UPDATED: Mayor goes down under to talk climate change
Mayor Bob Foster was absent from last night's meeting, apparently giving up council gadflies for koalas and kangaroos. A member of his staff told me today that he left over the weekend for Australia and New Zealand to talk about energy and climate change.
I'm awaiting more details of the trip, and the staff member couldn't tell me whether Foster would be at next week's meeting. If Foster misses next week too, he will go more than a month without presiding over a council meeting.
Foster won't be at next week's meeting either, I have been told. Also, I've learned that the travel and hotel expenses of the trip are being funded by the non-profit California Foundation on the Environment and the Economy, which sends local government officials on one or two such trips each year.
The council doesn't meet on the last Tuesday of each month and didn't meet Nov. 4 because of the election. This month, there are only two meetings, yesterday and next Tuesday. The last time the council met before this week was Oct. 21, and if Foster misses next week, he won't be back on the council dais until Dec. 2.
But Foster's involvement in the global energy discussion does seem to fit in with Long Beach's goals. City officials have been making efforts to "green" Long Beach over the past couple of years and have expressed their desire to make it a leader in conservation.
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Paul Eakins reports on Long Beach City Hall, and local and regional
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Did he fly first class? Did he really need to go to Australia or was this just a junket for him so he could get a free vacation?
Bob Foster will be a one term Mayor. He's actively trying to get a position in the Obama administration or with Schwarzenegger. He's bored with Long Beach.