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The City of Kissimmee has made changes to its policies regarding spending city funds on travel.
The City of Kissimmee has made changes to its policies regarding spending city funds on travel.
The Commission Tuesday unanimously voted to require an itinerary and preliminary expense report be presented to the Commission prior to the travel being approved. The vote came after Commissioner Angela Eady put the discussion matter of unbudgeted traveled on the ballot; the discussion took up the majority of the 25-minute Commission meeting.
The existing policy was adopted in 2017, and only required the board’s approval to go on a trip like this, as long as they were appearing or acting on behalf of the city on the trip.
Eady asked for the discussion to clarify Mayor Olga Gonzalez’s attendance of an event in Washington, D.C. that the mayor said was to inquire about receiving funding from the federal Faith Based Community Initiative to provide churches with a way to assist the community.
“My purpose was to get everybody on the same age,” Eady said. “Under most circumstances, someone from staff goes to advocate for us … I would like to see an itinerary and expenditure report before you go.”
City Manager Mike Steigerwald said the city often coordinates a trip like that with its lobbying team.
“A lot of times, they like to have elected officials present,” Steigerrwald said.
Gonzalez said the trip was about getting time to speak with the head of the federal Faith Based Community Initiative to derive federal funds to local social service agencies.
“We’re going to let them know there are a lot of churches here in Osceola who need those funds to help the community,” she said. “So this is for the betterment of our community, bringing in more federal funds.”
Eady said she’s concerned that, with the federal budget already approved, the funds Gonzalez would be going to trying to procure may not reach the city until next year anyway. Steigerwald said creating that faith-based fund would have to become a voted-on city priority, and would require a significant investment.
Gonzalez, who said she wants to start a fund to help those churches that would be in place after she leaves her term-limited office next year, told Eady she could provide an itinerary expense report at the Commission’s April 16 meeting.
“I’ll give it to you before I leave,” Gonzalez told Commissioner Carlos Alvarez during the meeting.
