Apparent misuse of taxpayer dollars by the Nebraska Tourism Commission is "appalling," Gov. Pete Ricketts said Monday, reacting to a scathing state audit of the agency released last week.
If the governor had control over the commission the way he does with other agencies, "people would be held accountable," Ricketts told the Journal Star.
His comments came in response to a by the state auditor's office, which questioned a wide range of commission expenses from last year. Those included reimbursing a contractor for alcohol and cigarettes, spending $18,511 to help move an employee from Sidney to Kearney, and paying the commission director's daughter to appear in a tourism marketing campaign.
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"They're not being good stewards of the taxpayer dollars," Ricketts said. "There's more accountability if you put it under the governor's purview."
The commission has operated independently since it was spun off from the state Department of Economic Development in 2012, a legislative decision that met virtually no opposition at the time.
On Monday, Ricketts said the audit "demonstrates the problem when the Legislature moves an agency out from underneath the control of the governor's office."
Tourism and its executive director are now overseen by a nine-member board, whose members are appointed by the governor. All nine commissioners were in place before Ricketts took office.
"I can appoint the commission board members, but I can't unappoint them," the governor said.
Kathy McKillip, the commission's executive director, has defended some of the spending but acknowledged holes in its policies and accounting practices, including the lack of an internal manual.Â
"This audit did exactly what state audits are suppose to do, find areas of weakness so that we can improve upon them," McKillip said in an email Sunday.
There's no manual for forming a new state agency as was done with the Tourism Commission in 2012, she said. As a result of the audit, the commission will begin to craft internal rules and will partner with the state's Administrative Services Department for help with purchases and accounting in the future, she said.
"We consider this a great opportunity (and) something we have wanted since becoming a state agency."
Commissioners are expected to discuss the audit and other issues Tuesday during a quarterly meeting at the Omaha zoo.
Five of the members' four-year terms are up July 1. Even then, Ricketts said, "I have limited options on who I can select."
State law requires six of the nine board seats to be held by a representative of the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, representatives of two regional tourism groups and three industry associations. Another commissioner must represent an attraction that has at least 2,000 out-of-state visitors each year. And the remaining two commissioners must come from businesses that derive a majority of their revenues from out-of-state visitors.
One commissioner, North Platte hotel operator Jeff Boeka, has defended McKillip following the audit; other commissioners have been silent.
McKillip, who earns upwards of $86,000 a year, might also receive some limited protection under state law.
When lawmakers created the separate commission four years ago, they staffed it with people who previously worked in the tourism division at Economic Development, including McKillip.
The Legislature allowed those workers to at least temporarily retain their state personnel and bargaining rights — including the ability to contest a firing. The law says those protections remain "for purposes of transition," but doesn't list an endpoint.