Pool in Paris, why and how

On Thursday, City Council Member Leslie Pool’s absence was noticed, and in her absence questions about how she financed her trip to Paris were in the air. Pool’s office reported that she did receive a travel advance from the city to help pay for the trip. The total amount covered by her office budget was $3,091.54, which included $1,751.41 for transportation costs, $1,287.00 for meals and $53.13 for mileage. Using a Council office budget for travel is not uncommon, although Mayor Steve Adler and Travis County Commissioner Brigid Shea both covered their own costs for their trips to the United Nations conference. A thorough (if somewhat dated) accounting of how Council members spend discretionary funds was reported by the Austin Bulldog in 2012. That article is available to read here. As for why Pool was the only member of Council who was attending, she was doing so in her capacity as the chair of the Open Space, Environment and Sustainability Committee, which was formed in March of this year and most recently met yesterday, with Pool absent.