District Attorney’s Office Investigates Claim Regarding Supervisor
October 22, 2020
by MARIA PERICOZZI Editor
The Erie County District Attorney’s Office is investigating a claim regarding Lancaster Town Supervisor Ron Ruffino filling up his personal vehicle with town gas.
During public comment at Monday’s Lancaster Town Board meeting, Council Member Bob Leary asked Ruffino to comment on the matter.
“The [district attorney’s office] came in, and there’s nothing being done that’s wrong,” Ruffino said. “The district attorney’s office cleared me of this matter. There are no issues at all – they kind of laughed at it quite honestly.”
Ruffino said in July, he submitted a six-month log sheet of town business travel with his personal vehicle. During the first six months, he drove 388.6 miles. The gas rate for mileage is set at $0.575 per mile, so his total claim would be $223.44. During those six months, Ruffino said that he filled up his personal vehicle with town gas five times, which equated to $154.96. The town wrote a reimbursement check for the difference, of $68.48.
Leary said he had never heard of reimbursements being done this way, and that he talked to the other supervisors, and it has never been done before.
“You have no right to go and fill up your personal vehicle. You have the same rights as anyone else on the town board,” Leary said.
Ruffino stated he received a call in early August from the district attorney’s office stating he was being investigated. Shortly after, two officers from the district attorney’s office came to town hall to investigate the claim.
Erie County District Attorney Public Information Officer Kait Munro confirmed the district attorney’s office is investigating the claim, but was unable to provide additional information at this time.
Ruffino said if he filled up his tank at a local gas station, the reimbursement check would have been more. The gas rate at the pump for official vehicles is currently $1.29 a gallon, cheaper than the gas at local gas stations.
“If I didn’t get the gas there, I’d get it at a gas station,” Ruffino said. “If I fill up at a gas station, it makes no difference to me, but then I’m going to claim for more money because it’s not town gas… By doing that, I’m getting less money paid to me for gas mileage.”
Ruffino said he does not have a town vehicle, and uses his personal vehicle, paying his own insurance.
“I don’t sit in my office all day,” Ruffino said. “I go to meetings at night, meetings at daytime. I’m traveling all over the place to businesses to be the face of the town.”
Leary said the board specifically does not give the supervisor an official town vehicle.
“If you have to drive somewhere, you can fill out a voucher with your mileage on that,” Leary said. “You don’t have the right to go fill up your car, which is supposed to be only for official vehicles at the school pumps, and list it as a town vehicle. … You should turn your vouchers in like everybody else.”
Leary added that the amount of money involved is not that high, and may not meet the threshold, but that he would like to get the district attorney on the record as to why they are not pursuing this.
“Until the district attorney’s office tells me I’m doing something wrong, I’m going to continue,” Ruffino said.
Leary said he was told the district attorney’s office was not going to pursue the matter at the time, but that the door was not closed.
“The real story here is that this is another ploy by Councilman Leary that is costing the taxpayers valuable dollars, the cost for these officers to look into the investigation and the cost of them having to come to town hall to complete their process, while I’m sure they could have been assigned to a case that would be more useful for the taxpayers,” Ruffino said.
Ruffino stated Monday that he will request a copy of the final analysis from the district attorney’s office and will follow their recommendations.
On Tuesday, Ruffino said he contacted the district attorney’s office and asked if there was anything he needed to be aware of regarding the case. He said the office stated if something was wrong with his actions, Ruffino would have “probably heard something by now.”