Theowl32
Diamond Member
- Dec 8, 2013
- 22,896
- 17,291
Theres more than one way to do Las Vegas, as half a dozen members of the D.C. Council have shown.
The cost to taxpayers to send half the council to the Global Retail Real Estate Convention in Las Vegas was close to $14,000 this year.
The annual convention has been a big draw for city officials for years as the District seeks to attract new businesses and investments. But the cost of the trip varied by council member, from just under $1,000 to almost $3,000, according to expense reports submitted by the council members and obtained by The Washington Times through a Freedom of Information Act request.
Muriel Bowser, Ward 4 Democrat and candidate for mayor, booked the priciest hotel room of any of the council members. She checked into the Trump International Hotel at a rate that topped out at $424 per night for two nights of her four-night stay. Ms. Bowser, head of the councils economic development committee, submitted a bill to taxpayers that totaled $2,820 and included a $78 charge for breakfast food. She didnt respond to questions about the trip.
Yvette M. Alexander, Ward 7 Democrat, spent the most city money on the trip. Total expenses, including her flight and four-night stay at the MGM Grand, were $2,919.
Anita Bonds, at-large Democrat, proved to be the thriftiest of the council members who attended the convention this year. She kept expenses at $968 with a two-night stay at Treasure Island Hotel and a red-eye flight home.
Ms. Alexander defended the spending, saying the money comes out of allocations already made to council members budgets. She said that when council members attend the convention they bring a personal touch to interactions with potential retailers that city economic policy advisers might be missing.
The pilgrimage to Las Vegas for the convention has become an annual event since the administration of former Mayor Anthony A. Williams and has recorded some notable achievements. At the 2011 convention, Mayor Vincent C. Gray muscled Wal-Mart executives into what would be a commitment for five stores in the city instead of the four the retail giant had proposed.
But a taxpayer-funded trip to Sin City is bound to raise eyebrows especially in light of the spending scandal that emerged from the General Services Administrations 2012 Las Vegas training conference.
By comparison to the $800,000 GSA event that featured clowns, a mind reader and a red-carpet party, the D.C. delegation was pretty tame. The expenses of other council members who attended Vincent B. Orange, Kenyan McDuffie and Jack Evans fell somewhere in between the $2,000-to-$3,000 range depending on their choice of hotel, length of stay and other expenses.
Mr. McDuffie, Ward 5 Democrat, had the most expensive air-travel costs, with a ticket there and back costing $1,023. Coupled with a three-night stay at the MGM Grand, the total cost to taxpayers was $2,388.
Read more: Let it roll: D.C. Council hits Las Vegas on taxpayer's dime, leaves $14,000 tab - Washington Times
Follow us: [MENTION=39892]Was[/MENTION]htimes on Twitter
What a disaster the democrats are. What hypocrites they are. How stupid of anyone that would dedicate their lives following for these pieces of shit, and how utterly moronic it would be to vote for any of them.
Then defend them as each and every crime is revealed.
The cost to taxpayers to send half the council to the Global Retail Real Estate Convention in Las Vegas was close to $14,000 this year.
The annual convention has been a big draw for city officials for years as the District seeks to attract new businesses and investments. But the cost of the trip varied by council member, from just under $1,000 to almost $3,000, according to expense reports submitted by the council members and obtained by The Washington Times through a Freedom of Information Act request.
Muriel Bowser, Ward 4 Democrat and candidate for mayor, booked the priciest hotel room of any of the council members. She checked into the Trump International Hotel at a rate that topped out at $424 per night for two nights of her four-night stay. Ms. Bowser, head of the councils economic development committee, submitted a bill to taxpayers that totaled $2,820 and included a $78 charge for breakfast food. She didnt respond to questions about the trip.
Yvette M. Alexander, Ward 7 Democrat, spent the most city money on the trip. Total expenses, including her flight and four-night stay at the MGM Grand, were $2,919.
Anita Bonds, at-large Democrat, proved to be the thriftiest of the council members who attended the convention this year. She kept expenses at $968 with a two-night stay at Treasure Island Hotel and a red-eye flight home.
Ms. Alexander defended the spending, saying the money comes out of allocations already made to council members budgets. She said that when council members attend the convention they bring a personal touch to interactions with potential retailers that city economic policy advisers might be missing.
The pilgrimage to Las Vegas for the convention has become an annual event since the administration of former Mayor Anthony A. Williams and has recorded some notable achievements. At the 2011 convention, Mayor Vincent C. Gray muscled Wal-Mart executives into what would be a commitment for five stores in the city instead of the four the retail giant had proposed.
But a taxpayer-funded trip to Sin City is bound to raise eyebrows especially in light of the spending scandal that emerged from the General Services Administrations 2012 Las Vegas training conference.
By comparison to the $800,000 GSA event that featured clowns, a mind reader and a red-carpet party, the D.C. delegation was pretty tame. The expenses of other council members who attended Vincent B. Orange, Kenyan McDuffie and Jack Evans fell somewhere in between the $2,000-to-$3,000 range depending on their choice of hotel, length of stay and other expenses.
Mr. McDuffie, Ward 5 Democrat, had the most expensive air-travel costs, with a ticket there and back costing $1,023. Coupled with a three-night stay at the MGM Grand, the total cost to taxpayers was $2,388.
Read more: Let it roll: D.C. Council hits Las Vegas on taxpayer's dime, leaves $14,000 tab - Washington Times
Follow us: [MENTION=39892]Was[/MENTION]htimes on Twitter
What a disaster the democrats are. What hypocrites they are. How stupid of anyone that would dedicate their lives following for these pieces of shit, and how utterly moronic it would be to vote for any of them.
Then defend them as each and every crime is revealed.
