Spending rules approved

Costa Mesa council sets policy on how members can spend discretionary funds.After a flap over Costa Mesa City Councilwoman Katrina Foley’s donation of discretionary funds to local nonprofit groups, the council has approved a new policy that restricts how members can spend those funds, and one group that got a donation plans to give it back.

Each council member gets $2,000 a year in discretionary funds that have traditionally been spent on conferences and training, cellphones and other equipment for council business. But previously, no specific policies beyond state law and city codes governed how council members could spend that money.

Councilman Eric Bever asked for an investigation of Foley’s spending after a report showed it included $1,225 in donations to school and community nonprofit groups.

On Tuesday the council voted to limit discretionary spending to conferences and seminars. Each council member still will get $2,000 a year and can choose which events, if any, to attend.

Mayor Allan Mansoor, who proposed the measure, said Wednesday he wanted a policy clearly stating that city money should be spent only on events to do with city business.

Bever agreed.

“I think the action the council took simply clarified the existing policy. I think it reflects the original intent,” he said.

As for making donations, Mansoor said, “It’s completely inappropriate to do that without council approval in my opinion. Those are public funds.”

Foley was among the four council members who supported the policy. Councilwoman Linda Dixon was absent Tuesday.

The city attorney told the council last month that Foley’s expenditures were lawful, but the issue escalated after Bever said Foley’s donations may have violated state law.

Foley said Wednesday she still thinks giving money to organizations that benefit the community is a legitimate use of discretionary funds.

“From my perspective it doesn’t matter at this point,” she said. “I just wanted to move on from the issue and get to more important issues facing the city.”

One of Foley’s donations went to Costa Mesa National Little League. Bob Knapp, the group’s treasurer, said a $250 donation came in, but the check was never cashed and will be returned to the city. The money would have gone to scholarships for athletes, but Knapp said the group will seek other sources of funding.

“We decided, you know what, it’s not worth it for us or for the city to go through this.... I thought that frankly the questions about the legality of it were absolutely preposterous, to put it mildly,” he said.

Knapp said it was implied that Foley might have gotten some sort of personal recognition for the donation, but since the check was issued by the city he wouldn’t have known who specifically gave the money.

The discretionary spending issue has left Knapp with a less-than-favorable impression of the council.

“I think it pretty much is the tone of certain members of the council whose view is that it’s the council’s job is to do as little as possible for the city,” he said.

In terms of the city budget, the new policy will reduce the amount the council allots each year for events, City Manager Allan Roeder said.

Beyond the discretionary money, the council usually budgets an average of $2,400 per member to go to events such as the League of California Cities’ annual conference, but “There are none of the council members that go to all of those events or even the majority that we budget for,” Roeder said. So the money stays in the city coffers.

Now council members will only have the discretionary $2,000 to spend on travel and education, and if they want more the council will vote on each specific request.