Records show what mayor paid at pump for city car
May 17—Mayor John Lombardi III has currently spent more than $400 in gas through the use of his city vehicle, "LP-1," a 2017 Ford Explorer that started with 12,000 miles on the odometer.
According to documents obtained through Freedom-of-Information-Law requests made by the US&J, Lombardi pumps approximately 15 gallons into LP-1, three times a month, about $32 to $40 each time. The dates of the transaction show that Lombardi would also fill his tank on weekends.
No receipts of reimbursements to the city were found by the City Clerk's Office.
The vehicle was a point of contention at the beginning of Lombardi's term, following his election. Former mayors Michelle Roman and Anne McCaffrey refrained from using a car other than their own. Roman said she did not get any gas or mileage rate reimbursement for using her own vehicle, "even on city business."
Preceding this, former mayors Mike Tucker, Thomas Rotondo Jr., Raymond Betsch, Kenneth Swan and Thomas Sullivan all drove city cars.
"It's not a bad thing he's been using the car, I was just under the impression he'd be paying for his own gas," Second Ward Alderman Anita Mullane said.
Mullane and Fifth Ward Alderman Margaret Lupo had criticized Lombardi on his office's spending. Documents procured by the US&J confirm some of their findings.
In February, the mayor's office bought almost $890 in office supplies, including a $45 pen, a $100 shredder, a $190 glass board and four $70 cork boards.
Unpaid invoices, as of May 2, include $75 for a date stamp, $640 for ink toner — a combination of two different invoices —and $30 for other small office supplies.
Lombardi's office also benefited from using budgeted funds from other departments.
Two air purifiers for the mayor's office at $100 a piece were bought using the city treasurer's budget; a fax machine for almost $200 was bought using the building inspection department's budget; $40 for phone cords was charged to the IT department's budget as was a $430 printer.
Paula Travis, the mayor's confidential secretary, had said via email to Finance Director Dan Cavallari on April 18 that there were no office supplies in the mayor's office when she came on board and she had bought some supplies on her own.
Travis would not comment further.
The Common Council voted on April 25 to place an additional $2,000 in the mayor's office budget, taking the total from $1,200 to $3,200.
Lombardi did not respond to questions regarding reimbursing the city for his gas bill. Texts from Lombardi indicated he was attending to a family situation.
