Mayor Bowser took ‘economic development’ trip to Masters on taxpayers’ dime

[Anonymous]

Work hard, play hard?

"Bowser announced the jaunt on her public schedule and a spokeswoman for the mayor’s office confirmed that DC residents paid for all related travel expenses to get inside the gates at the fabled Augusta National Golf Club, DC News Now reported."

https://nypost.com/2024/04/18/us-news/green-racket-dc-mayor-took-trip-to-masters-on-taxpayer-dime/

[Anonymous]

I think abusing your access to taxpayer funds should be grounds for making you ineligible to run for office again. There ought to be some sort of strict guidelines on use of taxpayer funds. Going to the Masters on a pretext is transparent and ridiculous and disrespectful towards taxpayers.

[Anonymous]

Who cares. You should be happy it was just to South Carolina and not some European boondoggle.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like official corruption to me

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Who cares. You should be happy it was just to South Carolina and not some European boondoggle.

The Masters is in Georgia, ding dong.

[Anonymous]

Maybe it had something to do with the restoration of the Rock Creek Park Golf Course? She’s not a golf buff, so there must be a good reason. We don’t know the full story.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think abusing your access to taxpayer funds should be grounds for making you ineligible to run for office again. There ought to be some sort of strict guidelines on use of taxpayer funds. Going to the Masters on a pretext is transparent and ridiculous and disrespectful towards taxpayers.

There's a reason that they're so few ways to legally force someone out of elected office.

It's the only job where the public gets to directly choose whether the person stays in the job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Who cares. You should be happy it was just to South Carolina and not some European boondoggle.

I still remember when the DDOT director went on a European vacation to “study cycling”. That was hilarious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who cares. You should be happy it was just to South Carolina and not some European boondoggle.

I still remember when the DDOT director went on a European vacation to “study cycling”. That was hilarious.

The research from that whirlwind trip resulted in the plans for the K Street and Connecticut Ave bikeways.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who cares. You should be happy it was just to South Carolina and not some European boondoggle.

I still remember when the DDOT director went on a European vacation to “study cycling”. That was hilarious.

The research from that whirlwind trip resulted in the plans for the K Street and Connecticut Ave bikeways.

Cool story but not true. He went in fall 2022, which was well after bike lanes were added by lobbyists to early concept for both.

[Anonymous]

I'm not a Bowser fan, but Mayors do need to travel to drum up business. Calm down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who cares. You should be happy it was just to South Carolina and not some European boondoggle.

I still remember when the DDOT director went on a European vacation to “study cycling”. That was hilarious.

The research from that whirlwind trip resulted in the plans for the K Street and Connecticut Ave bikeways.

Cool story but not true. He went in fall 2022, which was well after bike lanes were added by lobbyists to early concept for both.

Then what are the concrete results from the whirlwind trip? Did the DDOT director publish a white paper on bike mobility in cities and emerging trends?

[Anonymous]

I'm not a Bowser fan, but Mayors do need to travel to drum up business. Calm down.

[Anonymous]

Honestly, golf is really boring to watch, even in person, so I am inclined to believe that it was a legitimate trip. If she really wanted to go to a sporting event on taxpayer money, I think she would have chosen something better than the Masters.

Trips like this are really a drop in the bucket, and as long as they don't become too frequent, they seem fine to me. We can't complain about jobs or economic stagnation without allowing our leaders to do what they can to lure new businesses to come here.

[Anonymous]

People, I would be happy to fund luxury international vacays if she could only be harder on criminals!