HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-11-07; City Council; ; City Council Policy – City Council Conference, Training and Professional Development Travel PolicyThis item was continued to the next City Council Regular Meeting to be held on Nov.
14, 2023.
6. CITY COUNCIL POLICY -CITY COUNCIL CONFERENCE, TRAINING AND
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT TRAVEL POLICY -Adoption of a resolution
approving City Council Policy Statement-City Council Conference, Training and
Professional Development Travel Policy. (Staff contact: Sheila Cobian, City
Manager Department)
CA Review CKM
Meeting Date: Nov. 7, 2023
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Scott Chadwick, City Manager
Staff Contact: Sheila Cobian, Director of Legislative & Constituent Services
sheila.cobian@carlsbadca.gov, 442-339-2917
Subject: City Council Policy – City Council Conference, Training and Professional
Development Travel Policy
Districts: All
Recommended Action
Adopt a resolution approving City Council Policy – City Council Conference, Training and
Professional Development Travel Policy.
Executive Summary
Over the past several years, there has been an increased interest among members of the City
Council wishing to travel for conferences, trainings and professional development seminars. In
an effort to allow all City Council members an equal opportunity to participate in such travel,
staff are recommending the City Council adopt a policy for City Council travel expenses.
Staff have developed a policy (Exhibit 1 – Attachment A) that would allocate $10,000 each fiscal
year to each City Council member for their conference, training and professional development
travel expenditures to be used at their discretion.
When submitting the required travel expense reports for review, City Council members shall
attest that the travel expense was for a legitimate government purpose in their capacity as a
City of Carlsbad elected official.
Explanation & Analysis
Expenditures
The following table reflects the City Council’s training and conference travel expenditures since
fiscal year 2017-18:
FY 2017-18 FY 2018-19 FY 2019-20 FY 2020-21 FY 2021-22 FY 2022-23
$2,857.27 $4,331.14 $2,648.87 $65 $10,159.81 $13,906.33
Based on travel requests received so far for fiscal year 2023-24, staff are calculating known
expenses of approximately $20,000. It should be noted that there are several additional
requests for which the registration and travel expenses are not yet known.
Nov. 7, 2023 Item #6 Page 1 of 6
Recommendations
Staff are recommending that the Finance Department establish a travel expense account for
each City Council member in the amount of $10,000 per fiscal year. City Council members
would use the funds for attendance at conferences, meetings, trainings and professional
development seminars.
When submitting the required travel expense reports for review, City Council members shall
attest that the travel expense was for a legitimate government purpose in their capacity as a
City of Carlsbad elected official.
Should a City Council member exhaust their budget prior to the end of the fiscal year and wish
to participate in additional conferences or trainings, the City Council member would request
that an item be placed on a future City Council agenda for the full City Council to authorize
travel expenditures in excess of their allotted $10,000 per fiscal year. Any travel outside of the
United States, or any travel expenses in excess of the reimbursement rates established by City
Council Policy No. 2 – Travel Policy, would also need to be placed on a City Council agenda for
the full City Council’s consideration and approval before the travel occurs or the expense is
incurred.
Required vote for approving City Council policies
Adopting City Council policy statements requires four affirmative votes.
Fiscal Analysis
Should City Council approve the recommended City Council Policy, the Finance Department will
create expense accounts for each City Council member in the amount of $10,000 for each fiscal
year.
There is $22,000 in the fiscal year 2023-24 budget for City Council member training and
conference meeting travel. To accommodate this shift in budgeting, the Deputy City Manager
of Administrative Services will transfer the current budget of $22,000 along with $28,000 from
the City Council contingency account to the appropriate City Council member expense accounts
for fiscal year 2023-24. The City Council contingency balance is currently $500,000.
Options
Staff provide the following options for the City Council’s consideration:
Option 1 – Adopt a resolution approving the City Council Policy – City Council
Conference, Training and Professional Development Travel Policy
Option 2 – Provide additional feedback to staff and direct staff to return to City
Council at a later date with a revised policy
Option 3 – Provide other direction as desired
Next Steps
Staff will implement the City Council’s direction.
