For Officials, Traveling Is Part of Job
From short hops to Sacramento to longer trips to Washington and even China, Ventura County’s elected officials are traveling more and more these days as lobbyists for jobs, money and changes in the law.
From 1994 to 1996, the county spent nearly $100,000 on 217 business trips for its 11 elected officials. Rather than a glamorous and overused perk, however, county officials said traveling is just part of the cost of doing business.
“I think all of the travel that you see relates to the fact that the state and federal government have all the money today,” said Supervisor John K. Flynn, who took 17 trips over the last three years at a cost of $9,840.
“Local government doesn’t have very much money because of the tax system we have,” Flynn said. “So if you want to get money for something, you either have to go to Sacramento or Washington.”
Indeed, the vast majority of the 217 trips taken by elected officials during the last three years were either to the state or nation’s capitals.
For example, Flynn traveled to Washington half a dozen times in 1994 and 1995 to join in lobbying defense officials to keep open the Point Mugu naval base. A federal base closure commission eventually decided against shutting down the 9,000-employee installation.
Last year, Flynn and other county officials traveled at least four times to the state capital to push for approval of the county’s own welfare reform bill. Despite unanimous support from the Legislature, the bill was later vetoed by Gov. Pete Wilson.
Earlier this month, the supervisor joined Rio School District officials on a trip to Sacramento, where they lobbied for $1 million in state grant money to build a new school gymnasium. They will find out next month if they were successful.
“The money would be going to the school district, but we wanted to use every bit of clout I might have in getting it,” Flynn said of his reason for going on the one-day trip. “It’s important to me because my goal in El Rio is to increase services there, to improve the quality of life.”
Officials do travel to other places besides Sacramento and Washington seeking money, jobs and other economic opportunities. Sometimes, they pick up some of their own expenses.
For example, when Supervisor Judy Mikels traveled with local business leaders to China last November on a trade mission, she said, she shelled out $1,200 of her own money for air fare and a visa. Mikels said she was invited on the trip because of her membership in the Southern California Assn. of Governments.
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The purpose of the 15-day visit was to try to establish ties with Chinese government and business representatives--who paid hotel and ground transportation expenses--for future trade arrangements with Ventura County, Mikels said.
Concerned that taxpayer groups might be suspicious of her motivation for going on the overseas trip, the supervisor decided she would rather avoid any controversy and pay her own travel costs.
“There are so many questions about public officials and, you know, boondoggles, I just thought it would be easier to pay for it,” she said. “I just felt strongly that this was important to Ventura County.”
Although she continues to receive regular correspondence from Chinese officials, Mikels said so far no specific trade agreements have been struck as a result of her trip.
“It hasn’t been as successful as I had hoped,” she said. “But if you don’t go, there’s no opportunity.”
On most other county trips, Mikels said, she usually pays for meals and other miscellaneous expenses, even though she could easily charge them to the county. Mikels has taken a dozen county business trips since 1994 at a cost of $5,800.
Asked why she didn’t seek reimbursement for all of her expenses, Mikels replied: “Maybe I’m just lazy. I hate dealing with paperwork. Besides, I already get a salary for being a supervisor.”
Ventura County’s most frequent traveler is Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury, who took 44 trips during the last three years, most for one- or two-day conferences or meetings in Sacramento.
As chairman of the California Council on Criminal Justice and vice president of the California District Attorney’s Assn., Bradbury said, he regularly travels around the state to attend meetings. Other times, he said, he goes to Sacramento or Washington to meet with lawmakers or to testify on new legislation.
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For example, Bradbury traveled to Washington last November to consult with federal officials about the potential impact of a California initiative that allows marijuana to be used for medicinal purposes. The two-day trip cost $2,957.
Although the district attorney’s travel expenses for the last three years totaled $20,754, many of his trips, including the one to Washington last fall, were reimbursed or at least subsidized by one of the two professional groups he represents.
Still, Bradbury said the bulk of his travel is to Sacramento to testify about new legislation, such as California’s “three strikes” sentencing law or more recently an anti-graffiti bill.
