No Vegas, Baby: Council Denies Mayor's Trip to Annual Conference

from LaMesa, CA a city with population of about 57,000 near SanDiego that is a voting member of the U.S. Conference of Mayors ....


The La Mesa City Council put their foot down on Tuesday night, denying Mayor Art Madrid to make a June trip to Las Vegas for one of two annual conferences of the U.S. Conferences of Mayors.

 The mayor’s motion to approve the trip died on the dais due to the lack of a second.

Before the motion, the newest councilmember, Kristine Alessio, questioned the validity of the trip, adding that she could not see a germane reason for Madrid to attend.

The Mayor – who said that in his 23 years at the helm, this is the first time someone has questioned the value of attending a conference – had requested $2,000 for the trip, including $700 for registration, $300 for airfare, $800 for a room at Mandalay Bay, and $200 for miscellaneous expenses.

Alessio mentioned part of the conference included a Cirque du Soleil show at Mandalay Bay as well. She said that in her mind, there wasn’t anything on the conference agenda that was germane to the city. 

“If you are implying that if every agenda [for any conference or meeting] isn’t germane to the city, then it isn’t worth going, I’d conclude that there are a lot of local and regional meetings that shouldn’t be attended,” Madrid said. “The interaction with colleagues is of significant benefit.”

He continued, saying that his attendance at conferences has been directly beneficial in city staff procuring millions in grant money for the city throughout his tenure.

“If my attending wasn’t beneficial to the city, I wouldn’t be there,” he said. “There is nothing glamorous about travel. There is nothing glamorous about staying between different hotels. There is nothing glamorous about fighting with 2,000 people all the time trying to get to certain events.”

Dr. Mark Arapostathis, in an effort to clear up possible public confusion about grant money, said that no one on the council has ever been involved in writing a grant for the city.

“I just want to make that much clear. Staff does the lion’s share of the work getting grants,” he said. “The staff needs to be commended in getting the money that we do from any agency.”

“Mr. Arapostathis, I think I did just that,” Madrid responded.

Then, the usually reserved Arapostathis fired back.

“I didn’t say you didn’t, and it’s Dr. Arapostathis.” 

“Oh, doctor. I’ve got a pain in my knee,” Madrid said.

“It’s gonna probably get worse,” Arapostathis concluded. 

Public commenters were also not on the mayor’s side of the argument.
Scott Kidwell, speaking on behalf of the La Mesa Citizen Oversight Group, said that the council has a both responsibility and opportunity, when it comes to travel expenses.

“The responsibility is to analyze each travel spending request. The opportunity is for you to demonstrate proper stewardship over precious and some might say, sacred, city funds,” he told the council. 

“Claimed value that is esoteric should be seen with the most skeptical eye,” he continued, adding that the same event last year, which was 3,000 miles away in Orlando, Fla., was a third of the cost. 

“With all due respect, La Mesa officials were elected to govern here, and not gallivant at will from sea to shining sea on publicly funded expenses, reviewing things not vetted by this council in full.”

After the meeting, Madrid left the council chambers without talking to reporters or attendees.

"We have a policy that travel must be germane to the city, and I just didn't see it,” Alessio said after the meeting.

“I don’t mind him going. I’m not opposed to the trip per se, it’s just that it didn’t apply to the travel policy. I wanted him to come out and say these are the reasons I’m going, and here’s how it will impact the city, but if you can’t [show it], you can’t.”


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