Mayor Art Madrid’s motion requesting approval of $2,000 in travel expenses to attend an annual national mayor’s conference in Las Vegas June 21-24 died for lack of a second from his four colleagues on La Mesa City Council May 14.
The action capped a long-simmering feud on the council, which has been moving toward greater control – and scrutiny – of council-approved travel at city expense by council members.
The council opted recently to tighten regulations governing travel expenses by requiring all council members to undergo a formal application process before traveling, and to submit those requests for council review and approval.
“There’s a multitude of topics on the [mayor’s conference] agenda that they cover, but I don’t see much that’s germane to the city of La Mesa,” said councilmember Kristine Alessio. “It’s a lot of money at a time when we’re cutting [city] programs. I’m just uncomfortable with this, particularly when you view it as being $2,000.”
Alessio asked Madrid to justify his travel expense request.
In his defense, Madrid noted conferences he and other council members have attended in the past have borne fruit in the form of greater understanding of complex issues confronting local government, as well insight into how – and where – to obtain grant funding to tackle city problems. He cited the Safe Routes to School biking and walking program as a case in point.
Two audience members, La Mesa businessman Bill Jaynes and community watchdog group member Scott Kidwell, both addressed the city council regarding Madrid’s travel request.
“I would ask mayor Madrid to reconsider this,” Jaynes said. “This is not a necessary use at this time and $2,000 is hard to justify when we’re looking at virtually no projects in the city able to be done without grant money. This is shocking to me.”
Holding up his cell phone for dramatic effect, Jaynes added, “My cell phone’s being held together with tape,” noting “the city is facing a huge pension liability.”
Jabbing at Madrid’s pro-environmental stances, Jaynes noted a plane flight to Las Vegas would produce significant carbon emissions concluding, “I’ll believe it’s a crisis when people who say it’s a crisis start acting like it’s a crisis.”
“If I didn’t believe my attending these various conferences wasn’t beneficial to the city, I wouldn’t be there,” Madrid replied. “There’s nothing glamorous about traveling. I get elected to represent the city, and that’s representing the city.”
Addressing the council, Kidwell of La Mesa Citizens Oversight Group described control of the public purse as a “sacred financial trust for expenses large and small."
“Take care of the pennies, and the dollars will take care of themselves,” said Kidwell.
“Some things are worth going to, but it’s simply too expensive with no tangible or measurable value to the city,” Kidwell said, adding, “La Mesa City officials should not be gallivanting at will from sea to shining sea without public review, and without that travel being vetted by this council.”
In other action:
- The La Mesa City Council directed staff to further study the possibility of developing a gray water and rainwater harvesting ordinance for residential use in La Mesa proposed by mayor Madrid. The council also agreed to a suggestion by councilmember Ernie Ewin to refer the city’s gray water policies and regulations to the Environmental Sustainability Commission for comment and recommendation.
- The Council approved a request by councilmembers Alessio and Ewin to host a two-hour community dialogue regarding fiscal issues confronting the city on Saturday, June 8, at a site to be determined.
- After lengthy debate, the Council approved a staff recommendation to initiate a Request for Proposals (RFP) process to obtain bids from qualified companies to provide towing services to police at a cost recovery fee of $10,000 per company. La Mesa Police Capt. Dan Willis told the council the city is losing $80,000 in towing expenses annually which, he noted, could be completely recouped by instituting this cost recovery fee proposal. He added four other cities including Chula Vista and San Diego have instituted cost-recovery fees for towing. The Council voted 5-0 in favor of the measure after Ewin expressed concern that instituting the cost-recovery fee could potentially create a monopoly for larger towing companies.
- La Mesa got a good report in an update by city staff and SANDAG, the San Diego Association of Governments, the region’s transportation planning agency, on actions the city has taken promoting climate protection. “Your buildings in La Mesa are performing better than the national average in terms of energy efficiency,” Susan Freedman of SANDAG told the Council. “There is potential for the city of La Mesa to save $35,000 every year from energy efficiency.”
