By Gregory Korte
The Cincinnati Enquirer

A state audit last month criticized the city of Cincinnati's practice of allowing the mayor, city manager and two top assistants to carry city credit cards.

In response, the city says it will do away with the credit cards later this year when it switches to a new "procurement card" system of purchasing that will allow it to better track city expenses.

Other internal controls coming under scrutiny: the city has no policy to prevent city employees from converting frequent-flier miles to personal use, and city employees are still taking home cars and using city cell phones without authorization - even after a 2002 directive from City Council.

On credit cards, the city has no policy for which employees are authorized to carry credit cards or to monitor credit card usage, the auditors said.

A management letter accompanying the Aug. 19 state audit pointed out those and other mostly technical deficiencies. The audit itself, performed by Deloitte & Touche for Ohio Auditor Betty Montgomery, found no material weaknesses in the city's auditing and accounting standards.

An Enquirer examination of city credit card bills for 2004 found they were mostly used for travel and entertainment expenses and to pay dues to professional organizations.

The largest single charge: $2,990 for 200 copies of Who's Who in Black Cincinnati, a book that includes profiles of City Manager Valerie Lemmie and assistants Rashad M. Young and Deborah C. Holston.

Young bought them on his credit card in order to hand them out to black meeting planners at a convention in St. Louis, and explained in a memo to city auditors that he circumvented purchasing because there's only one publisher of the book. (Young couldn't give away all the books - he later charged $120 to Federal Express to have extras shipped back to Cincinnati.)

Lemmie uses her card to pay for home Internet access (through discount provider Net Zero) and for travel. But state auditors said Lemmie doesn't have her expenses reviewed by a supervisor, so the mayor will now sign off on her expenses, Finance Director William E. Moller said.

Mayor Charlie Luken spent $329 entertaining other Ohio mayors at a Reds game in May, followed by a $178 lunch at Bella the next day. Other expenses included a $50 canoe rental on the Little Miami River and $133 in flowers.

After the Enquirer asked to see his credit card bills, Luken reimbursed the city for a $67 meal at Morton's Steakhouse he said he inadvertently put on the wrong credit card in June, and an $11 movie billed to his hotel room during an economic development trip to Las Vegas in May. ("I think the movie was Bambi," he said.)

"They're all pretty good about doing what they need to do once we let them know about it," said Kathy Creager, director of the city's Accounts and Audits Division.

Indeed, the city manager's spokeswoman, Meg Olberding, even reimbursed the city twice for personal calls she made on her city cell phone. The amounts: 85 cents and 45 cents.

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E-mail gkorte@enquirer.com