UPDATE: Hilton Head mayor’s expenses in 9 months nearly what predecessor got in 4 years
Hilton Head Island Mayor John McCann has had a busy first year in office. And for taxpayers, it’s been an expensive one.
As McCann has presided over Town Council sessions, met with county, regional and civic leaders, as well as constituents, and represented Hilton Head at events near and far, taxpayers have paid $20,039 for his meals, travel, meetings and office expenses — on top of his $25,000 salary.
By comparison, previous Mayor David Bennett charged the town $25,414 over his four years in office for the meetings he attended, the website he launched as mayor, a trip to Columbia, and a handful of work lunches, according to records obtained by The Island Packet through a Freedom of Information Act request.
Receipts McCann submitted for reimbursement show 27 meals categorized as working lunches, including outings so often at a Hilton Head restaurant that the table where he sits has his name on it. In his first year, he’s taken four major trips, including to Verona, Italy, and Washington D.C. And he’s been paid over $300 — $38 per month — for a fax machine service he said he uses less than six times per year.
In some cases, McCann received a $50 stipend for a meeting, in addition to reimbursement for miles driven and lunch for him and his guest, all paid by taxpayers.
McCann, who was elected a year ago after campaigning on the need for financial transparency, has collected more in meeting fees and salary than the town allows in one fiscal year because his first year in office has spanned two fiscal years.
Here’s how the payments break down:
Meetings: $10,273
The mayor and town council members are given a $50 stipend for each meeting they attend on official town business. It’s supposed to cover extra work they do outside of council meetings, from coffee with a constituent to a ribbon cutting.
In his four years as mayor, Bennett was reimbursed $23,290 for meetings — he wasn’t paid for any meetings in 2015 but exceeded his stipend limit in 2017. In 2016, the council voted to increase the meeting stipend from $40 per meeting to $50.
In McCann’s case, those meeting stipends have combined to add over $10,000 to his $25,000 salary in his first nine months, according to reimbursements obtained by The Island Packet newspaper through a Freedom of Information Act request.
McCann has been reimbursed for speaking at the island’s Republican Club, visiting constituents in their homes and being interviewed by The Island Packet, according to his affidavits.
In some cases, the mayor has been reimbursed in three different ways for a meeting.
On Dec. 20, he filed for reimbursement of $14.72 for the 13.5-mile drive each way to Truffles Cafe in Bluffton, where he had lunch with Anna Ponder, vice chancellor at USCB; for the $60 meal; and also for a $50 meeting stipend, for a total of $124.72.
He did the same for an Aug. 15 meeting at Wren Bistro and Bar in Beaufort with Ward 5 representative Tom Lennox and S.C. State Sen. Tom Davis.
He picked up the $74 restaurant tab, was reimbursed an additional $40 for the 35-mile drive each way to Beaufort, and charged the $50 meeting fee, according to his receipts. Total cost to taxpayers: $164.
McCann said in an interview Nov. 14 that the trio chose the Beaufort restaurant because it was convenient for Davis.
The town reimburses 55 cents per mile for “anything over the bridge,” McCann said.
At least six other times, McCann’s receipts show he charged $50 fees and meal reimbursements for meetings in his first nine months as mayor. Other times, he was paid over $200 in a single day for attending several meetings — such as on March 21, April 24, May 22, Aug. 20 and Sept. 19.
The town of Hilton Head does not allow its mayor to be paid more than $32,500 each year — $25,000 in salary and $7,500 in meeting stipends — according to the town code.
McCann has been reimbursed more than $10,000 in meeting stipends because his first six months were in FY 2019 (ending June 30, 2019) and the second six months in FY 2020.
In October, the town’s finance committee was scheduled to discuss how to compensate the mayor for hours worked during storms. The agenda item was tabled because of public outcry after it was reported by The Island Packet.
McCann’s reimbursements show he was paid $600 for his work during Hurricane Dorian. During the week of the early September storm, he reported 12 meetings held at either the Hilton Head emergency operations center or the county center in Beaufort.
Those reimbursements contradict the finance committee’s reasoning for adding hurricane compensation to the agenda in October — officials said the town has no way of accurately calculating payments to the mayor for hours worked during hurricanes.
Assistant town manager Josh Gruber said in October that town staff needs to know how many hours McCann and Town Council members worked and how those hours can translate into meetings for which they could receive stipends.
The mayor and council members often run out of meeting stipends toward the end of the year, Gruber said.
McCann was not paid for four meetings at the end of fiscal year 2019, according to his affidavits. In the final weeks of June, he was paid $450 instead of $650 because the budget ran out.
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Bennett also hit the budget limit in 2017 when submitting meeting reimbursement forms. In April 2017, he was not paid for five meetings he attended. He didn’t submit a meeting reimbursement form again until July — the start of the new fiscal year.