Nov. 7, 2023 Item #6 Page 2 of 6
Environmental Evaluation
This action does not require environmental review because it does not constitute a project
within the meaning of the California Environmental Quality Act under California Public
Resources Code Section 21065 in that it has no potential to cause either a direct physical
change in the environment or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the
environment.
Exhibits
1. City Council resolution
Nov. 7, 2023 Item #6 Page 3 of 6
Exhibit 1 RESOLUTION NO. .
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CARLSBAD,
CALIFORNIA, APPROVING CITY COUNCIL POLICY STATEMENT – CITY
COUNCIL CONFERENCE, TRAINING AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
TRAVEL POLICY
WHEREAS, City Council Policy Statement No. 2 – Travel Policy is the policy followed by all elected
officials, commissioners, City Council appointed employees, city employees and volunteers when
traveling on city business; and
WHEREAS, City Council Policy Statement No. 2 – Travel Policy does not address the
establishment of a travel budget for individual City Council Members; and
WHEREAS, the City Council desires to establish a policy to address the increased requests for
City Council Members to participate in conferences, trainings and professional development seminars.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Carlsbad, California, as
follows:
1. That the above recitations are true and correct.
2. That the City Council approves the City Council Policy Statement – City Council
Conference, Training and Professional Development Travel Policy (Attachment A).
3. That the City Manager is authorized to have the Deputy City Manager of Administrative
Services transfer $28,000 from City Council contingency, along with the $22,000 that
has been budgeted for City Council training and conference travel for Fiscal Year 2023-
24 to individual City Council Member expense accounts in the amount of $10,000 each.
Nov. 7, 2023 Item #6 Page 4 of 6
PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED at a Regular Meeting of the City Council of the City of
Carlsbad on the __ day of ________, 2023, by the following vote, to wit:
AYES:
NAYS:
ABSTAIN:
ABSENT:
______________________________________
KEITH BLACKBURN, Mayor
______________________________________
SHERRY FREISINGER, City Clerk
(SEAL)
Nov. 7, 2023 Item #6 Page 5 of 6
Policy No.
Date Issued
Resolution No.
Subject:
City Council conference, training and professional development travel policy
Purpose
This policy supplements City Council Policy No. 2 – Travel Policy, and establishes guidelines and
procedures for City Council Member conference, training and professional development travel.
Background
City Council Members are invited to participate in numerous conferences, trainings and
professional development seminars throughout the year. This policy establishes funding for
each individual City Council Member, for use at their discretion, to participate in conferences,
trainings and professional development opportunities.
Statement of policy
It is the policy of the City Council of the City of Carlsbad to allocate $10,000 annually for each
City Council Member to use at their discretion for participation in conferences, trainings and
professional development opportunities.
Procedure
• Funding in the amount of $10,000 per City Council Member shall be budgeted each
fiscal year for individual City Council Members’ use, at their discretion, for travel
expenses related to participation in conferences, trainings and professional
development.
• All travel arrangements shall be facilitated through the Executive Assistant to the City
Council.
• Once travel has been concluded, City Council Members shall attest that the travel was
for a legitimate government purpose in their capacity as an elected official.
• Travel requests in excess of the annual $10,000 shall require City Council approval.
• All travel requests outside of the United States shall require advance City Council
approval.
• City Council Members shall adhere to all provisions of City Council Policy No. 2 – Travel
Policy. Travel expenses in excess of the reimbursement rates established by City Council
Policy No. 2 require advance City Council approval.
Attachment A
Nov. 7, 2023 Item #6 Page 6 of 6
Tammy Cloud-McMinn
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Council Internet Email
Tuesday, November 7, 2023 11 :04 AM
City Clerk
FW: Travel budget STOP PLEASE PLEASE READ
From: Gloria Taylor <glospirit3@gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, November 7, 2023 10:10 AM
To: Council Internet Email <CityCouncil@carlsbadca.gov>
Subject: Travel budget STOP PLEASE PLEASE READ
All Receive -Agenda Item# /.o
For the Information of the:
<;:ITY COUNCIL
DateJ1!1/23CA ......--cc~
CM ~ACM ~DCM {3)~
I urge you to please remove this travel budget (#6) on the staff report. Or at least move it a week or two so
there can be public input. We need to have a say in this, what are the limitations? Why does every council
member NEED 10,000? It sounds like this could be taken advantage of very easily. I thought we were trying to
SAVE money for necessities that we NEED in this community. This needs to be reviewed and talked about,
NOT slipped in where many people dont see it. PLEASE be Honest and upfront so we have a say.
