Ireland trip almost costs San Jose its ability to govern

The San Jose City Council has avoided voting against its own travel policy with two of six elected officials suddenly backing out of a trip to Ireland.

The city clamped down on how many councilmembers can travel during council sessions back in 2018 when more than half of the city council took a trip to the sister city of Okayama, Japan — disrupting San Jose’s ability to govern. The policy bans more than five councilmembers from traveling at the same time if their absence affects meetings where they are needed. In the past, multiple legislative meetings had to be canceled because there wasn’t a quorum.

The council averted the dilemma on Tuesday when Councilmembers Omar Torres and Peter Ortiz spoke ahead of the vote to bow out of the Dublin, Ireland trip scheduled for next month.

“I have to start preparing for fiestas patrias, which has happened here at San Jose City Hall,” Torres said. “I’m pretty active in organizing that major community event for our Mexican American community. And so with that, I want to take myself off consideration for going.”

Ortiz did not give a reason during the discussion for pulling out of the trip.

City officials faced a similar crossroads in March 2023 when six elected leaders planned to join the San Jose Chamber of Commerce on an annual trip to Phoenix, Arizona. Councilmember Sergio Jimenez backed out of the trip to avoid a potential rule break.

Councilmember Pam Foley said the upcoming four-day stay will include meetings with the Dublin City Council and government, the Irish National Government and Dublin Chamber of Commerce. San Jose representatives last visited Dublin as a delegation in 2018, maintaining a “sister city” relationship with the city since 1986.

“This will be my first delegation travel to Dublin, Ireland, as a Director on the Sister Cities International (SCI) Board,” Foley stated in a memo earlier this month. “SCI plays a crucial role in building bridges between communities across the globe while continuing to advance the ideals and mission championed by President Dwight Eisenhower, by promoting cultural exchange, economic cooperation and mutual understanding.”

Mayor Matt Mahan chose Foley to lead the delegation from Sept. 9-12 on his behalf — as well as gave a nod to her Irish ancestry.

“Councilmember Foley is our liaison to the sister cities program on behalf of the council and is deeply invested in it,” Mahan said Tuesday.

Foley will be joined by Vice Mayor Rosemary Kamei along with Councilmembers Dev Davis and Sergio Jimenez. They will be absent from the Sept. 10 city council meeting, but it won’t be canceled because enough councilmembers will be present.

However, the Rules and Open Government Committee meeting on Sept. 11 will have to be canceled, as four of the five sitting councilmembers will be absent.

Foley said she will use a mix of her district’s office budget and personal funds to pay for the travel, while remaining elected officials will utilize funds from their district office budgets.

The total 2024-25 travel budget for the mayor and city council is $10,000, with $2,000 already been set aside for a League of California Cities Annual Conference trip in October.

Contact Vicente Vera at [email protected] or follow @VicenteJVera on X, formerly known as Twitter.