The timeshare disease spreads yet again as at ST. PAUL Minnesota’s state lottery director jacked in last Friday amid questions about billing taxpayers for stays at his personal timeshares during work travel.
Ed Van Petten’s rapid exodus followed a Star Tribune report showing he was repaid for more than $7,000 (£5,000) after he and staff stayed at his personal timeshare units during conferences in Las Vegas, New Orleans and Atlantic City, according to expense records obtained by the newspaper.
Though Van Petten stressed to The Associated Press he did not own those units and insisted that using those timeshares actually saved the state money, he conceded that it may have violated a state policy that bans its employees from being reimbursed for stays at “personally owned property.”
“It didn’t cost the state a dime more. I didn’t see that it would be an issue,” he said, adding that he had not cleared the arrangement with others. “But there is a rule. There is no ownership interest whatsoever, but it appears that way.”
He said he was not asked to leave, but offered his resignation to Gov. Mark Dayton in an effort to spare the governor’s administration any embarrassment.
“It’s best just to nip it in the bud,” Van Petten said. The Star Tribune first reported his resignation.
Dayton said he would have asked Van Petten to leave had he not offered, calling it a “warranted” move given the questions about his expenses. And though he defended the state lottery as a well-run agency, Dayton said he’d welcome a broader probe into employees’ travel expenditures by the state’s legislative auditor.
The state will begin searching for Van Petten’s replacement immediately.
For more information regarding this article or assistance in any other timeshare related issues please contact the TCA on 01908 881058 or email: info@TimeshareConsumerAssociation.org.uk