City Rep. Uses City Funds For D.C. Trip Days Before Leaving Office

City Representatives Beto O’Rourke and Rachel Quintana said their goodbyes to the public and to city staff during their last city council meeting on Tuesday.

While she addressed the city council to say goodbye Quintana cried and thanked her mother. “Without my mother’s support, I, 100-percent would not have been able to do this, she’s been my backbone and assisted me with my daughter”, she said during an interview after the meeting.

She added that being a city representative has been the most rewarding and challenging job of her life. And in the tail end of the job, Quintana was chosen to attend a White House reception with President Obama. So was Representative Eddie Holguin. They are both part of an organization for young, progressive elected officials.

“I think it’s great because I got to meet a lot of people and we made a lot of contacts and I get to bring those contacts back to the city”, said Holguin.

The newly re-elected Holguin is slated to serve for another four years. Quintana leaves office in a few days.

When asked how she responded to constituents who may think it’s unjustified or questionable to use city funds for travel days before leaving office, Quintana responded. “I think it’s understandable and I hope that people who do have questions have the opportunity to contact my office. I’ve always been available for them and even until the last day, they should feel free to contact my office until the last day if they have any questions”, she said.

Holguin’s bill came out $1073.30 for hotel and airfare. He said he pays for food and taxis when he travels on city business.

At last check, Rep. Quintana had not filed a travel reinbursement form, but said she planned to.

It is common practice for city representatives to get reimbursed for trips they take as elected officials.

A few weeks ago, Susie Byrd and Steve Ortega attended a conference in Wisconsin on urbanization.

Ortega said his travel expenses totaled about $1,500 for the 4-day trip and came from discretionary funds.

City Representative have two funds that their travel expenses can come from. They are each allocated $6,100 in an operating account. That is used to pay office expenses — toner, paper, pens, long distance calls, materials, and for travel for city representatives.

Then, each city representative is also allocated discretionary funds. The amount depends on the city budget. This fiscal year, they were awarded $2,500 each. This fund is used for constituent requests that can not necessarily be funded through the regular budget. If the city rep. does not spend the total amount during the year, the balance is rolled over to the next fiscal year.

If a city representative is out of money in their operating account, they can use money from their discretionary fund for travel. Even if they are out of money from their discretionary fund, they may still be able to get reinbursed through the city manager’s office, said Holguin.

In the last fiscal year Eastside City Rep. Rachel Quintana spent $100 on the Plaza Classic Film Festival, $1,000 on the El Paso Youth Symphony, $500 on helping the Chamber of Commerce light the star on the mountain and $150 dollars on Dia de los Ninos – which provides books for children who can’t afford it.

“I think that discretionary funds were a really important part of representing the district, I know there have been a lot of things that have been unfunded especially with all the cuts were making every year, so I think it’s an important part of the budget – letting the representatives have the opportunity to choose at their discretion where they can help organizations and even city departments”, she said.

That’s a different philosophy from her fellow outgoing city rep. “It’s my hope that discretionary funding goes away completely, especially within a city manager form of government, I think you want spending decisions to be less discretionary and be more objectively considered across the board”, said City Rep. Beto O’Rourke

In his six years in office, O’Rourke has mostly spent discretionary funds on the poorer areas in his district. He spend thousands on street lights, athletic programs in South El Paso, midnight basketball, and renting out recreation centers for charitable organizations who donate gifts to children who cannot afford it.

Holguin has rolled over about $20,000 of his discretionary funds to use it on building a park in the Mission Valley.

Quintana addes she still has discretionary funds left that she wants to use on libraries and police.