Defending the trip to Israel
The office of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said Friday it was still
determining the final costs involved in the 33-person delegation to
Israel last week, but that city departments put $240,000 up front to
cover the costs.
Spokesman Mayt Szabo said the Departments of Harbor, Airports and
Water and Power each advanaced $80,000 to cover the costs of the trip,
which involved discussions around homeland security and environmental
issues.
A full accounting will be provided once all the bills are in and some
of the individuals reimburse the city for their costs.
Whatever the final cost, Szabo said it was worth it.
"The cost of the mayor's mission to Israel is a bargain when you consider that he's bringing world-leading expertise in airport security, port security, counter-terrorism and energy independence to Los Angeles," Szabo said
" Enhancing the security of LA residents is a central responsibility of the mayor, and the investment in cutting-edge research will pay dividends for years to come."
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About The
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The Los Angeles Daily News' City Hall reporters Rick Orlov and Kerry Cavanaugh write about politics on the local, state and national stage.
Fix the zeroes, Rick! It's $240,000. At least. Over twice as much as what was estimated.
That's over $10,000 a person, as Szabo says the non-City part of the delegation paid their own ways.
Really, though--did they? Did Maria Elena Durazo pay her own way?
Villaraigosa is wasting valuable time he OWES to Los Angeles by parading around with Clinton. Now he's wasting our valuable time trying to run around with Obama. He went on a trip to Israel because none of the other THIRTY THREE people could understand the problems like he did.
One wise poster on Mayor Sam summed it up beautifully:
"The sooner we look to other (Mayoral) candidates, the better. This mayor is an ego maniac and will not ever withdraw of his own accord, even if that was absolutely proven to him as the BEST thing for this city.
It's all about Tony. It always was."