This web page was created programmatically, to learn the article in its authentic location you may go to the hyperlink bellow:
https://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/article316832674.html
and if you wish to take away this text from our web site please contact us
The Tacoma City Council will be required to publicly report city-related travel plans before embarking.
The change is the result of an array of new policies the council on Aug. 4 approved to the body’s “rules of procedure” document. Under the new policy, at least two weeks before traveling outside Washington for city-related reasons, the mayor and council must provide an informational report on the travel location, itinerary, funding source and purpose.
District 3 council member Jamika Scott said at an earlier council meeting that she proposed the change in the interest of transparency. The public has a right to know, she said.
“Not only do I believe that people have a right to know, but I also think having greater transparency about where we are traveling, who is paying for it and what we are doing on a trip will help increase belief and trust with the public,” Scott said.
Council members’ travel previously has been a source of controversy. Former Mayor Victoria Woodards became the subject of an ethics complaint after she went on a trip to Israel last March. The Board of Ethics found that she did not violate the city’s ethics code in doing so.
Mayor Anders Ibsen and council member Sandesh Sadalge also went on a trip to China in April, largely on the Chinese government’s dime. Experts have said such trips can be a way for the Chinese Communist Party to advance its goals abroad.
The new travel policy will only apply to council-related travel and not personal travel, Scott said.
“The community will learn about things that we are doing on their behalf, not necessarily where you like to lay on the beach with your family,” Scott said.
Isha Trivedi
The News Tribune
Isha Trivedi covers Tacoma metropolis corridor, Pierce County authorities and schooling for The News Tribune. She has beforehand labored at The Mercury News, the Palo Alto Weekly, the Chronicle of Higher Education and the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. She grew up in San Jose, California and graduated with a bachelor of arts in journalism and anthropology from the George Washington University. She is a proud alumna of The GW Hatchet, her alma mater’s impartial pupil newspaper, and has been acknowledged by the Society of Professional Journalists for her work with the publication.
This web page was created programmatically, to learn the article in its authentic location you may go to the hyperlink bellow:
https://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/article316832674.html
and if you wish to take away this text from our web site please contact us
