Posted on 06/25/2005 7:41:08 AM PDT by Dan from Michigan
4 county officials plan trip to Hawaii
Washtenaw taxpayers will foot most of the bill for commissioners' conference trip
Saturday, June 25, 2005
BY JANET MILLER
News Staff Reporter
Washtenaw County taxpayers are picking up much of the tab for four county commissioners to travel to Hawaii for a five-day conference next month in Honolulu.
The July 15-19 summer conference for the National Association of Counties has attracted national attention, and county officials in some states have canceled their travel plans.
Washtenaw County commissioners are split over whether the public should foot the bill for such travel at a time when the county is laying off employees and making other cuts, including the possibility of eliminating sheriff's patrols.
Board Chairman Wes Prater, D-York Township, is one of four commissioners planning on attending the conference. He said it is worth the taxpayer expense.
"It's important to continue education and training. Other employees of the county also go to conferences to keep up. ... It's keeping ourselves educated on the issues we face,'' he said.
But Commissioner Mark Ouimet, R-Scio Township, said now is not the time for taxpayers to fund travel for public officials. Ouimet is also making the trip, but says he is paying the travel, hotel and meal expenses out of his own pocket. The county will pay only for his registration fee, he said.
"For me, it would not be right to ask the county or taxpayers to pay for me to have this additional education,'' Ouimet said. Footing the bill himself, he said, "removes any doubt'' about his motive for making the trip.
That the other commissioners are using tax dollars to make the trip is up to them, Ouimet said. "But it's difficult to watch when we're about to let a hundred sheriff's deputies off.''
The other two commissioners scheduled to attend the conference are Stephen Solowczuk, R-Saline, and Robert Brackenbury, R-Pittsfield Township.
Cost to the county for the travel and conference is expected to top $7,000, which does not include the cost of food or incidentals. Solowczuk and Prater said they will use a portion of the $3,000 in the county's budget set aside for each commissioner for travel.
Brackenbury, who could only be reached by e-mail, said he planned on paying for his meals and other incidental expenses. He said the county would pay for his air travel, hotel and conference registration fee.
Brackenbury said he has only attended one out-of-state conference in the three years that he has been in office. He said he usually returns most of his travel funds back to the county for other uses.
County Administrator Robert Guenzel said Brackenbury's airline ticket, along with the tickets of Prater and Solowczuk, have been put on their county credit cards.
Airfare for the three commissioners range from $750 to $900 each, said Guenzel. Cost for a room is $195 a night and registration is $415 each. Commissioners are also allowed to expense food, Guenzel said.
The trip comes at a time when Washtenaw County faces growing budget problems. Some 132 county positions have been eliminated over the past couple of years, the county has trimmed $2 million from its budget and 15 to 20 employees have been laid off, according to Guenzel.
But it's important for commissioners to stay abreast of county issues, said Guenzel. "Professional development is absolutely crucial.''
Nancy Heine, president of AFSCME Local 3052, the union representing county supervisors, said the trip sends the wrong message to employees and taxpayers.
"We keep hearing how there's no money, but then they can go on a trip to Hawaii. It's a mixed message. ... This is highly inappropriate. This does not make your constituents very happy,'' she said.
Solowczuk said the exotic location is what's causing the stir. "If it was being held in St. Louis, no one would be saying anything,'' he said. Solowczuk said he had planned to attend the conference last year, but a heart attack prevented the trip.
"I had a voucher that I had to use up,'' he said. "It's important to learn what other counties are doing. ... I don't think a lot of people would like our jobs. It's been very hard making these decisions ... laying off people, cutting back.''
Hawaii, Prater said, is not an ideal location for the conference. "I wish it was in another place, anywhere on the continental United States, but not Hawaii. The problem is that it's so far away.''
While there's been national media attention about the conference, there hasn't been a drop in attendance, said Jeremy Ratner, spokesman for the National Association of Counties. About 3,000 people are expected to attend. While there have been 280 cancellations, that's about average, he said.
Next year, the conference will be held a little closer to home, in Chicago
Says it all, right there.
And yes, my last business trip was $1100 and some change. But I was looking at aircraft parts and machining processes, not attending a conference. And the flight between Salt Lake and Cleveland was only about $380, which is pretty low. Most of the 3- or 4-day trips I take are right around $900-$1000, so maybe my company just has a really good contract with the airline. And I'm usually looking at facilties, aircraft parts, and machining processes so there's no conference fees or costs like that.
All the county needs to do is force some private, local citizen off his or her land using the soon to be monster popular eminent domain, and then sell the land for a tidy profit to some other private entity, and Voila....
Plenty of money to go party it up in Hawaii!!!
It doesn't sound like the time and money spent on past conferences has paid off too well.
This is true. One can find "plate lunch" in Hawaii at a "lunch truck", or local fast food restaurant, which is nothing like fast food chains such as McD's, and pay $5.00 for a large meal. But you have to know where to go. Something visitors to the islands are not aware of unless they've spent a lot of time in Hawaii.
"off-peak"?!
Braddah, you gotta be kidding me.
July is an off-season? I can just hear the suntan oil covered epidermis sizzling in the hot summer sun.
The folks from Chatham Co. Ga were getting ripped off! They were having to pay $18,000 for 5 people. One has dropped out since the newspaper got hold of it.
Funny thing, they day they plan on leaving, the Commissioners are set to vote to raise taxes and not give the county employees their 3% pay raise. Its funny how that happens....NOT.
$18,000 for 5 people is ridiculous. My guess is that they were flying business class and/or they waited to the last minute to buy airline tickets. I have nothing against people flying business class (I do it all the time), but they need to pay the difference between economy and business class out of their own pocket.
One problem with flying on government money is that you are REQUIRED to buy a refundable ticket, which can sometimes raise the price by 100% or more over nonrefundable. Once I was supposed to fly on a ticket that cost $900+ for an economy seat. I refused to let the taxpayer pick up that tab and I paid the $375 for the nonrefundable ticket out of my own pocket.
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