PITTSBURGH -- Target 11 investigator Rick Earle reviewed spending records of the Allegheny County Airport Authority and found thousands of dollars were spent on golf outings, tickets to the U.S. Open and trips to exotic places.

Earle discovered during the past three years, the authority has spent nearly a quarter of a million dollars on travel.

It spent $1,400 on a trip to Geneva, Switzerland, $3,200 to go to Dubai, and $8,400 for a trip to Hong Kong.

All trips were made by employees of the Airport Authority.

Brad Penrod, executive director of the authority said it's the cost of doing business.

He said the trips are for airline industry conferences, training and marketing.

Penrod said, "It's absolutely critical that we stay involved with the industry in that respect and a lot of times that means traveling to visit those people."

Target 11's Earle went through dozens of expense reports.

Some of the expenses he found: a $430 steak dinner in Calgary, $2,200 worth of tickets to the U.S. open at Oakmont last year, $559 for golf in Scottsdale, Arizona and two pair of boots at a cost of $179.

Penrod said, "It was the environmental staff that has to go out and walk the streams in the mud of western Pennsylvania and they didn't have boots at home they could wear. They did not have those and I felt it's specific to their job here."

The Authority also paid for several employees to stay a week at the Sheraton Station Square while hosting a conference.

Earle asked Penrod, "Why do that? They could easily commute from home."

Penrod replied, "Whenever a staff works until midnight and needs to be available at 6 am they put in a long day and we think it's best that they stay there."

As director, Penrod earns $185,000 a year.

He also gets an SUV with free gas. And the Authority reimburses him $45 a month for his internet service at home. Earle asked Allegheny County Councilman Matt Drozd if this kind of spending is appropriate.

Drozd said," No, I say it's not. I say it's definitely not appropriate for an organization that's serving the public."

Drozd said he has a lot of questions about the expenditures, especially at a time when fewer passengers are flying in and out of Pittsburgh.

Drozd said, "All of these trips and the investment in these trips and there's no return on the investments and I have a lot of concerns about this."

He continued, "This is totally uncalled for it, really is and in fact what it calls for is, it calls for an investigative part on Allegheny County. We have to go back and investigate this. I'm going to ask for a committee hearing, meeting to investigate these expenditures."

The Airport Authority is funded by fees from airlines, parking and car rentals.

Councilman Drozd contends that because they operate a facility built with taxpayer dollars, they should be held accountable for their spending.