Is Buono Asleep at the Wheel ? For almost three months now, the public has been provided with an exposé of what I consider to be lavish, out-of-control spending by the administration of our school district. As you will undoubtedly recall, many of the official school documents that illustrate the articles (and now posted on the web-site, as well) have rendered information as to: Superintendent Rhau and wife’s eight-day-trip to Orlando, Florida, where he rented a car at our expense and traveled 428-miles while attending only one day out of the eight at a conference that cost the District approximately $1,200; a three-day conference in Boston, Massachusetts, that cost approximately $1,600; a three-day conference in Saratoga Springs, New York, that cost taxpayers approximately $600; a three-day conference in San Diego, California, with a thus far unknown cost to the District (to date I have found documentation for approximately $600 of the trip); a one-day conference at the Desmond in Albany, New York resulting in an expenditure of at least $124; a three-day conference in Wakefield, Massachusetts, which was attended by Assistant Superintendent Cheryl Nunciforo, and principals Tim Price and Joe Fondino, that cost the District $937 (documents relating to all these charges are posted on the web-site). I have been informed by a majority of the board members that they had no knowledge of attendance at any of these conferences by Rhau, Nunciforo, Price or Fondino, nor have they ever reviewed any of their vouchers for approval. According to documents, all of their vouchers were certified and approved by Business Administrator Joe Dziadik (who, incidentally, was hired on Rhau’s recommendation). And, get this, all of Joe Dziadik’s vouchers are submitted and certified by Dziadik himself and then initialed by Rhau. Business Administrator Joe Dziadik has also submitted more than $600 in vouchers claiming mileage for District business (posted on the web-site). Again, the Board has neither reviewed nor seen any of Rhau’s, Nunciforo’s, Price’s, Fondino’s or Dziadik’s expenditures for approval.   Use of Rhau’s Cell Phone Questioned There is something drastically wrong with this picture. Where is the accountability? What about the checks and balances? I must ask, did Board President Vince Buono have knowledge of these out-of-town trips by the administration? Did Buono’s cronies, McCaig, Parisian and Kovac also know? Were they planning to advise the other board members? If so, when? Or did Buono just simply fall asleep at the wheel? The secrecy is suspicious at the very least. Whatever the reason, the public certainly is entitled to answers! It’s our money they are allowing to be thrown around so flagrantly! This habit of "spending like a drunken sailor" must be curtailed. Another issue that needs to be addressed by the Board is the large volume of cell phone calls made by Rhau. Rhau’s contract clearly states: "The Superintendent shall be provided with a cellular phone and a credit card to be used to conduct District business and the Board shall pay the expenses therefor. Reasonable personal cellular phone use shall not be prohibited." (emphasis added). To the average person, "reasonable" is interpreted as not excessive or extreme.....I guess we will need to more strictly define "reasonable" in the future. After obtaining some of Rhau’s cell phone bills (posted on web-site), I found that there were 585 recorded calls made, of which 479 were made to numbers either out of town or out of state, such as California, West Virginia, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Georgia, but mostly to New Jersey where Rhau has a home. Most of these out-of-state calls were made after school or ordinary business hours, raising yet another concern: is Rhau using the District cell-phone primarily for District business or for his own personal use? One would expect Rhau to use his office phone during business hours to conduct most of these calls and, since he claims to live in Saugerties and has a local phone number, to use his personal home phone to make long-distance calls after school hours—doesn’t that fall under the realm of "reasonable"? To help find the answers to my questions, I recently filed a FOIL requesting a breakdown of all calls on his bills showing which are district-related, and as soon as I receive the information, I will disclose it.   Excessive Vehicle Expenses Driving us to Poorhouse There seems to be an even more serious issue looming over Rhau that cannot be swept under the rug but must be addressed by the Board. And that is the $160.30 voucher Superintendent Rhau submitted for reimbursement for mileage while traveling to Boston for that three-day conference when he knew, or certainly should have known, that he had no right to do so. Rhau’s contract (posted on the web-site) is very clear regarding reimbursement for mileage when using his personal vehicle for District business. The contract states: "The Superintendent is authorized to incur reasonable expenses in the discharge of his duties, including but not limited to expenses for travel (excluding expenses for mileage, tolls, etc. while traveling on District business in his personal vehicle), meals and lodging; attendance at professional conferences previously approved by the Board, and meetings and similar items related to his employment. The Board shall receive notification of all out-of-state business travel." (emphases added). The reason mileage, tolls, etc., are specifically excluded is because his contract provides him with $500 cash each month for expenses related to the use of his personal vehicle. Rhau’s Contract states: "The Superintendent shall be compensated at a rate of $450 per month for transportation expenses related to the use of his personal vehicle. This will be increased to $500 per month in 2006-07 and $550 per month in 2008-09" (see Art.3(m) of Superintendent’s Contract, web-site). The serious issue is that while Rhau is being compensated $500 cash each month for expenses for his personal vehicle, documents will reveal that Rhau submitted a voucher on July 28, 2005 for reimbursement for mileage while he was attending the NSPRA Conference in Boston between July 10 and 13 of that same year, which is strictly prohibited in his contract. The voucher was for 396-miles at .405/mile, or $160.30 and was approved by Business Administrator Joe Dziadik on August 3, 2005 and then paid. The point is, receiving reimbursement for mileage under circumstances such as described, is considered double-dipping. Not only is this a violation by Rhau of the terms of his contract with us, it may also be a violation of the law. I, therefore, publicly call upon Board President Vince Buono to promptly and thoroughly conduct an investigation into Superintendent Rhau’s actions in this matter and, if it is found that Rhau acted inappropriately or illegally, then I would recommend that the Board take whatever action is necessary against Superintendent Rhau to remedy this situation and protect the taxpayers’ best interest.   This is Superintendent Richard Rhau’s reservation form for his trip to the San Diego, California conference. Take notice that he chose the $262 per night room with the “Double Bay View” for himself and his wife, Kathleen. The room was charged to the District credit card.   George D Heidcamp, Sr. June 1, 2006