Mangum's chief of staff's card expenses top $150,000

Jimmy Miller, chief of staff to Florida A&M University President Elmira Mangum, has racked up over $150,000 in expenses on his purchasing card, according to records released Friday by the university.

The reports obtained by the Democrat through a public records request, include the period between July 2014 through July 2016.

Miller was one of Mangum’s first hires. He served as vice president of communications and external relations until he became Mangum’s chief of staff last December. He is a former attorney for a housing authority in New York.

Public records reveal extensive travel by FAMU's Mangum

Miller’s duties not only included communications, but he also served in lobbying relations in Florida and Washington, D.C., as well as organizing recruiting events and other duties, according to university officials

His total charges through July 26 were $156,000.

Miller’s entries mostly cover airline travel, taxi service and rental cars. They also include hotel rooms and airfare for campus speakers, in a few cases travel for board of trustee members and other costs.

In addition, there are several entries for office equipment, including four on Oct. 29. 2014 for electronics purchases at Best Buy for $709 each.

Miller’s hotel purchases usually include the Doubletree and Marriott, although there are a few bookings in his name for the Waldorf in Orlando.

Included in his July 2016 activity are four purchases on American Airlines, at $892.20 each. Each entry lists Miller as the passenger.

The Tallahassee Democrat last week obtained purchase card expenses for Mangum, Miller, and Santoras Gamble, an assistant to the president; Funmi Ojetayo, a former assistant to the president, now an attorney in the General Counsel’s Office and Erica Herring, Audrey Alexander and James Vaughan, three members of the FAMU Police Department who have served as drivers and security for Mangum.

Miller’s expenses were by far the greatest, nearly double those of Mangum’s who totaled about $81,000 on her university charge card.

"He traveled both in support of the president and for federal and state legislative outreach," said FAMU spokeswoman Kanya Stewart. "He also had a role, for a period of time, in engaging with alumni and other University Advancement activities. All of the travel expense that you see was not necessarily for him. He often paid for other university business and travel for members of the board as well as the Communications and External Relations Team."

Here’s a summary of spending from other members of Mangum's inner circle.

Funmi Ojetayo, June 2014 through July 25, 2016:  His expenses total $41,000. Charges mostly include hotels, airfare, professional publications, memberships, rental cars. There’s also an entry for Nov. 12, 2014, for $1,042, at L’Ermitage, an upscale hotel in Beverly Hills. That same fee and date show up on Mangum’s purchase card, but there is no explainer for the expense.

Santoras Dee Gamble, May 2016 through July 2016: His total shows $6,700 during the three-month period. Most of the listings are for hotels, electronics, taxi services.

Erica Herring, November 2014 through February 2016: Her purchasing card totals $7,000. Her expenses are primarily for hotels, including the Hyatt Regency in Orlando, Doubletree, Marriott and Hilton; gasoline purchases, airlines and rental cars, including a $763 charge from Avis, on March 16, 2015. Herring’s report also shows a $1,048 charge for Atlantis Paradise Island, The Bahamas, on Sept. 30, 2015. A university spokeswoman said The Atlantis was the host hotel for the Celebrating Women International Awards event, where Mangum was to be honored with an international education leadership award. But she cancelled the trip to remain at FAMU during the threat of Hurricane Joaquin.Herring was apparently scheduled to travel with Mangum for security purposes. The trip was cancelled.

Audrey Alexander, November 2015 to June 2016: Her purchases total $7,300. Her expenses are mostly for hotel rooms and gasoline charges, with trips to Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville and Atlanta.

James Vaughan, April 2014 through December 2014: His expenses totaled $4,200. Mostly hotel expenses, gasoline purchases and rental cars.

Contact senior writer Byron Dobson at bdobson@tallahassee.com or on Twitter @byrondobson.