It is stealing. Period.

At the annual ICMA conference, I attended a round table discussion of city/county manager contracts.  When the subject of vehicle allowances came up, my colleagues were surprised that I had deliberately omitted this provision from my recent agreements.  I also declined to use a county vehicle.  I chose to use my personal vehicle (what we called a "POV" in my military days).  During my seven-year tenure, I also did not submit a single reimbursement request for mileage.

 I doubtlessly logged thousand of miles on County business.  So why decline a vehicle allowance or reimbursement?  I have two basic reasons: One philosophical and one practical.

As a believer in "lead by example," I want to err on the side of not taking advantage of my position.  Refusing any allowance or reimbursement kept me firmly on the moral high ground.  This set a good example for not only the senior management team, but for all employees.

On a practical matter, I avoided the paperwork associated with mileage.  My time is better spent on more "value-added" tasks.  It's also one less avenue of citizen criticism.  Driving a city or county vehicle is just putting a target on a manager's back.  Better to have a vehicle available for fleet use than one for the personal convenience of the CAO.

My philosophy stand in stark contrast to the recent travel-related escapades of some federal officials.  For example, FEMA Administrator Brock Long apparently racked up $150,000 worth of personal travel on the public dime (according to the Office of the Inspector General).  This extravagant spending occurred over a period of months, not years.  I won't bother repeating the details in the report (as reported by the Washington Post), but it's a laundry list of wholesale abuse of government-funded travel.

On a positive note, Long has been ordered to repay the $150,000 to the federal government.  On a not-so-positive note, he hasn't been fired.

Abuse of government-funded travel is theft.  It's abusing the taxpayer and--like all ethically suspect behaviors--it has a corrosive effect on an organization.