Council approves binational delegation travel after debate over costs and consistency

The council approved attendance for elected officials and a mayoral staff member at a San Diego Regional Chamber binational delegation to Mexico City after a lengthy debate about consistency and use of council travel funds.

City staff said the delegation’s registration covers the majority of travel costs. In the staff presentation, the itemized costs were stated as: "Council Member Molina would be $17.00 $5 and then Josie Flores Clark, the cost would be $2,706" (staff presentation language on the public record). The mayor said two other councilmembers will attend through other agencies' auspices (county or Sweetwater Authority), while the city’s request covered the council member and the mayor’s executive assistant.

Several councilmembers questioned whether taxpayers should fund an assistant’s $2,700 trip and whether the travel allotment and its use had been applied consistently. Councilmember Rodriguez pressed for consistency across council offices; Councilmember Molina defended her planned attendance, noting she routinely uses her council conference allotment and argued the delegation topics (border entry, water management, cross-border infrastructure) are relevant to her role on regional boards.

Councilmember Bush moved to approve the item with a roll-call vote after discussion; the motion passed 4–0–1 with Councilmember Rodriguez recorded as a nay on the consolidated approval (the meeting log shows a 4–0–1 vote record). Supporters said the trip provided opportunities to coordinate on regional issues such as Otay Mesa East cross-border entry and transboundary water discussions.

Council debated sending staff using other agencies' budgets where possible and asked staff to be transparent about itemized costs in future travel approvals. The item passed on the record as an approval to attend; individual travel reimbursements and accounting will follow departmental procedures.