FOIA: Williamsburg Mayor Visits London, Staff Goes to Florida
A summary of official trips related to Williamsburg ‘Future Festivals’
In both 2022 and 2024, Williamsburg conducted a series of events called Future Festivals meant to solicit community input using games and other unique methods, as reported by Nick McNamara of WHRO. “[W]e take that festival to six or seven places around the city at different times and invite the public to come and participate in these festival-like games, so that they can take part of the process and give their feedback. And the games are designed to elicit different responses to various questions, like education, traffic, safety, any number of things,” McNamara quoted Williamsburg Mayor Doug Pons as saying.
The results of these surveys are often used to justify City projects, such as those laid out in the most recent Goals, Initiatives and Objectives (GIO) document, Pons noted in the interview conducted by McNamara.
Information received from the City in response to multiple Freedom of Information Requests (FOIA) identifies official trips in 2023 and 2024 related to publicizing and demonstrating the Future Festivals concept to other municipalities and organizations. Destinations included London and Florida. Below is a summary of each of those trips. FOIA information referenced in this post is saved in a public Google Drive folder, which you can access here.
City Nation Place Global Conference
Location: London, November 8-13, 2023
Attendees: Mayor Doug Pons, Council Member Stacy Kern-Scheerer + 2 City Staff
Total Cost: $17,858.72
Reason for trip
According to the City’s response to the FOIA request: “The City of Williamsburg’s Future Festivals were shortlisted for a 2023 City Nation Place Award for Best Citizen Engagement. A news release issued in October 2023 is attached. Award winners were announced at the end of the City Nation Place Global Conference. Two staff members registered for and attended the conference, which annually provides an international forum for ‘sharing ideas and best practices in place branding and marketing.’ Two Council members registered for and attended the award ceremony.” The conference’s website indicates that consideration for awards starts with a self-nomination. The City didn’t win the award.
Summary of total expenses
Conference Fee: $2,062.92
Lodging: $5,918.57
Airfare: $8,134.90
Travel Insurance: $205.34
Food: $992.86
Parking: $144
Transportation: $400.13
City Council's trip itinerary
Wednesday, November 8: Mayor Pons and Council Member Kern-Scheerer leave for London
Thursday, November 9: Attend award banquet from 4:30pm - 5:30pm
Friday, November 10: “Personal Day” in London for Mayor Pons and Council Member Kern-Scheerer
Saturday, November 11: “Personal Day” in London for Mayor Pons and Council Member Kern-Scheerer
Sunday, November 12: Council Member Kern-Scheerer return trip; “Personal Day” in London for Mayor Pons
Monday, November 13: Mayor Doug Pons return trip
Personal Days
An expense reimbursement form submitted on behalf of Council Member Kern-Scheerer on January 19, 2024 requests a total of $3,037.60. Details included with the request indicate airfare totalled $1,015.60. A handwritten note on the documentation regarding hotel costs states: “Email - 10.26.23. Advised Doug and Stacy that the City will cover $675 per night based on the average room rate in London.” Another handwritten notation reads “$675.00 x3 = $2025.00.” The sum of these numbers ($3040.60) is just a bit more then the amount of the reimbursement request ($3037.60). Corresponding information for Mayor Doug Pons was not included in the City’s FOIA responses.
Transforming Local Government (TLG) Conference
Location: Tampa, Florida, April 6-12, 2024
Attendees: City Manager Andrew Trivette + 9 senior staff
Total Cost: $24,892
Reason for trip
“The City of Williamsburg was given the opportunity to present Future Festivals at the annual Transforming Local Government Conference. In addition to presenting in one session, staff members also attended the conference, which ‘brings together local government professionals to share innovative ideas and best practices for creating more efficient, effective, and sustainable communities.’”
Summary of total expenses
Conference Fee: $5,440
Lodging: $7,716.58
Airfare: $3,575.55
Baggage & Travel Insurance: $139.49
Food: $4,935.38
Gas: $1,162.01
Rental Cars & Parking: $1,620.72
Uber: $302.31
City Manager office travel costs
A review of previous budgets indicates that travel related costs for the City Manager’s office have increased significantly and that the City Manager’s office has frequently overspent their annual travel budget.
George’s Note: I used a Google AI tool called NotebookLM to help research, compile and fact check this article. If you liked it, please consider buying me a cup of coffee.