City Council

12.a. COUNCILMEMBER MANUEL ACOSTA\n1. Travel Approval Process\nDiscussion/Action: Every year the city council approves a budget for\ntravel for the city council and all city employees. The approval of the\ntravel has certain requirements. These requirements include\nprofessional development, any city-oriented business, and potential\nbenefit to the city and its residents. As long as these requirements are\nmet, travel is almost certain. The current city policy distinguishes\nbetween in-state and out-of-state travel. Out-of-state travel requires city\ncouncil approval, while in-state travel does not. It is unclear why there is\na distinction. How does out-of-state travel differ from in-state travel? And\nwhy does the city council have to approve out-of-state travel?\n2. City Council Paraphernalia\nDiscussion/Action: Individual canvas tarps with city council members'\nnames were purchased with city funds. This is highly unusual and not a\ntypical practice. For example, city council members are not allowed to\nappear in the city-sponsored newsletter due to it violating political\ncampaign laws. Are_ city-purchased paraphernalia depicting\ncouncilmembers’ names exempted? Do their purchase with city funds\nviolate political campaign laws? Or is it simply a city policy? And if itis a\ncity policy, should the city council be required to approve it?