Carlsbad City Council agenda for tomorrow includes an item which would create a $10,000 travel budget for
each Councilmember and the Mayor, which totals a new, unbudgeted cost of $50,000 annually. The
Councilmembers can use this travel budget for whatever they want and then after the fact "attest the travel
expense was for a legitimate government purpose." Basically, it can be used for anything.
Gloria Taylor
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From: Council Internet Email
Sent:
To:
Tuesday, November 7, 2023 1 :35 PM
City Clerk
Subject: FW: Travel budget change
Follow Up Flag: Follow up
Flag Status: Completed
-----O riginal Message-----
From: Teri LeFrois <terileafl@icloud.com>
Sent: Tuesday, November 7, 2023 12:18 PM
To: Council Internet Email <CityCouncil@carlsbadca.gov>
Subject: Travel budget change
I am in disagreement with this proposal. $10 k per council person for personal development is way too much. Many
other places could use this money in more city beneficial ways. Thank you, Teri LeFrois Carlsbad resident.
Sent from my iPhone
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Tammy Cloud-McMinn
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Manager Internet Email
Tuesday, November 7, 2023 8:05 AM
Scott Chadwick; City Clerk
FW: Agenda item #6
Hi -This is correspondence for tonight's agenda.
Thank you,
Morgen
From: jeanwalkerl@roadrunner.com <jeanwalkerl@roadrunner.com>
Sent: Monday, November 6, 2023 11:07 PM
All Receive -Agenda Item # _LR_
For the Information of the:
CITY COUNCIL
Date11/?/J9 v cc ~
CM -/" ACM v1)CM (3) L
To: Keith Blackburn <Keith.Blackburn@carlsbadca.gov>; Priya Bhat-Patel <Priya.Bhat-Patel@carlsbadca.gov>; Melanie
Burkholder <Melanie.Burkholder@carlsbadca.gov>; Carolyn Luna <Carolyn.Luna@carlsbadca.gov>; Teresa Acosta
<Teresa.Acosta@carlsbadca.gov>; Manager Internet Email <Manager@CarlsbadCA.gov>
Subject: Agenda item #6
Hi! My name is Jean Walker. I am a long time Carlsbad resident.--I could not believe it when I saw on Tuesday's agenda
a proposal for each Councilmember to have their own budgeted $10,000 annual travel fund. Really?
City Manager Chadwick, just last week, you brought up the idea of a sales tax increase and TOT increase to deal with an
upcoming budget shortfall. It's so bad that Councilmember Burkholder suggested creating an ad hoc committee to work
with the city's finance director to find internal budget cuts. And now City staff are proposing an unbudgeted $50,000
annual increase? Why would you do that?
There is already a structure in place for City Councilmembers to request money for travel expenses for events related to
city duties. It's City Council Policy #2 which requires City Manager authorization for travel expenses prior to the
travel. In this proposal, the Councilmember can bypass the City Man_ager approval and use the funds "at their
discretion" attesting after the fact that the funds were used for a purpose related to their duties as a City
Council member.
In the past, the existing system has worked fine and generally uses less than $3,000 per year. In 2022-2023, the use was
elevated, but still fell below $14,000. Now staff thinks $50,000 is an appropriate amount? Why?
This is going to create havoc in the community when these funds are used to travel to events that may or may not be
related to City Council duties. Is a trip to DC for a pro-life rally appropriate? Or a trip out of state for a march in favor of
gun control? These kinds of questions are why these funds need oversight. And if these funds are to be used at the
Councilmember's discretion, how can it also be subject to City Council Policy #2, which does not allow for City
Councilmember discretion?
Please put this issue off for another week and seek public input. Spending like this does nothing to assist with the bleak
budget forecast discussed last week.
Jean Walker
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