Martha Tyroch, a candidate for State Representative in HD55, has a disturbing pattern of charging taxpayers for luxury accomodations and lavish dinners.

In 2005, Tyroch booked a suite at the exclusive Mayflower Hotel in Washington D.C. for a cost of over $450 per night, even as the list of hotels recommended to attendees of the conference started at $145 per night.   She even billed taxpayers for a meal at a posh D.C. restaurant that cost over $1000, including $300 in alcohol. All of these expenses were paid for by city of Temple tax funds and they are part of a greater pattern of lavish personal spending by Martha Tyroch as a member of the Temple City Council. (Download a PDF of some of her receipts.)

“It appears that Martha Tyroch has no regard for protecting your taxpayers dollars,” said Michael Sullivan. “Martha appears to pay for travel, hotels and food for her friends and herself – including staying in luxury suites in Washington D.C. and hosting lavish dinners, costing thousands of dollars. It’s no wonder Martha voted to increase spending on government by 114%: she needed the extra money to support her spending habit.”

Sullivan added, “Empower Texans looks for waste and fraud in government, but the amounts and frequency of Martha’s overspending are staggering. It’s one of the worst cases of taxpayer abuse I’ve seen. The people of Temple should be outraged at these charges.”

“At the very least, Martha should reimburse the City of Temple for the thousands in liquor that she billed to taxpayers,” said Sullivan.   “Taxpayers shouldn’t have to pay for a Tyroch Happy Hour.”

“I have only reviewed three years of her spending, from 2005 to 2007, but the pattern is very troubling. Martha needs to come clean about her expenses. At a minimum she should reimburse the city for the costs of alcohol that she charged to taxpayers.”

Martha’s spending didn’t just extend to lavish hotels and meals. She billed taxpayers $30 for a seven block cab ride in Washington D.C., even as Washington cab drivers must charge a flat rate and prohibited from charging so much for such a short ride.   According to the official Washington D.C. Taxi Fare Calculator (https://citizenatlas.dc.gov/atlasapps/taxifare.aspx), the cost billed to taxpayers should have only been $7.50.

“Are taxpayers supposed to believe Martha had taxpayers give a $22.50 tip?” asked Sullivan.

On another trip to D.C., Martha, traveling with her husband Jerry, ordered room service and billed it to the taxpayers.   Tyroch has a pattern of upgrading the hotel room for out-of-town travel, similar to the Mayflower example listed above.

 

 

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