How the mayors charge for meetings provides insight into their ideas of what public service looks like. Bennett told The Island Packet he didn’t submit reimbursements for many of his expenses. “That’s all right,” he said. “It’s not like you’re looking for a way to turn that into a money-making operation.”
McCann said the reimbursements help him get out in the community and meet with people one on one.
“I probably have 10 times more [reimbursements] than David Bennett has because David didn’t do a lot of it. David didn’t participate in a lot of the things I do,” he said.
Business lunches: $1,798
From 2014 through 2018, Bennett submitted three reimbursement requests for meals. His total: $223. In nine months, McCann submitted reimbursement forms for 27 business lunches.
It’s clear McCann has some favorite spots — Frankie Bones, Ray’s Cafe and Reilley’s South on Hilton Head Island, and Truffles in Bluffton.
Some restaurants expect him. A framed caricature of the mayor is mounted on the wall at table 63 at Frankie Bones. In it, he holds a scroll of “rules.” A cocktail with an olive skewer lurks behind him.
In most reimbursement requests, he included an itemized receipt and a handwritten note of who was there and a general description of what was discussed.
In his first month in office, McCann was reimbursed for four meals, but he ate on the town’s dime only once in spring — a working lunch to discuss the budget.
In July and August, he was reimbursed for about two meals per week — usually lunch meetings to discuss home rule, apartment developments and transportation.
At a regularly scheduled July 16 finance committee meeting, McCann sat in on discussions about giving a free lease to the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office. He was given the $50 meeting stipend for attending.
Two days later, receipts show McCann and County Council chair Stu Rodman met at Frankie Bones to discuss the budget, and McCann later wrote Rodman, suggesting the town cut $3 million from the sheriff’s office budget, as reported by The Island Packet. When asked about the letter, McCann said Rodman knew the letter was coming because the two had discussed it.
On Aug. 28, McCann met with lawyer Alfred Vadnais to discuss home rule, according to his $44 receipt. At the next council meeting on Sept. 17, the council discussed 5G facilities, where McCann explicitly defined the discussion as an issue of legislative home rule.
The 5G boxes, also called “small cell wireless facilities,” are designed to increase efficiency of mobile networks. Local leaders voted unanimously to add 5G wireless boxes to the land management ordinance — which makes the town able to regulate them later.
McCann, a retired finance industry executive, kept most of his working lunches under $100 — the average cost of his meals submitted for reimbursement is $64 — but two major expenses tip the scale.
On April 3, McCann paid $139 for a meal at 9 p.m. at OKKO Japanese Sushi and Habachi Restaurant on Hilton Head. Two months later, he paid $146 for dinner at Crane’s Tavern.
Both times, McCann was meeting with David Johnson — chairman of the U.S. 278 committee and head of the now-dormant Citizens for Better Roads and Bridges group, which lobbied hard for the Beaufort County Transportation Tax passage in 2018.
Phone/ office decor: $632
Bennett’s only office expense was a reimbursement in 2015 for $1,713 to launch a website after he was elected. The website is no longer live.
McCann is reimbursed on a monthly basis for his phone bill, home fax machine and office supplies.
Most months, he collects $38 for his phone bill and another $38 for his home fax machine. He has also was reimbursed for purchasing a mirror for his office, ink for his printer and fax, and a wireless phone charger.
Travel: $7,335
Bennett was reimbursed for travel once in his four years: when he went to Columbia for a Municipal Association Hometown Legislative Action Day conference, an event McCann attended one year later.
Bennett was reimbursed $188 for mileage to Columbia and one $15 meal on the trip. McCann was reimbursed $737 for his mileage to Columbia, his hotel and his $61 “per diem” rate.
McCann’s travel in his first nine months stirred outrage among some constituents.
His reimbursements show trips to Columbia, New York City, Washington, D.C., and, most notably, Verona, Italy, in June for a friendship-pact signing ceremony.
The Italy trip, which lasted five days for McCann, cost taxpayers $5,597, and included a program with a travel agency in Italy and first class international flights.
McCann went on the trip with Town Manager Steve Riley and Riley’s wife, Mary Jo. All three of the trips were reimbursed by the town.
Four months later, McCann traveled to Washington, D.C., where he attended a reception for the Italian president at the White House.
He was reimbursed $728 for the trip, and paid for his three-night hotel stay at the St. Regis on K Street on his own.
When asked about the trip to the capital, McCann said it was evidence that the Italy trip was “already paying off.“
BEHIND THE STORY
MOREHow we did this story
This story is the result of a Freedom of Information Act request to the Town of Hilton Head Island for all reimbursements to the mayor from the date he was sworn in, Dec. 4, 2018, to Sept. 19, 2019 — the date the request was filed.
It also includes information from an Oct. 18 request for the cost of the mayor’s trip to Washington, D.C.
This story was originally published November 15, 2019 at 9:00 AM.
