$256,000 spent on mayor’s journey as metropolis considers cuts to journey price range

SAN ANTONIO – As it faces an enormous price range deficit the City of San Antonio is taking a look at dozens of applications to chop, together with journey by metropolis staff, metropolis council members, and the mayor.

The News 4 I-Team Waste Watch uncovered tens of hundreds of {dollars} in journey bills by the mayor, her workers, and safety element.

City journey data present in her first yr in workplace Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones traveled to Taiwan, California, Mexico City, and different locations with members of her workers and safety element at a price to taxpayers of $256,323.

“I don’t think it’s right. I don’t think it’s right for her to do that,” mentioned taxpayer Hector Rocha.

“Is $256,000 too much? You know when you’re complaining about or over the budget,” added taxpayer Lorenzo Ortiz.

The journeys taken by the mayor are the kind which have turn into widespread for elected officers: conferences, commerce missions, and visits to sister cities.

But the bills stand out due to the price range crunch town is going through and since the mayor usually takes alongside workers members and her safety element.

“People are having a hard time maintaining their living status, and that’s very excessive,” mentioned taxpayer Dee Benford.

This previous March, Jones was accompanied by her government assistant, chief of workers, director of communications and two cops on a commerce mission to Taiwan, at a price of $35 thousand.

That does not embrace the safety element as a result of town didn’t wish to launch their itemized bills for safety causes.

Political Scientist Jon Taylor at UTSA says it is debatable whether or not taxpayers get a very good return on funding from these financial growth journeys.

“I’m kind of skeptical that somehow one trip to Taipei or somewhere else is all of a sudden going to shower San Antonio with millions upon millions of investment,” Taylor mentioned.

Along with the conferences the journeys embrace perks.

The itinerary for the Taiwan journey presents a tour of the National Concert Hall and the Chiang Kai-shek memorial, a highspeed practice trip, dinner at an indigenous theme restaurant and a gondola trip.

A Conference of Mayors that Jones went to in June in Long Beach, California provided attendees a stay music occasion at an aquarium, a tour of the Queen Mary, and admission to a Snoop Dogg live performance on the new amphitheater.

Initially, the mayor mentioned she would speak to us about her journey bills. But minutes earlier than that interview, once we had been on the way in which to City Hall, her workers known as to cancel, saying they’d simply be offering a written assertion.

We briefly caught up together with her the subsequent day as she walked to a price range assembly flanked by her safety element.

“Are these trips necessary and do you have to bring staff members along with you when you go?” requested the News 4 I-Team’s Jaie Avila.

“The mayor of the sixth largest city in the country is not going to travel alone in representing the city, you know that,” the mayor responded.

She ducked into the price range session earlier than we may ask her a few $2,721 seat improve on her expense report for the Taiwan journey, and a $453 seat improve for her former chief of workers.

As for the mayor’s safety element, metropolis data present you spent $193,827 in journey bills and additional time for them to accompany the mayor.

Mayor Jones has had threats made towards her in San Antonio however it’s not clear if she faces the identical safety points whereas touring overseas.

“With all due respect to the mayor, do they really know who she is outside of San Antonio and outside of Texas? The answer is probably not,” mentioned Taylor.

Taxpayers we spoke to query the mayor’s must journey internationally.

One referenced the case of Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who was on an abroad journey throughout catastrophic fires in her metropolis.

“Like the mayor from California that was in Africa, I believe, when they were having the fires, there’s no need for that,” mentioned taxpayer Hector Rocha.

In its proposed price range town is asking for a 25 p.c discount in journey bills for all staff besides public security. The reduce would come with the mayor and metropolis council.