(WXYZ) — Lyft and Uber trips that appear to be to and from bars, mileage to a private club and lots of out-of-state travel. Those are just a few of the Oakland County Commission Chair’s expenses that taxpayers have paid for recently.
“Oh, I'm a huge supporter of transparency. I'm a huge supporter for disclosure,” Dave Woodward (D-Royal Oak) told 7 Investigator Heather Catallo in August of 2025.
Even though Woodward said last summer that he’s “100%” transparent, so far this summer, he is not answering the 7 Investigators' questions on camera about his spending.
Woodward’s travel and outside business relationships with companies like the Sheetz gas station chain have been under scrutiny for months. The 7 Investigators were the first to report that Flock Safety paid for Woodward’s trip to their headquarters last fall. Woodward’s fellow commissioners say they were not told about that trip prior to their vote on the county’s 911-drone contract with Flock.
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That’s why the 7 Investigators filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the long-time commissioner’s expense reports.
From 2023 through early April 2026, Woodward’s expense reports show the commission chair spent $41,964.42 on out-of-state trips and mileage.
“That sounds like a lot of trips in three years. And I wonder what is happening in those places that solves a problem here that makes it worth that expense?” said Justine Galbraith, one of the Oakland County voters working to recall Woodward.
“I have to imagine that somewhere in Oakland County there is someone who can do the same work that he does and not take advantage of the taxpayers the way that he's taking advantage of taxpayers,” Galbraith told Catallo.
Records the 7 Investigators obtained show Woodward has spent thousands of dollars traveling to places like Austin, Phoenix, Tampa, Orlando, Denver, San Diego, Philadelphia and more.
Many of those trips were to attend the National Association of Counties (NACo) conferences, which other county leaders say are beneficial to commissioners and how they do their jobs. But there are at least a dozen other out-of-state trips that Woodward billed to the taxpayers.
In April of 2024, according to expense reports, Woodward charged the taxpayers $1016.20 for a flight to Salt Lake City to attend the Qualtrics X4 Summit.
The county has contracts totaling $4,317,242.58 for the use of the customer experience company’s technology.
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The conference featured celebrity speakers and a concert by the Backstreet Boys. A county spokesman says three county IT and health department employees attended the conference as well.
Even though Oakland County had already been using Qualtrics since 2018, a spokesperson for Woodward said the board chair travelled to Utah because he wanted “to learn more about Qualtrics tools” to see if the technology could help with surveys about transit.
In late 2023, records show, Woodward spent $1349.65 on flights, his hotel and meals in Washington, D.C., for Vice President Kamala Harris’s launch of the Safer States Agenda on gun violence prevention. Galbraith says the cause is worthy, but she questions why a county official needed to attend an event for state leaders.
“What gun violence prevention work flowed from that trip? And are these trips being taken because they're necessary or because he can?” said Galbraith.
In 2024, Woodward traveled to Washington, D.C. again, this time with former Oakland County Deputy County Executive Sean Carlson. Carlson resigned from county government earlier this year and is now running for State Senate in District 13.
According to the expense reports, Woodward and Carlson attended a one-day US Industrial Policy Roundtable. Even though the event ended at 5 p.m., receipts show the trip included an overnight stay in a hotel room that cost $885.86, bringing Woodward’s trip total to $1701.79.
Woodward would not answer our questions about the purpose of the trip and why the overnight stay was necessary.
“It sounds like there’s a lot of travel that is being done on taxpayers’ dime that isn’t being discussed,” said Oakland County Commissioner Kristen Nelson (D-Waterford). “We’re not having extensive conversations, and most times we’re not having any conversations on the purpose of, in this case, Chairman Woodward’s travels.”
Nelson has been pushing for ethics reforms and financial disclosure at the county.
According to travel receipts, Woodward had a $124.30 hotel stay in Lansing in March 2026 when he received an award from the Michigan Recreation and Park Association.
So, we asked Nelson what she thought of the other expense Woodward submitted from his overnight stay in Lansing: a $12 Uber ride at 12:42 a.m. from an address that matches a bar back to the hotel.
“That’s carelessness on behalf of being a good steward of taxpayer dollars,” said Nelson.
