Mayor Don Darling says spending taxpayer dollars to attend community events and conferences can lead to big spinoffs.
His comments come after a discussion at Monday night’s council meeting on a spending policy for community event tickets.
As part of the new policy, the public would get a look at how much each councillor spends on tickets each quarter.
Darling says he has no problem with having a policy in place or being transparent.
“But we’ve got to keep in mind that this is a very small amount of money invested relative to our overall budget,” says Darling.
Interested in “rubber chicken dinners”? Despite what some may suggest, attending community events is important. What is equally important is that we are strong stewards of the public purse we are responsible to watch: https://t.co/JIKxwKZJmj pic.twitter.com/D7B81ydUGR
— Greg Norton (@GregNortonSJ) June 16, 2018
“I think it’s incumbent on us as elected officials to get out and be representing the city at these events.”
Darling says he’s working on a project that came from a conversation at an event that will see a multimillion-dollar investment in the city.
He says spending money on event tickets isn’t new and the $19,000 budgeted each year is less than what some previous councils have spent.
“I go there to represent my city, to look for economic development opportunities, to engage with those organizations and understand what their mission is and what they’re trying to get done,” says Darling, “and I think it’s an excellent return on investment.”
