San Benito County Supervisor Jaime De La Cruz on Tuesday
proposed placing all travel considerations on the board’s agenda
for voting, a week after he proposed a trip to Reno, Nev., before
canceling it when questions arose about its cost.
San Benito County Supervisor Jaime De La Cruz on Tuesday proposed placing all travel considerations on the board’s agenda for voting, a week after he proposed a trip to Reno, Nev., before canceling it when questions arose about its cost.
While the board was discussing budget cuts at its meeting this morning, De La Cruz proposed treating in-state travel expenses the same way as out-of-state trips are treated and he cited it as a way to save money. All travel expenses then would have to be agreed upon by the board. Previously, just out-of-state travel was voted on for approval.
“If we are going to scrutinize every expense and travel, we need to look at both in-state and out-of-state travel and allow the public to see and comment on,” De La Cruz said after the meeting.
The board agreed it was something supervisors could examine down the line, Chairman Reb Monaco said during the discussion.
De La Cruz’s hope was that it would allow more transparency with the public, he said. It would allow residents to see and give their opinions on whether the officials should go.
“I don’t know how it will work – it’s up to the public to give their opinions,” De La Cruz said.
This came two weeks after De La Cruz presented a trip to July’ National Association of Counties conference in Reno, Nev. In De La Cruz’s proposal, the trip would have cost the county more than $1,700, but the board agreed that in order to go, De La Cruz would need to reduce the cost. Last week, De La Cruz announced he would not go on the trip because he couldn’t reduce the cost enough.
