The Prince George's County Council is spending $10,000 to $15,000 for a two-night retreat on the Eastern Shore this week.
Ingrid Turner, chairwoman of the County Council, said she chose to spend more money on this year's retreat, even as the county faces a $77 million shortfall next fiscal year, to help council members avoid distractions.
"We wanted to be able to focus," she explained, "and if you get far enough away where you're not getting the day-to-day calls, you can really focus and concentrate."
The council's two-night retreat will begin Monday, about 90 minutes away from the council's Upper Marlboro offices at the Hyatt Regency Chesapeake Bay Golf Resort, Spa & Marina in Cambridge.
The cost of the retreat is more than what it cost the council last year, she said, when a one-day retreat was held inside the county borders at the historic
Newton White Mansion in Mitchellville. But Turner says a thorough outing was not needed last year, in comparison to this year, when five new council members are starting the beginning of a four-year term.
One resident not happy about the retreat, first reported by the Gazette, is activist Jennifer Harris, who lives in Accokeek. "The reason I believe Ms. Turner can get away with justifying this kind of expense is quite frankly because no one is going to be quite outraged enough to come and complain about it in loud and strong enough numbers for them to change their ways," she said.
Harris suggested the county ask each member to pay his or her own way to attend. She said she thought fewer members would still want to stay at the resort in that case.
"That would make them think about it from the taxpayer perspective, rather than from the perspective they're coming from," she said.
Read more at the Washington Examiner
Ingrid Turner, chairwoman of the County Council, said she chose to spend more money on this year's retreat, even as the county faces a $77 million shortfall next fiscal year, to help council members avoid distractions.
"We wanted to be able to focus," she explained, "and if you get far enough away where you're not getting the day-to-day calls, you can really focus and concentrate."
The council's two-night retreat will begin Monday, about 90 minutes away from the council's Upper Marlboro offices at the Hyatt Regency Chesapeake Bay Golf Resort, Spa & Marina in Cambridge.
The cost of the retreat is more than what it cost the council last year, she said, when a one-day retreat was held inside the county borders at the historic
Newton White Mansion in Mitchellville. But Turner says a thorough outing was not needed last year, in comparison to this year, when five new council members are starting the beginning of a four-year term.
One resident not happy about the retreat, first reported by the Gazette, is activist Jennifer Harris, who lives in Accokeek. "The reason I believe Ms. Turner can get away with justifying this kind of expense is quite frankly because no one is going to be quite outraged enough to come and complain about it in loud and strong enough numbers for them to change their ways," she said.
Harris suggested the county ask each member to pay his or her own way to attend. She said she thought fewer members would still want to stay at the resort in that case.
"That would make them think about it from the taxpayer perspective, rather than from the perspective they're coming from," she said.
Read more at the Washington Examiner
2 comments:
Let's encourage them to come and show that as much hospitality as we can. Let them spend their money in our community.
focus on spending your own money so's you can focus.
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