Rochester council training and travel budget change yields question – Post Bulletin

ROCHESTER — A decision to evenly divide the Rochester City Council’s $24,600 travel and training budget among the seven members, left one member asking why.

“I don’t understand the reason it’s even on the agenda,” council member Molly Dennis said, adding that city staff proposed the split of approximately $3,500 per council member for travel, accommodations and program fees related to ongoing training.

She said two council members – Nick Campion and Shaun Palmer – didn’t request city funds for training this year, which would have left funds unspent, if a similar approach had been used.

“As someone who finds education critically important, who has attended these conferences – I attended both of the National League of Cities conferences and the League of Minnesota Cities conference in Duluth – I find that it’s invaluable for these conferences to be available to all those … who want to attend,” Dennis said.

She said the goal should be to send people to training and conferences, so they can compare insights with other elected officials and bring back new ideas for the city.

“We cannot find all the solutions in this little cocoon here, without reaching out and connecting,” she said.

“I’ve built relationships throughout the state and the nation when I attended these conferences,” she added.

Campion, who was attending his final meeting as a council member, said the allocated $3,500 per council member should be enough to cover the cost of attending the two National League of City conferences each year.

“I’ve attended them historically,” he said. “I’ve done it myself, and if you book a hotel that is not in the block (of the convention), you are more than capable of going to both of the NLC conferences.”

Additionally, he said he’s seen past council members use more than an equal share of the training budget, which has reduced the opportunity for others to travel and attend events that might have benefitted the city.

Council member Patrick Keane also pointed out that the equitable use of training funds not a new concern, even if it’s a new approach.

“We’ve had this over the last 10 years, where certain people end up using the lion’s share of some of these budgets, and this is one technique that’s been discussed with the city for many years to try to get control of it,” he said.

Council President Brooke Carlson also cited a need for fairness when it comes to spending of the council’s training funds, and pointed to opportunities to train and connect with other leaders online at a reduced cost.

“We know your spending has been significant, and we are trying to find a way to manage and make it fair for each of us to have an opportunity to go to the conferences we want to go to,” she told Dennis.

The 15-minute discussion grew contentious as Carlson cut Dennis off as she sought to share views of past council members, but the council president also pointed to the potential for council members to request added funds, if needs arise.

“If we learn this process doesn’t work this year, we can think about what might work instead for next year,” she added.

Dennis, who later expressed concern about divided stances and “petty politics” on the council, failed to gather support for opposing the proposed split, with the council voting 6-1 to approve the even allocation of travel funds.

“I feel this is another step in the wrong direction,” she said, pointing to a previous council decision to not increase the overall training budget for 2023.