Woodward’s spokeswoman at the board said the Lansing overnight trip allowed him “to network with Parks professionals” and “attend a meeting” the following morning.
“We shouldn't be paying for his trips home from the bar,” said Galbraith. “We shouldn't pay for his hotel. It's just so disrespectful of the taxpayer.”
Woodward’s Lyft receipts from the NACo conference in Austin, TX, also appear to show trips between addresses associated with several bars: all transportation that was paid by the taxpayers on a trip that totaled $1553.17.
The 7 Investigators tried for several weeks to talk to Woodward on camera about his expenses. Woodward refused to answer calls, and board communications officer Miesha Joassin only answered some of our questions by email.
When asked about the Lyft rides between bars, Joassin told us this by email:
“It is common during the conference and after conference sessions, for numerous meetings and network receptions with county leaders. Chair Woodward will regularly attend events to strengthen relationships with peers and policy leaders around the country.
A few examples of results from Chair Woodward's networking during NACo include: meeting Savi leadership and developing the first countywide program which has since become a template for other counties across the country; learning about Undue Medical Debt (formerly RIP Medical Debt) which has eliminated $15 million in medical debt for 20,000 Oakland County residents; partnering with CEED Lending to create the Oakland County Microloan program to provide loans up to $50k to small business who otherwise struggle to receive loan support; and the formation of the Oakland County Human Trafficking Prevention Task Force originated from discussions at the conference.
As for all travel, Chair Woodward uses public transportation when possible. Throughout his entire attendance at the 2023 NACo Conference in Austin, Texas he was reimbursed for five Lyft rides (total of $65).”
Woodward’s mileage receipts also tell an interesting story.
As commission chair, Woodward earns $82,500 a year plus benefits for the part-time role, and he’s the only commissioner who has a set workstation/office at the board offices.
According to Oakland County policy, which applies to both elected officials and employees, “no mileage will be reimbursed for travel between an employee’s domicile and his/her workstation.”
But records show Woodward regularly bills mileage from his home in Royal Oak to the Board Offices in Pontiac.
“Chair Woodward has not violated a county policy of expensing mileage. For elected officials, per IRS counsel, the commuting mileage begins at the defined location of “home office/home base” which is located in their legislative district,” said Joassin in a statement.
The 7 Investigators repeatedly asked Joassin, Woodward, and Executive Coulter’s Public Information Officer if their position on his mileage reimbursement means the county policy that prohibits this kind of reimbursement (that was approved by the board in 2022) does not apply to Woodward. They did not answer the question.
“So, he's charging the taxpayers mileage to attend the meetings that it's his job to attend and lead? I mean that that's not why people pay taxes,” said Galbraith. “I want my taxes to go towards the salaries of the hard-working people of the county and of the parks.”
According to Woodward’s mileage records, he also charged the taxpayers for eight different trips to the Detroit Athletic Club for meetings with Carlson and with County Executive David Coulter.
“I think it's incredibly disappointing to hear that county government is having county meetings at a private club outside of the county on the taxpayers' dime. That's problematic,” said Nelson. “I think a lot of the behavior that Dave Woodward engages in demonstrates to me an abuse of power.”
Woodward has not turned in mileage expenses since the end of 2024, which the 7 Investigators questioned based on the board chair’s past pattern of requesting reimbursement.
“Reimbursement for mileage requires a significant amount of administrative paperwork. Chair Woodward has not submitted paperwork for mileage reimbursement since October 2024 and therefore has not received mileage reimbursement, even though he has been entitled to this reimbursement,” said Joassin in a statement.
The only person at the county who has approval oversight of Chair Woodward’s expenses is County Executive David Coulter.
When the 7 Investigators asked questions about Woodward’s spending, Oakland County Public Information Officer Bill Mullan sent this statement: “Chairman Woodward’s travel expenses are reviewed through a process involving both Board of Commissioners staff and our fiscal team to ensure compliance with county policy and state law before approval. Questions regarding the purpose of specific reimbursements are best directed back to him or to board staff.”
“It's just offensive. It's just like it's a free-for-all,” said Galbraith.
If you have a story for Heather Catallo, please email her at hcatallo@wxyz.com