Suisun loves junkets

May 10, 2012 |
Suisun City loves junkets, too
Posted by Kelvin Wade

Last week, I wrote about junkets some Fairfield City Council members have taken in their role as members of the Fairfield-Suisun Sewer District board to conferences held by the California Association of Sanitation Agencies. This week, I’m taking a look at the Suisun City Council’s junkets.

Accompanying Fairfield Mayor Harry Price and Rick Vaccaro on the trip to CASA’s conference at the luxurious J.W. Marriott Desert Springs Resort and Spa in January was Suisun City Mayor Pete Sanchez, at a cost of $1,974.95, Councilman Sam Derting at 1,682.37, and Mike Segala at $1,594.50.

Last year, Councilman Mike Hudson, who has not gone on any CASA-related junkets this year, racked up $8,870.39 in CASA trips. Sanchez spent $6,004.97 on CASA conferences. Derting spent $6,799.86 while Segala spent $4,064,80.

Since being on the board, Sanchez has spent $16,619.56 while Derting has spent $34,413.33. Mike Segala has totaled $26,855.04.

Hudson is running for state Assembly. In his five years on the Suisun City Council he has amassed $33,581.32 in CASA trips. Suisun taxpayers could’ve sent him to a four-year college for a BA for that money. It could be argued that attending those conferences better prepared him to be an effective councilman and future assemblyman. Only the voters can decide that.

Taxpayers have to decide if the trips are the best use of their money. For example, former Fairfield City Councilman Chuck Timm in four years on the council racked up $28,432.40 in CASA junkets. Fairfield voters have to ask themselves what the city got for nearly 30 grand. Couldn’t he have gone on half as many trips and been just as effective? Perhaps it would’ve helped Timm’s re-election if he’d reminded voters just how much they’d invested in his candidacy. Then again, probably not.

In updated information, it appears Mayor Harry Price attended CASA’s March conference at the four-star luxury hotel the Monaco in Washington, D.C. at a cost of $2,716.01. With this trip and the $932.36 Price spent attending the recent April Napa conference, he’s already spent more than $5,000 in trips this year. There’s another conference in August in Monterey. Will he go? How many will go?

Perhaps Fairfield and Suisun City taxpayers should print up T-shirts saying, “I spent thousands to send my councilman to sewer conferences and all I got was automatic rate increases!”

Like Suisun Councilwoman Jane Day, Fairfield Council members John Mraz, Catherine Moy and Pam Bertani have not taken any CASA-related trips. It was Council members Mraz and Moy who pushed for all council members’ expenses to be posted online for full transparency.

Keep in mind these are only sewer district/CASA-related trips. They don’t include trips or expenses council members might’ve made for their cities or as members of the Solano Transportation Authority, for example. There’s more to look into and it’s coming.

My point in writing these columns isn’t to say that officials should never go on trips. Networking is important but networking now comes in a lot of new ways. Back in the day, politicians and businessman used the links to network. Now they use LinkedIn and Facebook. The days of bringing the wife on junkets, playing golf, gorging on steak dinners and swilling liquor on the taxpayers’ dime are numbered.

In this fragile economy, city officials should be more judicious than ever in how they spend the people’s money. And they should be prepared to explain how their trip has benefited the public. Peace.

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ADDITIONAL NOTES: I think any council member who doesn't like the columns I've written needs to step up and explain what they get out of these conferences. Just share with their constituents the importance of attending these functions on their behalf. Businesses hold conferences and seminars all the time at luxury hotels. I just believe when it's the government, whether federal, state or local, officials should be prepared to justify it because they are using taxpayer dollars.

I've heard some horror stories about what goes on at these conferences. I have not elected to include it in my columns because I'm not going to run secondhand anecdotes as evidence. 

Former Rep. Phill Gramm (R) of Texas used to have the "Dickey Flatt Test." Dickey Flatt ran a printing business in Gramm's district. Whenever Gramm was faced with a spending bill, he said he'd have to determine if the item was worth taking the money out of Dickey Flatt's pocket to finance. It's a good rule to go by. Especially when times are as fragile as they are now. Officials need to stop and think, "Is this the best use of the people's money?"

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