Manors won’t disclose some staff travel

The city of Wilton Manors just made it a little more difficult for taxpayers to find out whose travel they’re paying for.

Under a policy change approved unanimously Tuesday night, more travel will be given the nod behind the scenes by the city manager, and won’t be publicly aired at City Commission meetings. At the same meeting, city commissioners increased the daily stipend for breakfast, lunch and dinner when they’re away on city business.

Mayor Gary Resnick said the changes were recommended by city staff. Trips that aren’t already budgeted, and with a tab up to $1,500, will no longer need City Commission approval.

The city travel budget isn’t large — at $18,000, it’s less than 1 percent of the total budget. But sometimes, small expenses can morph into bigger controversies.

When Commissioner Julie Carson traveled to Arizona earlier this year for a cities and towns conference at a public cost of $1,069, her trip was questioned because the conference was near where her brother lives. Mayor Gary Resnick voted against having the city pay for her trip. Carson acknowledged she planned to pay her brother a

visit, but said it was her first publicly funded travel in eight years in office.

Likewise, Carson has questioned trips made by Resnick, including two trips to Washington, D.C., at $1,700 each to participate in a Federal Communications Commission intergovernmental advisory committee. Carson noted that Resnick, as an attorney with Gray Robinson law firm, specializes in part in “communications, cable and broadband law,” according to his website, and could benefit from the trip. But city commissioners signed off on the travel, which officially is deemed to serve a public purpose.

Tuesday night, Resnick said he’s no longer on the committee and will substitute that travel for something else.

Under what’s proposed, any trip that’s $1,500 or less could be approved by the city manager. The old threshold was $1,000. Travel at any cost that was budgeted by the city ahead of time also would not need a public vote, under what was approved.

Resnick said the policy changes aren’t meant to increase spending on travel. They just give the city manager more discretion in approving it.

City commissioners will be notified of travel in an email from the city manager. A member of the public could make a public records request for the travel information, but it no longer would appear on City Commission agendas.

The resolution “deems it to be in the best interests of the citizens and residents” to delegate the authority to the city manager, Leigh Ann Henderson.

Reimbursement for food goes up to $48 a day, from $40. It will go up each year based on the rate of inflation, the city agreed Tuesday.

That’s $10 for breakfast, up from $3. Lunch is $14, up from $6. And dinner is $24, up from $12.