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Petersburg official tried to redeem work travel voucher for Jamaica trip

Posted at 7:33 PM, Mar 11, 2016
and last updated 2016-03-11 19:33:52-05

PETERSBURG, Va. -- What was supposed to be a business trip to Florida for a city spokesperson has turned into a public situation in Petersburg; while eyes are already on the city for recent administration issues.

The promoter of the Petersburg Half Marathon & 5K says he recently gave a voucher to Jay Ell Alexander, so that she could take a flight to Fort Lauderdale.

Alexander is the public information officer for the City of Petersburg, and the purpose of the trip was to observe a similar race, and to promote Petersburg’s marathon, which takes place on April 16.

But Jason Miller of Top Run Race Management told CBS 6 Senior Reporter Wayne Covil that he received word from his corporate airline sponsor that the voucher he provided Alexander had been changed.

An email thread shared with CBS 6 shows Miller question Alexander about why that voucher was being used for "A upcoming trip to Jamaica,” instead of Florida.

Miller added that "This is a huge problem," and wrote, "I have no races in Jamaica.”

I received a call today from my [airline name redacted] representative stating that voucher that I had provided you for travel to my Ft. Lauderdale marathon is being used for a upcoming trip to Jamaica.

This is a HUGE problem with my [airline name redacted] partnership. [airline name redacted] issues those vouchers for our staff to travel to cities that we host events in. Being that I have no races in Jamaica they know it was redeemed for personal use. The is actually a breach of contract with [airline name redacted] as my agreement states they are not to be used for personal use.

REALLY?

The response sent from Alexander's email:

My apologies! Honestly! Do you want me to call and refund? Or let me know how to handle and I can take care of it.

One minute later, the correspondence shows Alexander sent this reply from her official city email address: “My apologies! Honestly! Do you want me to call and refund? Or let me know how to handle and I can take care of it.”

When reached for comment, Alexander referred CBS 6 to Petersburg’s chief operating officer. The COO then referred CBS 6 to the mayor.

“I'm not going to confirm or deny that, I'm just going to say, we're going to continue to follow our personnel policy procedures and move forward,” said Mayor Howard Myers, when asked if Alexander was still employed.

In 2015, the Petersburg Half Marathon drew 3,000 runners to the city. This year's race is expected to draw 3,500, including runners from three foreign countries.

But some in the community say there is concern that amid a spate of recent problems, this could be Petersburg’s last race.

Jay Ell Alexander blocks a reporter asking the mayor a question

Jay Ell Alexander blocks a reporter asking the mayor a question

“This is a travesty, this could potentially divert the marathon from coming to Petersburg,” said Larry “Akin” Smith, a community activist who is also married to Petersburg Councilwoman Treska Wilson-Smith.

"To say it's a mistake, to go to Jamaica as opposed to where you've agreed to go to, yea, maybe it's more than skewed, it could be criminal,” Smith said. “And I think investigation into it to find, to find out if it has broken a criminal law, should be what's going on right now."

Viewers may remember in February, at the Petersburg State of the City Address, Alexander put her hand up to block the lens of a CBS 6 camera.

It happened while reporter Jake Burns was asking the mayor a question about the city's ongoing water bill crisis.

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