How much did Registrar Balmer spend on his city credit card?

City officials on Thursday suspended the purchasing card of Richmond General Registrar Keith Balmer, who is currently under investigation by the Richmond inspector general’s office for claims of nepotism and financial impropriety, after her spent nearly $70,000 on the card in 2023, according to records obtained by the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

The charges included almost $15,000 for furniture, $8,903 at a local art supplier, around $6,500 on hotels and lodging and over $6,000 on food and beverages, a transaction log for Balmer’s card shows.

Balmer also has charged $17,155.17 to the card for the first two months of 2024.

A representative for the inspector general’s office declined to disclose any details related to the investigation into Balmer and Deputy Registrar Keith Richardson.

“This is an active investigation,” the representative said. “We’re trying to move as expeditiously as possible to come to a conclusion.”

Balmer and a spokesperson for the Richmond Board of Elections also declined to comment. 

Purchasing cards are issued, monitored and managed by Richmond’s department of Procurement Services. A spokesperson for the department did not respond to multiple questions regarding spending limits, category guidelines and purchasing rules for the card program. The spokesperson was first contacted last Friday.

The Times-Dispatch previously reported that Balmer had hired his brother and awarded contract labor to his wife. Former employees came forward and accused the registrar of treating family members preferentially. Balmer, who was sworn in in 2021, denied the claims.

The Times-Dispatch obtained the transaction log for Balmer’s official city credit card.  It showed Balmer spent $14,780.64 on charges categorized as “furniture, home furnishings and equipment” in 2023. The charges included $9,615.02 at LaDiff, $4,119 at Bassett Furniture and $769 at Value City.

Jason Redd, a former employee of the Richmond office of elections who was fired in October, said that Balmer “pretty much redid the office.” 

“Pretty much anyone who wanted a new chair or desk got it, if they were one of … his chosen ones,” Redd said, adding that, at one point, Balmer purchased both a pool table and a ping pong table to “boost morale.”

Balmer also spent $8,903.50 at Crossroads Art Center, a private gallery on Staples Mill Road.

Destiny Fleming, a former employee who also was fired in October, said that Balmer felt it was “his job to beautify the space.”

“He got … and (put) art throughout the office,” Fleming said. “The price just didn’t matter.”

Redd and Fleming both said they were fired after they raised concerns regarding nepotism. Balmer previously declined to comment on their termination, calling the matter a “personnel issue.”

The transaction log also showed that Balmer spent $6,556.79 on charges categorized as “lodging, hotels, motels and resorts” in 2023. The charges included $3,623.69 at a Roanoke Hilton in August 2023 and $2,933.10 at the Capitol Hill Hotel in Washington, D.C. in September 2023.

Fleming said some of the August charges at the Hilton in Roanoke stemmed from an incident that occurred during the Voter Registrars Association of Virginia (VRAV) conference, which was attended by ten members of the Richmond office of elections. 

All of the employees got their own rooms at the hotel, Fleming said. At one point, one of the employees charged a substantial number of alcoholic beverages to his hotel room, adding to the total tab for the conference.

Redd confirmed Fleming’s account, saying that the “employee charged hella drinks to his room” and that Balmer used the purchasing card to pay for all of the incurred expenses.

Balmer spent $6,135.57 on charges categorized as “eating places, restaurants” or “drinking places (alcoholic bev.), bars” in 2023, according to the transaction log. The charges come from a variety of restaurants and bars in Richmond and Northern Virginia, as well as Well Hung Vineyard in Gordonsville and Crab Shack II outside of Baltimore. 

Redd said Balmer frequently had food delivered to the office and was “pretty reliable to buy certain staff members lunch.” 

Fleming said Balmer regularly ordered food from Panera Bread, Lee’s Famous Recipe Chicken and pizza restaurants for numerous staff members.

“He would make jokes about how, ‘well, you know, this is on the city,’” Fleming said.

Redd, Fleming and a third former employee of the office of elections who asked to remain anonymous also raised questions about Balmer’s use of a city vehicle assigned to the office. 

Redd said Balmer would take the vehicle — a Ford Explorer — home with him “95% of the time.” 

“He drove it like it was his own vehicle,” Redd said.

Fleming said that Balmer was “very possessive” of the Explorer and treated it like a personal car. 

In response to a Freedom of Information Act request for a mileage log for the vehicle, a representative for the office of elections said that no such log exists.

The anonymous employee with knowledge of city vehicle use said that the office kept a mileage log when he started the job in 2019, but that the practice “didn’t last long” because it was not strictly enforced. The employee said Balmer relies on the Explorer to get to and from work and to run personal errands.

Richmond’s administrative regulations indicate that some employees may be assigned a “take home” vehicle, which they may drive to and from work and home. The regulations forbid personal use of city vehicles that are not designated for “take home” use.

Balmer did not respond to questions related to the nature and use of the city vehicle.

The anonymous former employee said that, when he was fired, he was told he was being terminated so that the elections office could cover the cost of a potential lawsuit from Fleming. That lawsuit has not materialized.

A representative for the inspector general on Friday confirmed that Balmer and Richardson are currently under investigation for nepotism and financial improprieties. The representative declined to comment on the details of the probe.

Officials on Thursday suspended purchasing cards assigned to Balmer’s office, city spokesperson Petula Burks said Friday afternoon. The Times-Dispatch submitted a FOIA request for internal communications related to the alleged purchasing card suspensions to a representative for Procurement Services, who referred the request to the inspector general’s office.

A spokesperson for the inspector general said the office would not be releasing internal memos or emails regarding purchasing card suspension in light of the active investigation.