Mayor calls San Bernardino trade mission a success

Morris along with Supervisor Josie Gonzales, her chief of staff, Bob Page, the city's interim director of the Economic Development Agency, and San Bernardino International Airport Director Michael Burrows travelled to Mexico City at the beginning of November for four days.

They had been invited by the Mexican government to attend a conference of Mexican corporate leaders, Morris said. The Mexican government paid for a portion of the travel costs, Morris said.

The trip was also intended to further the marketing of the San Bernardino International Airport and to investigate the potential of direct flights from San Bernardino to Mexico City and cities in central Mexico, Morris said.

Morris declined to give the names of the business leaders or the names of the corporate entities with which the delegation met.

"We're starting down a road of relationships," he said. "I don't want to preempt any possibilities."

Morris said the delegation invited a group of potential investors to visit the San Bernardino area in the coming year.

Morris said Supervisor Gonzales was a particularly valuable resource on the trip because she speaks fluent Spanish.

A grand jury report released June 30 criticized San Bernardino County's overseas trade missions. The investigation found the cost of the trips had been higher than reported. In one instance, a trip reported to cost nearly $46,000, actually cost $89,108.

The grand jury report also faulted trips to commercial centers such as Hong Kong and Shanghai, when visiting manufacturing centers would have better suited local businesses, many of which were interested in importing goods from manufacturing companies.
Morris said the trip was a modest investment of time and dollars by the city and county.

"This was not some kind of jaunt, some kind of vacation," he said. "We worked our tails off with potential friends and investors, and came home quite exhausted."