Generous Bar Bill Gets Copenhagen Mayor In Trouble

The mayor of Copenhagen generously picked up the tab for a late-night party for his employees, but his largesse has not gone over well with critics who say the big bar bill is not an appropriate use of public funds.

According to The Local, Copenhagen city employees attending a seminar hung out at a hotel bar until 4 a.m. and ran up a bar bill of 12,000 kroner, or about $2,000, and the city picked up the tab. Unfortunately, that expense did not sit well with everyone.

"It's not the size of the tab that is the issue. But public officials are employed to service the city's residents. So the public trust that tax money is being administered correctly suffers a serious setback when this type of case arises," said Carsten Mai, a former spokesperson for the Danish finance ministry.

Copenhagen Mayor Frank Jensen says no rules were violated in covering the bar tab for employees attending the seminar, but he says that it does send "the wrong signal," especially since the employees were drinking until 4 a.m. when the seminar the next morning started at 9.