Credit-card use by top DRPA managers detailed

Top managers at the Delaware River Port Authority ran up corporate credit-card expenses of $38,167 in 13 months, DRPA records show.

The expenses included $500-a-night lodging at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City for two executives to attend the Pennsylvania Society gala, an annual meeting of Pennsylvania politicians and power-brokers.

In March, two executives charged $4,666 to attend a cruise-ship convention in Miami.

On other trips, three executives went to Miami and Seattle last October in pursuit of cruise-ship business, putting $2,325 on their cards, primarily for lodging and dining.

The deputy chief executive, Robert Gross, spent $2,041 in January on a three-day convention in Washington.

The credit-card expenses also included the $150 cost of get-well bouquets for then-New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine's chief counsel and for a Burlington County financial adviser to the authority.

The records for the American Express card expenses incurred between June 2009 and June 2010 show that when DRPA executives traveled by train, it was usually on the Acela Express, and that some had a fondness for lunch at the Palm in Center City.

The records were for 10 executives who were issued corporate credit cards billed directly to the DRPA. The credit-card bills, like DRPA's other costs, ultimately were paid with revenue from motorists' tolls on the authority's four toll bridges.

After the use of the credit cards was questioned by some DRPA board members in August, DRPA chief executive John Matheussen said the practice of using the corporate credit cards would be halted.

During the period between June 2009 and June 2010, the top spender was DRPA's new chief operating officer, Tim Pulte, who charged $8,224 in 11 months, credit-card records show.

He traveled to Miami and Seattle, and he was one of two executives (the other was Mary-Rita D'Alessandro, assistant to DRPA Chairman John Estey), who went to the politics-infused Pennsylvania Society events in New York at tollpayers' expense.

Pulte is an active Republican from Delaware County who was mentioned as a possible GOP challenger to U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak in 2008.

The Pennsylvania Society's gathering in New York City is an annual winter ritual of politics and business that draws many of the state's top politicians, lobbyists, and fund-raisers. Its black-tie dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel is attended by about 1,500 well-heeled guests, and past speakers have included the comedian Jon Stewart and former President George H.W. Bush.

To attend last year's Pennsylvania Society functions, Pulte stayed two nights at the Waldorf at $599 a night and spent $120 for parking, his DRPA credit-card records show.

D'Alessandro, a Democrat who is a friend of DRPA commissioner and Philadelphia labor leader John "Johnny Doc" Dougherty, spent $502 per night for two nights at the Waldorf and paid $100 for parking, according to DRPA credit-card records.

DRPA spokeswoman Danelle Hunter said the $2,422 expense for Pulte and D'Alessandro was justified because the "Pennsylvania Society provides networking opportunities for regional business leaders and elected officials from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. Opportunities for this kind of 'one stop/face-to-face' networking are rare and benefit organizations like the Delaware River Port Authority that have a stake in the Philadelphia region."

She said the DRPA "must always be in communication with business leaders and elected officials from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and even Delaware to ensure that when plans are being developed by each respective state, the DRPA's mission to 'keep the region moving' is considered."

Second place in credit-card spending during the 13-month period was the acting chief engineer, Mike Venuto, who charged $5,090 in eight months, mostly for the trips to Miami and Seattle seeking cruise-ship business.

Matheussen ran up a total of $4,100 in 13 months, including charges for travel to Miami and Seattle. Matheussen, a lawyer, also charged $955 to his DRPA American Express card for his continuing-legal-education courses.

Chief counsel Richard Brown spent $3,853, primarily to attend legal seminars and business lunches.

Chief financial officer John Hanson charged $4,951 on his card, including $3,383 for a "lean-government" management course through Villanova University and $305 for his annual membership in the New Jersey Society of Certified Public Accountants.

DRPA spokesman Ed Kasuba said the management-training course was to "enable Mr. Hanson to lead the lean-government initiative currently under way at the authority." Hanson is teaching the management techniques to nearly 100 DRPA employees, Kasuba said.

"The credit card was used," he said, "because it was the easiest way to enroll in the course."

Many of the charges on the executives' American Express cards were for business seminars and lunches. At least five of the lunches, for a total of $447, were at the Palm, one of Center City's favorite dining spots for business and political figures.

And two charges on the card of government relations director William Shanahan were for flowers.

On June 25, 2009, Shanahan ordered a get-well bouquet on behalf of the New Jersey board members to be sent to Corzine's chief counsel, Michellene Davis. That cost $78.98.

And Nov. 20, 2009, Shanahan ordered a get-well bouquet from DRPA Vice Chairman Jeffrey Nash for Kim Whelan of Acacia Financial, a Marlton financial adviser to the DRPA.

That flower arrangement cost $73.22.