A report by Nebraska's state auditor raised questions about spending by the Nebraska Tourism Commission' and its PR and ad agency Bailey Lauerman & Associates.
Omaha-based BL&A, which earned nearly $3.6M in 2015, went over budget by $4.4M over the past three years and expensed questionable items like $350 for alcohol and even cigarettes, the report said.
The Tourism Commission became an independent state agency in 2012 as it was pulled out from under the state's economic development entity. The audit hit the commission for paying $18,511 to relocate an employee, reimbursing its director's daughter for use of her convertible and for paying her to appear in a photo shoot.
"The hiring of the director's daughter by Bailey Lauerman gives rise to potential concerns involving other statutory prohibitions against improper personal gain by public officials, employees, or their family members," said the audit.
Auditors also criticized the commission for paying $44,000 for a 90-minute speech by Shawn Achor of Goodthink Inc., a figure that is "greater than the annual salary of over half of the commission's full-time staff."
The full audit and more coverage is at the Omaha World-Herald.
The report has raised hackles in the state capital and Gov. Pete Ricketts called the spending "appalling," adding that the commission is "not being good stewards of the taxpayer dollars."
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