Was that trip necessary?

The City of Miami's Chief Financial Officer Larry Spring and his staff took a nice little all expense paid trip to Seattle, WA on the City's money (over 10 people went). They went to party at the Government Finance Officer's Association, from June 28 to July 1. According to the brochure, if you register early, you can save. Hope Larry did that, we need to save all we can in Miami these days.

According to the promotion: "In today's challenging economic environment more than ever, state and local governments are turning to the public finance professional for practical advice and strategic vision. Finance officers need to understand and be able to explain the economic situation and the potential fallout for their jurisdictions.To do so, public finance professionals must stay informed of the latest developments and trends and continually enhance their skills."

This is what the trip cost:
10 round trip tickets from Miami to Seattle = $ 5,000.00
10 Hotel Rooms for 6 nights = $12,000.00
60 Days of Per Diem = $ 9,000.00
10 Fees for Conference = $10,000.00
10 Miscellaneous = $ 4,000.00
The Pair of Balls on Larry = Priceless!

They even had a party at the Seattle Mariner's Safeco Field. Meanwhile the City of Miami is trying to save the taxpayers from tax increases. When your property taxes go up, you can thank Larry.

Larry also took a recent trip to Europe with his sponsor, Mary Conway, you don't want to know what that cost.

As of now, we have not received any response from Mr. Spring's office. We did contact them.

Photo courtesy City of Miami