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Shorewood approves Mayor Labadie's travel to D.C. transportation fly-in with $1,800 scholarship
Summary
Council approved Mayor Jennifer Labadie's attendance at the Minnesota Transportation Alliance's Washington, D.C. fly-in; the Alliance offered an $1,800 scholarship and Mayor Labadie agreed to cover any expenses beyond that amount.
The Shorewood City Council on Aug. 25 approved Mayor Jennifer Labadie's request to attend the Minnesota Transportation Alliance 2025 Washington, D.C. fly-in, accepting an $1,800 scholarship to cover airfare and conference costs and stipulating that any expenses beyond the scholarship would be the mayor's responsibility.
City Administrator Nevinski outlined the travel request and noted the Minnesota Transportation Alliance had offered an $1,800 scholarship. Councilmembers debated whether it was premature to pursue federal funding for local projects before design and cost estimates were available. Councilmember DiGruttolo criticized approving travel without a defined return-on-investment and warned about precedent; Councilmember Gorham said he was inclined to wait for more project detail. Mayor Labadie said she had advocated for Highway 7 improvements for more than a decade and said she would not promise that "anything would come out of her attendance," but that attending offered an opportunity to learn and prepare.
Councilmember Maddy moved and Councilmember Gorham seconded a motion to approve Mayor Labadie's attendance with a cost up to $1,800 covered by the scholarship and any expenses beyond that amount to be paid by Mayor Labadie. The motion passed on a roll call vote.
The Council recorded the approval and asked for follow-up information on Federal program options and next steps for the Highway 7 project prior to substantive funding commitments.
