Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser is under fire after allegations surfaced about two trips in May that reportedly used taxpayer funds.
Bowser’s early May visit to The Masters was officially listed as a “sports and economic development visit” on her public calendar.
According to the mayor’s spokesperson, the trip came at the invitation of two women leading the Gallery Place/Chinatown Task Force.
One of the task force chairs, Jodie McLean, is the CEO of EDENS, a company that conducts significant business in Washington, D.C. When pressed by Fox 5 reporter Stephanie Ramirez for more details, Bowser responded defensively, saying:
“We tried to be transparent. I don’t know what questions you have that remain. We disclosed – I don’t know what questions you have that remain; we expect an invoice if it hasn’t – we haven’t received it yet from EDENS… I believe that the estimated costs were in the range of $5-$6,000 and that’s for air travel … per person.”
Bowser further defended her visit to the Augusta National Golf Course, stating her commitment to promoting the District.
“Voters have placed their trust in me to make the best decisions for the District for the last 15 years, including three elections as mayor. We made no secret about the fact that we make sports investments. We are the sports capital, and we are going to promote the District in every corner of the world, and that has been my experience as mayor,” she said.
In response to questions about the trip’s secrecy, Bowser retorted:
“You know the reason why you know about the trip? Because it was on my public schedule. That’s not a secret.”
Bowser’s next scheduled trip is an “economic mission” to the International Council of Shopping Centers in Las Vegas from May 19 to 21.
According to her public calendar, “On Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, Mayor Bowser will attend the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) LAS VEGAS to attract retail to the District of Columbia. This economic mission is coordinated by the Washington, DC Economic Partnership, which has organized the District’s presence at ICSC since 2001.”
These trips have drawn criticism since at least 2017. D.C. Council member Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) defended the Las Vegas trip, stating:
“It’s great. D.C. has changed, and we can make a different pitch than we could make years ago. It used to be that we had to tell them about the vision of what D.C. could become. Now, everybody wants to come open a store in the District. Frankly, if we weren’t here, we wouldn’t be doing our jobs.”
Conversely, Monica Kamen, former co-director of the DC Fair Budget Commission, argued for better allocation of taxpayer money amidst gentrification concerns.
She told the Washington Post:
“There’s been a lot of development in D.C. that has led to massive gentrification and a rise in the cost of living, and we need to be looking at how we continue development without further displacing people. A week before the budget vote, I would hope that that is where most of their focus was — on how to maximize spending for those in need . . . not in Las Vegas talking about giving away too many tax dollars to retailers.”
