Each Carlsbad City Council member will get a travel budget of up to $5,000 annually, half the original proposal, for conferences, seminars and training sessions under a policy they approved this week.
Council members asked for the policy to allow “greater flexibility with regard to personal development and work-related travel,” City Manager Scott Chadwick said Tuesday. Staffers had recommended a $10,000 budget for each council member.
Councilmember Carolyn Luna suggested cutting the amount in half, and added other amendments such as a requirement for travel to be approved in advance by the mayor and for the travelers to report back to the full council after their trip.
She also suggested that when travel is related to a request from another agency, Carlsbad should make an effort to recover the costs from that agency. Her fellow council members agreed.
Luna said her proposed amendments were “based on the number of emails we’ve received on this item,” as well as her career experience and to make “a more transparent and effective” process.
Most of the emails the council received were critical of travel on the city’s dime, saying it was unnecessary or excessive. Luna said the policy could be beneficial, especially when it is educational or helps secure a project or a grant for the city.
“Say we are getting a huge grant or some money, we should be able to send a council member to go pick that up,” she said.
Money for the travel expenses will come from the City Council’s contingency fund, which has a balance of about $500,000, Chadwick said.
Typically, plane reservations and conference fees are made and paid for by the council’s executive assistant using a city credit card, said Sheila Cobian, director of legislative and constituent services. Council members submit receipts for any related travel expenses.
Councilmember Teresa Acosta said the policy generally follows procedures already in place.
“It is a process that we have been using for a long time … for people when they go to Sacramento for an advocacy trip or Washington D.C. for a conference for city leaders,” Acosta said.
“It’s important for council members to continue to develop professionally,” she said. “We get elected from all different backgrounds, and we don’t necessarily have the training to do this job without additional assistance and coaching. When we go to conferences and professional development workshops, we’re able to learn more.”
The council voted 4-1 for the policy with Councilmember Melanie Burkholder opposed.
The process and the amendments proposed seem “very fair,” Burkholder said, but she added, “I have a real hard time approving any travel right now with the budget constraints that we are looking at.”
Carlsbad’s overall spending is increasing faster than its revenue, according to a presentation made to the council Oct. 24.
At the present rate, the city is on track to start running a deficit in fiscal 2025-26. The council agreed not to pursue a suggestion to increase the city’s hotel room tax, and instead to look for other ways to cut costs.
Training and conference travel expenditures have increased in the past two years, according to a city report.
The total for the entire council was $2,857 in fiscal 2017-18, $4,331 in fiscal 2018-19, $2,648 in 2019-20, and only $65 in 2020-21, apparently because of the pandemic. Council members made up for lost time with $10,159 in travel expenses in 2021-22 and $13,906 in 2022-23, which ended June 30.
Any council member who exhausts the $5,000 travel budget for the fiscal year will have to get approval from a majority of the City Council for any additional spending under the new policy.
Travel outside the United States also will require the City Council’s advance approval.
