Since 2008, nearly $11,000 in public funds have been expended for Mayor Broda's trips to sunny locations such as Las Vegas, Orlando and Miami for US Conference of Mayors Annual Meetings where he has no voting rights. The Village of Lisle does not have a policy requiring Board approval for out-of-state travel.
Coming up soon - the 2014 US Conference of Mayors Annual Meeting in Dallas Texas. Will Lisle Mayor Joe Broda be attending? Will Lisle taxpayers be stuck footing the $3000 bill? Click Here for a link to the agenda.
Other than star-studded evening entertainment, there isn't much for a non-member mayor to do at this 4-day event in Dallas. Well, there's breakfast and lunch.. But most, if not all, of the scheduled meetings are official task force meetings and standing committee meetings and meetings where members vote; Broda is not member of the US Mayors Conference and is not on any standing committees or task forces. Broda has no voting rights at the US Conference of Mayors Annual Meeting.
Until recently, there has been no disclosure or public discussion of Broda's annual taxpayer-funded junkets.
Lisle taxpayers picked up the tab for Broda's 7-day trip to Orlando, Florida in 2012 and his 6-day trip to Miami, Florida in 2008. Taxpayers also picked up trips to Las Vegas, Nevada in 2013 and Providence, Rhode Island in 2009. All were trips to allegedly attend the US Conference of Mayors Annual Meetings.
Village of Lisle is not, and has never been, a member of the US Conference of Mayors.
Village of Lisle has not applied for, nor received, any grant funds from the US Conference of Mayors in the past 5 years according to records provided by the Village of Lisle.
Las Vegas 2013
In 2013, just 2 months after the worst flood in the history of the Village, Mayor Broda spent $3,140 in public funds for a trip to Las Vegas for the 2013 US Conference of Mayors annual meeting. Mayor Broda had no voting rights at the meeting. There are no records of the Mayor's report to the Board or to the public for this conference. There is no record of Broda's attendance at meeting workshops, standing committee meetings, task force meetings or work sessions.
Only 5 non-member municipalities in the entire United States chose to send their mayor to the USCM annual meeting in 2013 - Lisle was one of those five.
10 mayors of 1300 in the entire state of Illinois registered to attend the 2013 USCM annual meeting in Las Vegas. (53% less than 2008)
Click HERE for more info on Broda's Vegas trip.
Orlando, Florida 2012
$3, 057 in public funds were expended for Mayor Broda's trip to Orlando for the US Conference of Mayors annual meeting. Mayor Broda had no voting rights at the meeting. There are no public records of the Mayor's report to the Board for this annual meeting. There is no record of Broda's attendance at meeting workshops, standing committee meetings, task force meetings or work sessions.
17 mayors of 1300 in the entire state of Illinois registered to attend the 2012 USCM annual meeting in Orlando.
- $ 1,400 Annual Meeting Registration Fee
- $ 1,298 Hotel
- $ 359 Airfare
Baltimore, Maryland 2011
Broda did not attend the 2011 US Conference of Mayors annual meeting in Baltimore.
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 2010
Broda did not attend the 2010 US Conference of Mayors annual meeting in Oklahoma City.
Providence, Rhode Island 2009
$1,400 in public funds were expended for Mayor Broda's registration fee to attend the 2009 USCM annual meeting in Providence, RI. No records were provided by the Village that indicate who paid for the hotel and airfare for this trip. In 2009, the Village Board cut all out-of-state travel expenditures.
** Update - Records from the Illinois State Board of Elections show the following expenditures from "Citizens to Elect Joe Broda":
$249.20 United Air Lines Travel Air Fare USCM
$22.00 United Air Lines Baggage Charge USCM
$1067.85 Westin Travel Lodging USCM
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Was this a "political" trip or was it "official" business for the Village of Lisle?? |
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14 mayors of 1300 in the entire state of Illinois registered to attend the 2009 USCM annual meeting in Providence, including Lisle Mayor Broda.
Miami, Florida 2008
$2,970 in public funds were expended for Mayor Broda's trip to Miami for the US Conference of Mayors annual meeting. Mayor Broda had no voting rights at the meeting. There are no public records of the Mayor's report to the Board for this annual meeting. There is no record of Broda's attendance at meeting workshops, standing committee meetings, task force meetings or work sessions.
21 mayors of 1300 in the entire state of Illinois registered to attend the 2008 USCM annual meeting in Miami.
- $1,350 Annual Meeting Registration Fee
- $1,351 Hotel
- $ 269 Airfare
About U. S. Conference of Mayors
The U.S. Conference of Mayors is the official non-partisan organization of cities with populations of 30,000 or more. Mayors contribute to the development of national policy by serving on one or more of the conference’s standing committees which recommend policy positions every year at the Annual Meeting they believe should be adopted by the organization. The policy positions that are adopted are then distributed to the President and Congress.
Questions:
- What is public purpose and public benefit for expenditure of nearly $11,000 in public funds for Mayor Broda's out-of-state trips?
- Why is there no policy, discussion and transparency regarding the use of public funds for out-of-state meetings where the Village has no business to conduct?
- Is this a good use of pubic funds? It is fiscally responsible to spend taxpayer funds on these trips?
- Why are there no records of Mayor Broda's attendance and participation at USCM annual meetings? There is not one single memo, email, or record summarizing the sessions, workshops and committee meetings he attended?
- Why are there no reports - written or oral - presented by Mayor Broda to citizens, trustees and staff regarding the US Conference of Mayors annual meeting?
- Why isn't all this information readily available on the Village website? Why do citizens need to FOIA to obtain records of how public funds are spent?
- Should the Village of Lisle have a policy requiring Board pre-approval for all in-state and out-of-state travel (See DuPage Co Travel Policy)?
- Can Lisle improve transparency and accountability to its citizens and taxpayers?
Sources:
Click HERE for copy of records regarding costs for Mayor Broda's trips to US Conference of Mayors annual meetings. Records provided by the Village of Lisle under FOIA.
