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Trimming travel bucks Ashland council to limit its own expense budget By DANI DODGE ASHLAND -- The Ashland City Council got one step closer Tuesday to a resolution that limits travel and training expenses for council members and the mayor -- although the limit can change from year to year. They also retroactively approved a $2,345 trip for Councilwoman Carole Wheeldon to attend the Pacific Program in Bend that started on Saturday. She had requested authorization for the leadership training before she left, but the item had been put off due to an overly long meeting two weeks ago. The new policy states that the "mayor and council shall authorize a training budget through the budgeting process." The mayor and council cannot exceed that budget in any year without approval of the council majority. City Administrator Mike Freeman said the council would figure out at the beginning of the budget cycle what conferences, meetings and training sessions they wanted to attend and what their costs were likely to be. Then, he would budget that amount, with a little extra thrown in for contingencies. At Tuesday's meeting, council members only asked for minor changes in the resolution. Councilman Don Laws wanted the language tightened up so it didn't allow spending too freely. "As it's worded, it would open it to a huge amount of money with no checks at all," he said. The issue first arose in early September, when an Ashland resident requested information from City Recorder Barbara Christensen about council expenses. She dug up a 1991 policy that stated council members were not allowed to incur training and training expenses of more than $1,000 a year. Several council members had gone over the in the past budget cycle. Last year, council expenses ranged from nothing for Laws and Cameron Hanson to $4,657 for Councilman Steve Hauck. Before Christenson found the 1991 rule, Freeman had already approved Wheeldon's request for reimbursement on her Bend training seminar. And in fact, the rule had not been enforced since shortly after it was created, according to Laws. Freeman and other council members said it was woefully out of date. The new policy lists three types of training or travel for which council members can be reimbursed: representing the city, seeking training on specific issues such as land use law or telecommunications, or educational and professional development training. The policy states that the mayor or council member seeking the last type of training should seek prior approval from the council. On the others, the council can go ahead with serving the city as long as there is money still in the training and travel budget. Today's Business Index Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA