[11/16/04] PORT GIBSON The City of Port Gibson received a partial refund on at least two trips taken by Mayor Amelda Arnold, documents show, making the cost less than earlier reported.

As reported by The Vicksburg Post on Sept. 26, Arnold took trips to Washington, Houston and Philadelphia to attend conferences. While visiting the latter two cities, she stayed in four-star hotels.

The city received a $738.36 rebate from the Washington Hilton, lowering the net cost of the hotel stay to $2,131.02 for two rooms for Arnold and Alderman Kenneth Davis.

Records also revealed the city received a $165.96 rebate from the Loews Philadelphia Hotel lowering the net cost of the hotel stay to $792.30.

The mayor said the city received a $354.80 refund from the Houston InterContinental Hotel, but could not provide documents. The hotel bill for that trip was $1,193.40.

Arnold, when interviewed for the travel story, did not mention rebates, but responded to the story in an Oct. 1 letter to The Vicksburg Post saying the totals were inaccurate. In response to the letter, a public records request was made by the newspaper Oct. 5 to affirm the amounts. The city provided the documents on Nov. 9, which is 24 business days after the request and 10 days longer than allowed by state law.

Arnold said the reason for the refund is that some hotels require a deposit of one night’s cost for cities that don’t have credit cards.

In her letter, Arnold wrote: “There is a wide world of opportunities out there that will not come to Port Gibson out of the blue, unless we, the leaders, seek those opportunities and bring them back to you the citizens of this city.”

In a separate part of the letter she wrote: “I have and will continue my travels to tell the Port Gibson story and promote our City’s growth and well being.”

The overall cost of those travels, 25 trips since November 2002, is, with the refunds added in, about $13,300. The cost was tabulated by examining records of city checks to Arnold, receipts from hotels and other expense reports signed by Arnold.

Airfare was not a part of the calculation because there was no way to show that bills paid to a travel agency were for Arnold or other city employees.

Arnold wrote that she had met with several business leaders while attending conferences.