Discussion postponed on revised employee travel policy in Washtenaw County

WASHTENAW COUNTY, MI – Changes to Washtenaw County’s travel policy for government employees, amid questions about a county employee’s tens of thousands of dollars in expensed travel, have been postponed for another few weeks.

During the Wednesday, July 10 Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners meeting, a discussion on the policy was delayed after commissioners Annie Somerville, D-District 6, and Yousef Rabhi, D-District 8, expressed concerns with the changes being presented.

Related story: Stricter travel policy proposed after Washtenaw County equity officer’s frequent trips

“I have expressed to the chair that I would like to see something different in an updated travel policy,” Somerville said during the meeting. “And so, I would like to entertain the idea of starting over.”

Rabhi agreed with the idea of a “refresh” and asked Somerville what issues she had with proposed policy, but did not share his own concerns.

“My interest lies around specifically tightening up how much employees travel and what the actual overall budget is,” Somerville said. “I don’t have that all fleshed out, but I think it’s worth bringing this back in a different way with more detail.”

Phone calls and texts to Rabhi seeking comment regarding his concerns were not returned.

Changes to the travel policy have been brewing since an investigation by MLive/The Ann Arbor News revealed county Racial Equity Officer Alize Asberry Payne spent at least 80 days traveling to conferences and events in 2022 and 2023. Included among the trips was a visit to Germany where multiple four-and five-star hotels were booked at a cost of over $600 per night.

From 2022-24, Asberry Payne allegedly used her county credit card for $18,186.82 in flights booked under her name, $25,577.97 in personal lodging charges at conferences and $5,904.46 in Uber rides, credit card statements revealed.

Asberry Payne has been on leave since May, but County Administrator Gregory Dill has declined to comment on the nature of the leave. On Friday, July 12, he confirmed Payne is still on leave from the county.

Somerville expanded on her concerns Friday in a phone interview, saying her desire is to have safeguards in place on how much travel – both in dollar amounts and days – a county employee can take in a calendar year.

Travel shouldn’t be left to the whim of a particular department’s budget either, Somerville said, adding concerns about equity issues between departments with varying budgets. If the policy includes a standard amount of approved money and days per employee, it could alleviate those concerns, she said.

During Wednesday’s meeting, Rabhi agreed with Somerville’s plan to make changes to the proposal, but voiced concern about when the commissioners can vote on a final policy. Dill suggested that, if they were starting fresh, the board’s Sept. 4 meeting might be best.

“That would give us an opportunity to pull together a team inclusive of, candidly at this point, administration and the board so that we can craft something that hopefully you all can be supportive of,” Dill said.

Rabhi said he was fine with that timeline, as long as there was something presented at the board’s Aug. 7 meeting that leads to a potential final reading in September, which Dill and Somerville said was part of the timeline.

After Wednesday’s discussion, commissioners Andy LaBarre, D-District 7, and Katie Scott, D-District 9, withdrew their June motion regarding the original proposal, so the new proposal can be drafted.

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