Council authorizes ethics coverage for Newberg delegation trip to Austria and allows one council delegate

The council adopted a resolution May 4 intended to allow elected officials to accept travel, lodging and other reasonable expenses from an outside sponsor for an officially sanctioned fact-finding and economic-development delegation to a sister city in Austria.

City Recorder Rachel Thomas said the resolution is a procedural ethics safeguard that permits officials to accept gifts in kind and sponsored travel for officially sanctioned visits so participants avoid potential ethics-law violations when outside entities pay reasonable expenses. The staff recommendation framed the action as a declaration that the 2026 Newberg delegation visit to Pistorf/Hoytorf, Austria is an officially sanctioned economic-development trip and that city officials may accept coverage of reasonable expenses.

Council members debated whether the city should directly fund a delegate rather than rely on outside coverage and whether spouses should be supported. Several councilors said they were comfortable with the city supporting one representative (the mayor was mentioned as the likely delegate) from city funds and with outside organizations covering additional costs; the final motion allowed the city manager discretion to send a representative with reasonable expenses covered and permitted acceptance of reasonable outside-funded expenses. The motion passed unanimously.

Staff said the resolution is intended to provide transparency and an ethics-safe mechanism for future delegations and gift acceptance and that separate budget decisions for travel would follow the city's normal appropriation rules.