Tacoma city councilwoman led anti-Arizona vote; now she'll take trip there

Last year, Tacoma City Councilwoman Lauren Walker spearheaded a city resolution that denounced Arizona for its controversial law cracking down on illegal immigration.

This week, Walker will jet to the Grand Canyon State for a six-day trip, part of which she’ll spend attending the National League of Cities’ conference in Phoenix with three of her council colleagues.

“I haven’t had any training or travel costs for a year and a half,” Walker said of her coming trip that begins Wednesday. “With the opportunity to learn about budgeting and economic development, I decided to go.”

Scheduled to join Walker at the four-day city government training conference are Councilmen Marty Campbell, Joe Lonergan and Spiro Manthou, who, as a two-term member facing term limits at year’s end, is in his final weeks of office.

With their airfare, lodging, meals, conference registration and other costs footed by taxpayers, the council members’ travel expenses – authorized by Mayor Marilyn Strickland – collectively tally $13,088, records show.

Booked in September, the trip was scheduled before the council knew about the city’s $26 million-plus budget shortfall that likely will result in widespread city layoffs and service cuts.

“If we would’ve known about the budget and hadn’t planned it, we probably wouldn’t be going,” Manthou said. “But we can’t get refunds at this point.”

Walker added that she doesn’t believe, in light of the council’s measure chastising the Arizona law last year, that her planned trip this week is hypocritical. While the original measure she co-sponsored called for Tacoma to ban business and travel to Arizona, Walker noted that the version ultimately adopted didn’t go that far.

“It wasn’t a boycott at the end of the day,” she said.

As part of her travels, Walker added, she’ll meet with Ed Valenzuela, head of the Arizona Fair Housing Center, to discuss immigration issues.

“I felt that if I was going to Arizona, I should be talking to an expert on immigration issues,” she said.

Except for Walker, all of the council members bound this week for Arizona voted against the city’s divisive Arizona measure, which symbolically opposed SB 1070. The controversial immigration law required police in Arizona to question people about their immigration status during routine stops.

Tacoma’s council – after receiving hundreds of calls and emails and hearing more than six hours of public comments – voted 5-3 with one abstention last year to pass a watered-down version of its Arizona resolution. The measure, which described SB 1070 as racial profiling, called upon Arizona lawmakers to “rescind or significantly amend” the law.

Dozens of other municipalities across the country passed similar measures criticizing the Arizona law. A federal judge ultimately struck down key provisions of the law before it took affect. The ruling is now under appeal.

The Seattle City Council unanimously approved a boycott last year on city business and travel to Arizona “to the extent practicable.” Despite the resolution, which remains in effect, Seattle City Council President Richard Conlin also will be attending this week’s conference.

Seattle City Council spokeswoman Laura Lockard said Conlin holds an active leadership role with the national cities group and is scheduled to speak on a conference panel.

“So he can’t really blow it off,” she said. “He doesn’t really have a choice. Why the National League of Cities chose to put (the conference) in Arizona, I don’t know.”

The nonprofit NLC, as it’s known, holds two national conferences annually – one in Washington, D.C., and a second meeting held at a different city each year. The conferences aim to provide city leaders with training and networking opportunities to help them be more effective in their political roles.

“You get to learn about policy work and best practices that other cities are using around all sorts of issues, like economic development or crime and safety,” Campbell said. “Being involved with NLC has definitely helped me.”

Among Tacoma’s four attendees of the Arizona conference, Walker’s pre-authorized travel expenses come in the lowest at $1,850. Manthou’s costs total $2,107 and Lonergan’s tally $2,395.

Campbell’s expenses – $3,036 – are the highest among the group, because he’s attending an extra day of the conference as part of a special leadership track that costs extra. He’ll attend three additional seminars and a luncheon, during which he’s set to receive a “Bronze Level” leadership award, he said.

“My hope is to someday get into a leadership role with NLC, so that the City of Tacoma can also get the benefit of my connection,” he said.

Manthou, who said he’s gone to about seven other NLC conferences during his eight years on the council, added that he believes this year’s event will help him during his final weeks in office.

“We’re going to be dealing with some very important issues over the next two months, including the budget and hiring a new city manager,” he said. “I think going (to the conference) can help me get some ideas about those things, so that I can contribute as much as possible when we’re making those major decisions.”

Manthou added that even as a lame duck, he still wants to contribute as much as possible.

“I’m a council member for the City of Tacoma up until Dec. 31,” he said. “I think some council members in their lame duck years may not have contributed very much. But I hope that I can continue to do so until my very last day.”

The trip to Arizona is the first city-covered travel expense this year for Manthou and Walker, records show. Since January 2010, Campbell and Lonergan each have taken seven city-funded trips – the most among current members, according to records provided by the city. Combined, their trips – including seven voyages to Washington, D.C. – have cost more than $28,000.

“I think Marty and I have the most flexible other jobs,” Lonergan said. “We don’t have to take vacation time or other time off to travel. … We’re more available for things the council wants to make sure we’re represented at.”

Lonergan and Campbell each added that most of their trips have involved attending various training conferences that have generated policy ideas or generally helped them to become better council members.

“It’s important we have representation at the NLC, so I’m glad we’re going,” Campbell added of this week’s trip. “… It’s unfortunate that it’s in Arizona. But that’s where it’s being held.”

Lewis Kamb: 253-597-8542
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