man should be the chairman of this commission. That just makes me a little uneasy.
