Oviedo council member questions D.C. trip, so will go along

Oviedo City Council member Megan Sladek questioned why the city needs to send the mayor and the assistant city manager on a taxpayer-funded two-day trip to Washington, D.C., this month.

So she decided to join them to keep a watchful eye as they meet with the area’s congressional delegation. “I want to make sure that we have a purpose for the visit,” Sladek said Tuesday. “It would not be a sightseeing trip.”

For years, council members and staff have gone to the nation’s capital annually to meet with U.S. senators and House members with the city’s lobbying firm to advocate for Oviedo. But Monday night, when City Manager Bryan Cobb said Oviedo’s federal lobbying firm, Alcade and Fay, has again invited city officials to Washington, Sladek questioned the value of such a trek.

Mayor Dominic Persampiere, who’s made the trip to D.C. on Oviedo’s behalf several times, said the purpose is to make faceto-face contact with the area’s congressional delegation — including Sens. Marco Rubio and Bill Nelson, along with U.S. Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Winter Park.

“We don’t go for the sake of going,” he said. “Everything in public service is relationships, and you have to invest a little time to make sure those relationships are successful …. It’s just designed to put a face to a name and help our consultants bring some of the dollars that Oviedo sent up to Washington back to Oviedo.”

Sladek and Pesampiere will join assistant City Manager Patrick Kelly in flying to D.C. on May 23 and will return May 24. The three plan to meet with the congressional delegation to discuss the city’s legislative priorities including securing federal grants.