McIntyre's Travel Costs Double in Year : Pasadena: The outgoing city manager couldn't explain why the number of business trips increased by 50% in his last year in office. But he said they all were necessary.

By VICKI TORRES

June 17, 1990 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

PASADENA —

Although retiring City Manager Donald McIntyre attended a farewell dinner Tuesday evening at the Athenaeum and spent his last official day on the job Friday, this week he’ll still be working, flying to New York on one last city-paid business trip.

Since he announced his retirement last June, the 17-year City Hall veteran has been a frequent traveler at city expense. City financial records show that in the last 13 months, and including the final New York meeting as the city’s expert with bond rating agencies, the lame-duck city manager will have made 18 out-of-town business trips at an estimated cost to taxpayers of $17,900.

The number represents a 50% increase over trips taken in the previous two years. From June, 1988, to May, 1989, McIntyre made 12 trips and spent $9,382. The year before, he took 11 trips and spent $8,975.

This year’s business destinations included San Francisco, Washington and New York City, as well as Vancouver, Canada, and London. McIntyre combined the London trip--a meeting with city personnel consultants--with a vacation to Dublin, Ireland, where he also conducted city business, he said. McIntyre paid for his personal expenses during the vacation portion and for his wife’s travel.

The trips varied in cost from $63.98 spent in San Francisco to attend a California Healthy Cities Project meeting to $2,740 spent in Des Moines, Iowa, for the 75th annual conference of the International City Managers Assn.

McIntyre, who is taking vacation pay until he officially retires in mid-August, will receive a city pension of about $90,000 annually. In addition, he hopes to secure a 20-hour-a-week job, at $75,000 annually, with the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy to advise Pasadena on the Devil’s Gate park and water reservoir project.

Although McIntyre couldn’t explain why the number of business trips increased by 50% in his final year as city manager, they all were necessary, he said. “I don’t take these trips for fun,” McIntyre said.

His position as president of the city managers committee of the League of California Cities and as a board member of the Rail Construction Corp., which oversees rail transportation, explain a number of the trips, he said. McIntyre has been a member of both groups for several years.

Although some on the seven-member Pasadena Board of Directors said they have long been concerned about the lack of oversight on McIntyre’s comings and goings, most consider the travel appropriate and beneficial to the city.

“Don is a member of a lot of prestigious city manager organizations,” Mayor Jess Hughston said. “He goes to these meetings and represents Pasadena and does the city a lot of good.”

Directors Chris Holden and Rick Cole said conferences allow for the exchange of ideas with others in the same field, provide ideas for solutions to local problems, keep administrators up to date on the latest practices and avoid parochialism.

Among the meetings McIntyre attended was a two-week seminar at Stanford University in the summer of 1988, one year before he announced his retirement. It cost $5,640.

The intensive course, attended by corporate executives, attorneys and public relations people, included a survey of art, art history, music, literature and European history, McIntyre said. The program made him a better city manager, he said. But he admitted that it could probably not be cost-justified in a strict sense.

Last November, McIntyre and then-Mayor Bill Thomson joined the exclusive, invitation-only Mastership program at a cost of $10,000 annually for both.

The program is run by the Ambrosetti Group, a European consulting firm, and has a membership of 50, Ambrosetti America President Brenda Eddy said. Each month, six-hour seminars are held in Los Angeles with speakers with international reputations. Apart from Thomson and McIntyre, the only other public official who belongs is Ezunial Burts, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles. Most of the members are corporate executives.

Although Hughston said the membership struck him as a “huge expense,” he approved the previously unbudgeted special item along with the rest of the board, thinking that he could benefit from the membership when he took his turn as mayor in May.

However, the expense was not included in next year’s budget after McIntyre dropped it in a budget-cutting move.

For most of his normal travel expenses, McIntyre does not have to secure board approval. “He’d just be gone,” said Cole, a two-term director. “Mayor Jess Hughston was the first one to say, ‘At least tell us in advance.’ ”

Director Bill Paparian said he is concerned about city travel expenses in general. “I wonder if that much travel is necessary,” Paparian said, explaining that not only the city manager but also the police chief, deputy city managers, attorneys and department heads are frequently sent to conventions and conferences on city business.

Last year, the city spent $320,833 on city officials’ travel, excluding the Department of Water and Power. The Board of Directors has a $40,000 travel budget.

Paparian also complained about McIntyre’s absence on a trip to Vancouver during board deliberations on the city’s $264 million budget. During that meeting, McIntyre communicated with the board via memos written before he left.

The experience with McIntyre prompted Hughston to speak to incoming City Manager Philip Hawkey, who begins work Monday. Hawkey was asked to explain to the board ahead of time his travel priorities and commitments, Hughston said.

“I don’t think he’ll be doing it quite the same way,” Hughston said of the new city manager.

MCINTYRE’S PAST YEAR TRAVEL ITINERARY June 20-23--New York City, to meet with bond rating agencies.

June 2-7--Vancouver, Canada, American Public Transportation Assn. conference.

March 29-April 1--Berkeley, International Ecological City Conference.

March 25-27--Oakland, Western Governmental Research Assn. annual conference.

March 21-23--Raleigh, N.C., and Washington, Model Charters and Future of Local Government conferences.

March 3-6--Washington, National League of Cities conference.

Feb. 8-9--Washington, International City Managers Assn. meeting.

Jan. 18-19--Berkeley, Healthy Cities Project, quarterly meeting.

Dec. 15-16, 1989--Oakland, League of California Cities annual conference.

Nov. 29-30, 1989--Sacramento and San Francisco, public hearing of the State Board of Equalization and meeting with consultant.

Nov. 16-17, 1989--Palm Springs, California Healthy Cities Project statewide conference.

Oct. 4-6, 1989--New York City, meeting with bond rating agencies.

Sept. 22-28, 1989--Des Moines, Iowa, International City Manager Assn. 75th annual conference.

Sept. 20-21, 1989--London, business meetings with city personnel consultants.

July 21-22, 1989--San Francisco, California Healthy Cities Project and meeting with One Colorado developer Doug Stitzel.

July 12-14, 1989--Dayton, Ohio, National Cities League, Model City Charter project.

June 28-30, 1989--Aurora, Colo., International City Managers Assn. meeting.

June 7, 1989--Sacramento, transportation legislation lobbying.