By now you should’ve picked up your copy of the The Rhino Times featuring the monthly Carolina Journal insert. If not, and you know who you are, run do not walk, to get the scoop on all the stories the mainstream media refuses to touch. Stuff like the way CATS is sholveling your money out the door like there is no tomorrow. Rhino editor Mark Pellin has the details:

You remember the folks from CATS, the ones who were telling everybody to abandon their cars and ride the bus after Katrina hit? Turns out not too many of them were following their own advice and were content to drive and fly far and wide for conferences and seminars.

Indeed, CATS’ budget request included a veritable tsunami of funding for travel – about $403,000. Add another nearly $200,000 for conferences and meetings, and it tops a half-million dollars for travel and associated costs.

Leading the pack was none other than Transit Czar Ron Tober, who rolled up more than $11,000 in travel expenses; according to numbers CATS provided last summer. CATS Assistant Projects Manager Brian Nadolny wasn’t far behind with $8,600, followed by CATS Chief Development Director John Muth with $8,300 and CATS Communications Manager Olaf Kinard with $6,700.

Receipts show that during a four-day stay in Pittsburgh for a rail transit conference, Tober at one point dropped $26.88 for a room-service breakfast that included a $12 omelet and a $4 glass of juice. While attending the same conference, CATS Rail Operations Manager Rocco Paiano forked over $96 for valet parking.

That’s not to say that only the really big cats traveled in style or spent large on the taxpayers’ dime. Receipts show that on a three-day trip to Los Angeles for a commuter rail conference ($1,771), CATS Senior Transit Engineer Jeff Furr dropped $21.43 for breakfast at the Lake View Bistro at The Westin Bonaventure and spent $45 with L.A. Classic Limousine for a trip to LAX.

During a four-day trip to Miami for a transit safety management course ($890.07), Transit Facilities Coordinator Tommie Blakeney shelled out $21.29 for a room service tab that included an $11 hamburger and a $3.25 Diet Coke.

And when CATS Assistant General Manager Vincent Brown was in Wilmington for a two-day conference ($750), he apparently couldn’t resist ringing up an, ahem, pair of tabs totaling $50.64 for two trips to Hooters. Later the same month, Brown dropped another $41.88 during two trips to a Hooters in St. Louis, where he was attending another conference.

After returning from a three-day trip to attend a bus and paratransit conference in Columbus ($1,760), CATS Chief Procurement Officer James Mills turned in a hand-written receipt for $12 and $22 for Bell Captain/baggage services.

Special Projects Manager David Leard spent $1,502 for a one-day trip to Boston that included an overnight stay at the three-star Harvard Square Hotel.

And receipts show that CATS Director of Safety and Administration Randy Mullinax and McDonald Transportation General Manager Thomas Stringer were off to Myrtle Beach on a nearly monthly basis to attend grievance meetings for the bus operations division union.

And, hey, as long as one is in Myrtle Beach for a day or two, and the taxpayers are picking up the tab, why bother staying at some cheap motel. Mullinax and Stringer didn’t; receipts show they frequented the three-star Sands Ocean Club Resort.

During some of those same trips, it appears Burger King was bypassed for the likes of Tony Romas, Hooters, Chuck’s Steakhouse and Red Lobster.

And if you think that is some kind of one-off thing, take a look at overall spending trends at CATS. City spending on mass transit salaries has roughly doubled since 2000, from $17 million to $33 million in 2005. Outside of salaries, CATS consumes about $40 million a year, up from $20 million in 2000. And forget about construction expenses with the light rail plan in full effect. They’ve zoomed from about $3 million in 2000 to an average of $80 million the past two years.

In short, Charlotte is well on its way to having one of those bloated, arrogant, out-of-control, union-run, public transporation wings just like all world-class cities do. According to Mayor Pat McCrory, this is what the public voted for in 1998 when the half-cent sales tax was approved, so deal with it Charlotte.

And don’t forget to tip your server.

hooters
Your CATS money at work