Port employee spent $4,500 at Texas strip club

OAKLAND, Calif. -- The Port of Oakland's Board of Port Commissioners announced today that it plans to continue its crackdown on improper employee expenditures after learning that a port official spent $4,500 in public money at a strip club.

Recent public records requests revealed that the employee spent the money at a Houston, Texas, strip club in 2008, according to the port.

The expenditure was not immediately noticed because the name of the venue is not evident on the receipt, according to the port. The receipt listed the business as "D. Houston, Inc.," which the port officials later learned is the corporate name for Treasures Strip Club.

"The Board of Port Commissioners takes this matter very seriously and will take whatever action is required to improve our financial oversight to ensure expenditures like this don't occur in the future," board president Gilda Gonzales said in a statement.

Gonzales said that in 2010, the board developed a policy regarding port-issued credit cards, and an audit of expenditures was launched earlier this year.

The board met Friday to discuss anticipated litigation related to the 2008 expenditure, and will meet again at 5 p.m. today at 530 Water St. in Oakland.

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