Mayor Art Madrid and his colleagues crossed swords once again during budget deliberations over a previous La Mesa City Council decision to strip much of the funding earmarked for travel and related expenses from the city's budget over the next two years.
Preceding a presentation by city staffer Sara Waller-Bullock prior to the Council’s adopting the final bi-annual budget for fiscal years 2013-2015, Madrid halted proceedings to present a study researched on his own time regarding the amount of the city’s budget devoted to councilmembers’ travel expenses compared to the budget as a whole.
Madrid noted, in a typical year over the past few, that the city’s total travel budget was slightly more than $700,000, contrasted with the city’s general fund budget of approximately $420 million.
“That’s seven one-hundredths of one percent,” said Madrid, adding he was citing that figure as an illustration of how council travel expenses “do not have significant fiscal impact on the city.”
“Significant impacts are in the single or double digits, not hundredths of one percent,” argued Madrid, who added a previously approved Council motion during preliminary budget deliberations to cut back the council’s annual travel budget for conferences and meetings from $12,500 to $5,000 was “politically motivated.”
The mayor had previously been rebuffed by the Council, which voted against his request for city funding to cover travel expenses to a conference of mayors in Las Vegas.
Madrid also cited the city’s annual Oktoberfest celebration as an example of something the city subsidizes from its budget with a substantial amount of money and time each year that, while benefiting business interests within the city, does not actually benefit the city itself financially.
“That action (cutting travel expenses) was predetermined in my judgment from members who had not read the entire budget,” Madrid said.
Councilmember Kristine Alessio, who’d supported cutting travel expenses along with Councilmember Ernie Ewin, objected to Madrid’s suggestion that the rest of the Council had not done its homework in studying the city’s budget. Alessio also reiterated that she would not accept a car allowance for councilmembers, noting serving on the Council “is a public service.”
“I would suggest strongly that [the Council] make budget decisions based on the facts,” countered Madrid, who noted there was “zero evidence” to justify the Council majority’s previous vote that city travel expenses were excessive or unwarranted. Madrid has repeatedly argued that council travel to regional meetings benefits the city in terms of grants and new ideas for best practices in city administration.
“I think it’s offensive to single people out in a bullying fashion from the dais,” said Ewin.
Audience members at the Council meeting reacted to Madrid’s presentation on travel expenses as a segment of the city’s budget, and to his Oktoberfest remarks.
“My travel budget fits on a Compass [public transportation] card,” said La Mesa Village merchant Bill Jaynes. “Fighting over gas allowances and airplane fares as a miniscule percentage of the total city budget is a way to try and leverage intangible benefits. I didn’t hear any hard numbers [regarding city benefit from conference travel]. I’m not hearing it here.”
Pointing out that though council travel expenses may seem small compared to the entire city budget, David Smiley said thousands of dollars in annual Council travel expenses might be better used “applying it to maintenance of the streets and streetscape.”
“Rather than go to a conference in Florida, you could probably just watch a Webinar,” said Councilwoman Ruth Sterling during debate on council travel expenses.
Madrid replied that Webinars are “one-way communication,” which does not allow for the interactivity a council member gets from actually physically attending a regional conference.
Following the travel expenses debate, the Council voted to approve the city’s final budget for fiscal years 2013-15 with downsized annual travel expenses intact.
In other action:
- The Council heard a presentation from Lemon Grove Mayor Mary Sessom, a member of the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority, who talked about the new state-of-the-art terminal at Lindbergh Field which is about to open. When asked by Ewin if the new airport terminal’s improvements would cut down on travelers’ time spent in fetching their luggage, Sessom replied it should since the new terminal’s luggage handling system will be totally automated.
- The Council also unanimously authorized a rate increase for EDCO Disposal Corporation which handles the city’s trash and recycling pickup, annually increasing monthly fees by 67 cents, about $8 per year, for residential customers. Councilmembers lauded EDCO for its public involvement, and for its efforts to keep rate increases responding to inflationary costs down to a minimum.
