PORTAGE | Among the debts of Sen. Hillary Clinton's suspended presidential bid appears to be a $300 lectern borrowed from the Portage Park Department.

Back in April, a representative of Clinton's campaign stopped in at the park office and asked if the department had a lectern the campaign could borrow for Clinton's April 25 visit to Gary, said Vicky Wright, a department staff member. Staff members assisted the representative and found a suitable lectern at the Portage Yacht Club. Park staffers also asked that they get a photograph of Clinton taken at the lectern for its possible historic significance.

Clinton appeared at both Bennigan's restaurant and the steelworkers' McBride Hall on April 25. Wright said they weren't sure at which event the lectern was used. Clinton returned to Northwest Indiana on April 30 for a stop at Steelworkers Local 6787 banquet facility in Portage.

Wright said a couple of weeks went by and she was given the task of tracking down the lectern. She called the representative, whom she knew only as Brad.

"He said Hillary likes the podium, that it is light and easy to carry," Wright said. The representative initially offered to buy the lectern from the department.

Wright said he was told they couldn't do that because there are certain laws regarding the disposal of public property.

"Then he said 'What if it ends up missing?'" she said, adding there was some discussion about the value of the podium and it was decided it would cost $300 to replace the item.

The representative told Wright that sounded like a fair offer and, she understood, the check would be in the mail.

But it wasn't. Wright left messages on Brad's cell phone about two weeks ago and again on Tuesday morning. Later on Tuesday, Wright got a call back and a request for an invoice so the park department could be reimbursed by the campaign.