Texarkana board sets limits on travel expenses

TEXARKANA — Members of the Texarkana City Board have approved a $1,200 limit on annual travel expenses for themselves after one member wanted to set the amount at $5,200.

Director Laney Harris said at a Monday night meeting that he was being personally "persecuted" and that Mayor Ruth Penney-Bell had singled him out for city financial problems.

The Texarkana Gazette reported Tuesday that city documents show Harris spent more than $15,000 on travel over the past three years, including a trip to the Essence Festival in New Orleans. After his proposal to set limits at $5,200 a year failed for lack of a second, the board approved Penney-Bell's resolution to set the limit at $1,200. Harris' was the only vote against.

Penney-Bell said Harris' travel hasn't benefited the city.

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