Seattle

It was just barely a year ago when we mentioned The Deputy Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Ron Sims, and his visit to Des Moines(Huh Duh).

Sims earns another mention because the Liter learned of some questionable travel to his home in Seattle.

From May 2009 through August 2010, Housing and Urban Development Deputy Secretary spent $19,026.13 in government money on trips that went through or to his hometown.

During that time, Sims spent 45 out of 128 travel days, or about 35 percent, in Seattle.

Thankfully, Sims will no longer be "sucking the tit of the taxpayer", at least on the federal level and the scientific community is united in that fact.

Sims is "retiring from public service" and leaving HUD at the end of July as he'd grown weary of living thousands of miles away from his wife.

Lately, Sims said, "I felt like I was a visitor," just "popping in and out" of his family's lives. Two of his sons live in the Seattle area, he said, as well as his 91-year-old mother.

Back to Des Moinez?