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Politics

Official's tax-paid travels mount

Numerous conference outings have made her a better School Board member, Valdes says.

By JEFFREY S. SOLOCHEK
Published November 9, 2006

TAMPA - Since joining the Hillsborough School Board two years ago, Susan Valdes has traveled to New York, Washington, San Diego, Las Vegas, Boston, Phoenix and Charleston, S.C. - all on the taxpayer's dime.

Her out-of-county travel bill: $26,646.

The combined bill for the other six board members: $31,915.

"She has been warned, tactfully, of the ramifications," School Board member Jennifer Faliero said Wednesday. "The money comes from somewhere. Where is the accountability on her part as to where the money is coming from?"

The School Board is expected today to consider new guidelines that would prevent such spending in the future. The proposal would set a board travel budget and divide it equally among the seven members. Any attempt to deviate from the policy would require board approval.

Valdes said she supports the recommendation. She said she lives within her means, and had she known the board had a travel budget, she would have followed it.

"When Doretha Edgecomb and I came on, we were not told, 'You have a budget for travel,' " Valdes said. "The way it was described was, we look at the conferences we were going to go to and we try to divvy them up and we go from there. That's it."

Valdes says the travel helped her become a better board member.

"If you weren't aware of a line item, then what's the oops?" Valdes said, noting that superintendent MaryEllen Elia, who signs all board travel authorizations, never said no. "I take professional development very, very seriously."

Ask her about a specific trip, and Valdes enthusiastically recounts details.

She raved about meeting the Italian consul general in Coral Gables for an Italian National Day reception, an overnight trip in June that cost the district $478. What better way to get insights into foreign language education opportunities, she said, adding that she hoped to have a similar meeting with Chinese government officials.

She "oohed" when asked about a $1,558 trip three weeks later to New York City, where she attended a conference about education technology. Less than an hour after her return flight home, she left for Kissimmee, where she spent five days at a conference learning about global education.

That trip cost $1,610, including $975 for her hotel stay. Board members generally do not stay overnight for events that are within driving distance.

"Jennifer, a while ago in our of our retreats, she said, 'Watch your travel because that might come back at you when you run again,' " Valdes recalled. "I said, 'Okay, Jen. Thanks.' But there was no limitation or even description of what was our limit. If you look at our policy and procedure book, where is it in there? It's not."

Valdes said she thinks the new rule was written with her in mind.

"Think about it," she said. "They knew I was supporting April (Griffin for an at-large board seat) and when April wins, God willing, the board is not going to be the same, because we will look at things differently."

Faliero rejected that idea.

"This has more to do with us being accountable and responsible for the money we spend as board members," she said. "There comes a time when you have to look at what you do and make some common-sense decisions. ... She's claiming if everything is approved and there is no budget, then therefore the sky is the limit. ... I would approach it differently."

Other board members said they didn't know how many trips Valdes had taken until the St. Petersburg Times requested the information.

Board member Candy Olson, who has traveled to Atlanta, Washington, Portland, Ore., and San Diego, among other places, said she sees two valid reasons to travel for the district - training and information gathering. But you have to choose destinations wisely, she said.

Much of Olson's travel during the past two years was related to her serving on the executive board of the Council of Great City Schools. She thought her costs would have been the highest on the board, but she came in a distant third.

"I've tried very hard to be frugal. We make it very hard for teachers and administrators to travel," she said. "I don't think we ought to be bopping off to something because it sounds cool."

Carol Kurdell, the board's longest-tenured member and least expensive traveler, served with Valdes on the committee that wrote the new travel proposal. She said her only motivation was to set a standard for all board members.

"I realized with a new superintendent and a change in the way we do business, it just made sense for us to look at ourselves," Kurdell said.

Jeffrey S. Solochek can be reached at solochek@sptimes.com or (813) 269-5304.

[Last modified November 9, 2006, 05:51:32]