“These trips are important not only because we’re helping to shape policy but because they keep us in the vanguard in terms of what’s going on,” he said.
The county’s second most frequent traveler is Auditor-Controller Thomas O. Mahon, who took 39 trips at a cost of $21,213 over the last three years. All of his expenses were paid for by the county.
Like Bradbury, Mahon said his involvement in various professional organizations requires his attendance at meetings throughout the state. For instance, he chairs the California Counties Auditors Assn.’s policy committee, which is responsible for producing and updating every year a widely used government accounting manual.
For Mahon, however, traveling is anything but glamorous.
“When you first do it, it’s new and exciting,” he said. “But when you do it year after year, it becomes a chore like everything else. If there is any pleasure in traveling, it is talking with other people who face the same problems you do on the job.”
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One of the more expensive trips Mahon takes annually is to New York to consult with representatives of two Wall Street bond-rating companies. Each July, the county borrows about $80 million--through the sale of bonds--to carry it until it can collect property tax payments in December and April.
The better rating the county receives for the sale of these bonds, the cheaper it is to pay back the money, officials said.
Mahon, who serves as the chief financial expert on the trip, said he is usually accompanied to New York by four other county officials. The trip typically lasts about four days and costs about $1,000 for each individual.
Mahon said each county official who attends the meetings has a specific role to play. He said Chief Administrative Officer Lin Koester provides detailed information about the county’s proposed budget for the new fiscal year, while Treasurer-Tax Collector Hal Pittman reports on the county’s investment pool.
The two county supervisors who attend do so primarily to assure the bond-rating agencies that there will be no surprises when the county’s budget is approved in July, Mahon said. Because of the Orange County bankruptcy, which resulted from high-risk investments and inadequate oversight, Mahon said that good representation at the New York meetings has become even more vital.
“I think because of what happened in Orange County, they are going to be looking at us very closely for some time,” Mahon said.
Meanwhile, elected officials say they will continue to travel as long as the job demands it. Last week, for instance, the Board of Supervisors canceled its regular meeting so that Flynn and Mikels, who sit on the county hospital oversight committee, could attend a three-day health care conference in La Quinta, Calif.
“If I wanted to, I could be gone all the time, we get so many invitations to things,” Mikels said before leaving on the trip. “But I only go when I think it will be beneficial to the county.”
(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)
Travel by Elected Officials
‘When you first do it, it’s new and exciting. But when you do it year after year, it becomes a chore like everything else. If there is any pleasure in traveling, it is talking with other people who face the same problems you do on the job.’
THOMAS O. MAHON
County auditor-controller
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‘Local government doesn’t have very much money because of the tax system we have. So if you want to get money for something, you either have to go to Sacramento or Washington.’
JOHN K. FLYNN
County supervisor
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‘There are so many questions about public officials and, you know, boondoggles, I just thought it would be easier to pay for it. I just felt strongly that this was important to Ventura County.’
JUDY MIKELS
County supervisor
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The county’s 11 elected officials spent $99,421 on travel expenses from 1994 to 1996. In all, the officials took 217 trips reimbursed by either the county or professional organizations they represent.
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Officials Trips 1994-96 Expenses Auditor-Controller Thomas O. Mahon 39 $21,213 Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury* 44 $20,754 Former Supervisor Maggie Kildee 33 $14,907 Supervisor John K. Flynn 17 $9,840 Supervisor Frank Schillo 20 $8,397 Treasurer-Tax Collector Hal Pittman 19 $6,595 Supervisor Judy Mikels 12 $5,800 Sheriff Larry Carpenter 9 $3,659 Assessor Glenn Grey 12 $3,453 Supervisor Susan Lacey 6 $3,149 Clerk-Recorder Richard Dean 6 $1,654
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* Many of Bradbury’s trips were either subsidized or fully reimbursed by the California Council on Criminal Justice or the California District Attorneys Assn.; he serves on the board of directors of both groups.
Source: Auditor-controller’s office