One PRR story: American Express (February 12, 2016)

We don’t need to show you no stinking American Express records

One of the most interesting experiences I’ve had with public records requests and the Town of Apple Valley is my attempt to get copies of the Town’s American Express transactions, given the efforts Finance went to not to disclose them. This was part of the August 11, 2015, review that became Marc Puckett’s photo-op propaganda. Following is an account of what happened when I tried to review these documents:

I asked where the American Express statements were. Darlene Drenk said they were not allowed to respond to questions. Of course, I did not let that stop me. I demanded and eventually received the American Express vendor file.

The American Express vendor file contained only the annual fee payment on August 2015 (if I remember correctly). When I questioned where the rest of the documents/invoices were, here are the list of excuses I was given:

  1. The town was no longer using the American Express card. I challenged that response.
  2. Then I was told the statements had been discarded. I again challenged their destruction in the same fiscal year.
  3. Then the claim was they must be attached to the individual vendors the charges were applicable to. I challenged them again by having them pull out a vendor that was charged to American Express, and they observed the statement was not there.
  4. I again stated emphatically I wanted copies of all the American Express monthly statements on all accounts (because it was clear from the paperwork in the American Express file they had at least two different accounts). I was then told I would have to put in a new records request in order to obtain those copies, even though I had already made that request and waited for a month.

It took from my initial request on July 13, 2015, until September 2, 2015, to obtain copies. When the copies were finally in my hand, Puckett rushed into the conference room, jerked the records and town receipt form out of my hands, left the room and removed 6 pages of the copies. The copies removed were emails from BB&K acknowledging payments received with a list of each project by number billed and the amount for each project number. And, they still try to claim they are no longer using the American Express card, but failed to provide a final closing statement with no balance. Nor did they provide any information on the second American Express account.

As a taxpayer I am extremely concerned why our finance people are acting like Pinocchio and trying to hide financial transactions from the public.

— Concerned Citizen

Webmaster note: Here are some of the known charges put on the Town’s American Express card. This list was derived from payments shown in the commercial warrant registers in which the memo read ICO (In Care Of) American Express, meaning that the check had been sent to American Express, presumably to cover an identical previous charge to the American Express account for that vendor.

Examples of TOAV payments made using American Express
Ck # Date Vendor Description Check total
107964 2014/08/13 000197 BV PARTY RENTALS EQUIPMENT RENTAL $512.03
108321 2014/08/28 000197 BV PARTY RENTALS EQUIP RENTAL $989.92
107931 2014/08/08 000199 BB&K HOUSE OF ZEN $57,743.08
108076 2014/08/14 000199 BB&K LEGAL SERVICES $73,227.47
107932 2014/08/08 000204 BIG APPLE AUTO VEH REPAIRS $10,334.88
107966 2014/08/13 000204 BIG APPLE AUTO VEH REPAIRS $5,179.32
107950 2014/08/13 000296 ACTIVE NT LICENSE & SUPPORT $4,969.13
107935 2014/08/08 000347 DAILY PRESS MAY ADS $5,563.22
108382 2014/08/28 000888 UNITED RENTALS BOOMLIFT RENTAL $888.95
107941 2014/08/08 002368 MWI VET SUPPLY ANIMAL MEDS $662.35
108016 2014/08/13 002368 MWI VET SUPPLY ANIMAL MEDS $851.69
108102 2014/08/14 002368 MWI VET SUPPLY ANIMAL MEDS $4,523.62
108356 2014/08/28 002368 MWI VET SUPPLY ANIMAL MEDS $1,915.32
108319 2014/08/28 003649 BECK OIL INC. OIL AND GAS FOR AVGC $2,177.62
108302 2014/08/28 004152 AHERN RENTALS LIGHTS $3,331.90
107975 2014/08/13 011303 CORONA COATINGS APPLE VALLEY GOLF COURSE ROOF REPAIR $56,896.00
108582 2014/09/23 000204 BIG APPLE AUTO VEHICLE REPAIRS $5,416.86
108538 2014/09/18 002368 MWI VET SUPPLY ANIMAL MEDS $607.98
108579 2014/09/23 003649 BECK OIL INC. FUEL FOR AVGC $1,938.65
108404 2014/09/04 011304 DISH NETWORK AS SERVICE $497.89
109233 2014/10/30 000197 BV PARTY RENTALS CLEANING $1,093.94
109232 2014/10/30 000199 BB&K RYAN $205,884.19
109236 2014/10/30 000347 DAILY PRESS JULY ADS $1,702.08
109231 2014/10/30 001056 AVID IDENTIFICATION SYSTEMS IN MICRO CHIPS $2,019.20
109243 2014/10/30 002368 MWI VET SUPPLY ANIMAL MEDS $4,490.50
109229 2014/10/30 002769 AIR COLD SUPPLY SOCAL #2466 FILTERS $366.12
109235 2014/10/30 004488 CROP PRODUCTION SERVICES FUNGICIDE $297.00
109230 2014/10/30 007624 AIRGAS WEST TOOLS $1,084.98
109237 2014/10/30 011304 DISH NETWORK OCT $623.49
109228 2014/10/30 011580 A&R TARPAULINS, INC POOL COVER REPAIR $450.00
109234 2014/10/30 011600 CRITTENDEN RESEARCH, INC. RETAIL SPACE NEWS $499.00
109759 2014/12/08 000347 DAILY PRESS ADS $3,241.95
109768 2014/12/08 002368 MWI VET SUPPLY ANIMAL MEDS $3,232.88
109760 2014/12/08 011304 DISH NETWORK CABLE $218.94
110498 2015/02/09 000199 BB&K TRADEMARK $149,644.79
110504 2015/02/09 000347 DAILY PRESS ADS $8,583.98
110514 2015/02/09 002368 MWI VET SUPPLY $5,898.58
110505 2015/02/09 011304 DISH NETWORK TV $772.76
111015 2015/03/18 000199 BB&K TOWN LEGAL FEES $67,577.30
111018 2015/03/18 000347 DAILY PRESS ADS $444.03
111025 2015/03/18 002368 MWI VET SUPPLY ANIMAL MEDS $3,766.38
111020 2015/03/18 011304 DISH NETWORK TV SERVICE $710.79
111027 2015/03/18 012040 SUN DATA SUPPLY, INC POSTAGE MTR INK $106.37
111414 2015/04/13 000347 DAILY PRESS ADS $5,197.82
111424 2015/04/13 002368 MWI VET SUPPLY ANIMAL MEDS $936.49
111416 2015/04/13 011304 DISH NETWORK TV $112.97

A sample American Express statement that escaped the censors: