Parlier council approves mayors attendance at Wells water-education conference, removes other attendees

The Parlier City Council on Jan. 7 approved a resolution sending Mayor Alma Beltran to the Wells Water Education for Latino Leaders conference in March, and amended the resolution to limit city-paid attendance to the mayor only.

Berta (staff member) introduced the item and explained that the Wells program offers training and a fellowship for Latino elected leaders on rural water issues. Mayor Alma Beltran said she had been selected for a Wells fellowship and would attend the conference tied to that program. Council members and staff debated which elected officials should be funded to attend and whether staff or the city engineer might attend in place of elected officials.

The council discussed whether invitations to the conference were issued by the Wells program or by City staff, and several council members asked for clearer internal procedures for tracking and approving conference invitations. Council members also noted the city previously budgeted funds for conference attendance; Berta said the line item had not been exhausted and that travel for conferences had been budgeted (she said the budgeted figure had been at least $30,000 for the year).

After discussion, Councilmember Diego Garza moved to approve the resolution as amended (to remove the two councilmembers originally listed and leave only the mayor as the funded participant); the motion was seconded and approved on a roll-call vote of 5-0.

The council also recorded that staff would consult the city attorney about bringing back a formal policy or process for how individual invitations and conference selections are routed to the council for approval.