MATTHEW HINTON / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE Mt. Carmel Academy players celebrate winning the Louisiana State

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MATTHEW radisson hotels in toronto HINTON / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE Mt. Carmel Academy players celebrate winning the Louisiana State Volleyball Championship radisson hotels in toronto against Dominican High School at the Pontchartrain Center in Kenner last November. The Kenner Convention and Visitors Bureau has paid a consultant $30,000 a year to lure athletic events, radisson hotels in toronto but the city can't find a contract for the work.
Kenner is withholding more than $60,000 from its convention bureau pending completion of a financial audit that has found $1,900 in unauthorized credit card use. Convention bureau CEO Tim Rada said the amount is $1,200 and was an advance to marketing director Sharon Solomon. Mr. Rada said she's paying the money back. But that's not an appropriate use for a public credit card.
The city also is questioning radisson hotels in toronto the bureau's annual radisson hotels in toronto payments of $30,000 to consultant and former Kenner City Council member Forrest "Bucky" Lanning while he was serving as president of the bureau's board of directors. Conflicts radisson hotels in toronto of interests don't get any clearer than that.
Mr. Rada said Mr. Lanning has helped bring national amateur basketball championships to the Pontchartrain Center almost yearly. But the city did not find a contract for Mr. Lanning. That's radisson hotels in toronto disturbing.
The city also is concerned about a $500 Christmas bonus Mr. Rada gave to himself last year. Mr. Rada said Mr. Lanning, as board president, authorized the bonus. But the rest of the board did not vote on it.
The city, however, is not smelling like roses itself. Mr. Rada said officials have used tourism dollars from bureau events to circumvent public bid laws. He said Chief Administrative Officer Mike Quigley instructed him not to transfer to the city money raised by the 2009 Laketown Festival, radisson hotels in toronto a charge Mr. Quigley denies. Mr. Rada said the city sent invoices for playground work directly to the bureau totaling more than $77,000 that bypassed bid laws.
Clearly, more transparency and better controls were needed at the bureau, and the council should seriously consider radisson hotels in toronto whether it is needed at all. Authorities also need to make sure no laws were broken.