Ward 4 Councilman Pierre Beard downgraded his accommodations Thursday for an upcoming conference in Point Clear, Alabama.
He still plans to attend the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway Conference next week. But instead of staying at The Grand Hotel Golf Resort and Spa where the conference will be held, he booked a room at a Hampton Inn in Fairhope, Alabama, at a cost to the city of $974.21 less.
Fairhope and Point Clear are roughly 9 miles apart.
Beard’s rebooking comes two days after the council approved funding his travel to the conference at the higher rate, which included more than $1,000 in late registration charges. With hotel, registration, travel and meals, the total approved cost was $2,199.36.
After Tuesday’s vote, which came 4-2 with Councilman Rusty Greene and Councilwoman Jacqueline DiCicco opposed, The Dispatch reported on the late fee and also published a letter to the editor critical of the extra cost.
Angela Jones, executive assistant for Mayor Keith Gaskin who handles travel bookings for city officials, provided receipts to The Dispatch, at Beard’s request, showing the changed hotel reservation. They show the original booking at The Grand was made Wednesday for $1,324.01. On Thursday, that booking was canceled, and Beard was rebooked at the Hampton Inn for $349.80.
Both reservations were for two nights.
Speaking with The Dispatch on Thursday, Beard claimed he never intended to stay at The Grand, and he was unaware that reservation had been made. He said he didn’t even think rooms would still be available there.
“I mean, it was never supposed to be booked there,” he said. “That was just an approval we were waiting on to see where I was going to stay. That was just the estimated cost, I thought. I didn’t know they had booked all of that. All of that was new to me. … Nothing was set in stone at the council meeting Tuesday.”
Beard has attended other conferences as a city representative during his term in office, and Gaskin said Wednesday that includes previous Tenn-Tom Waterway conferences.
The issue of the late fee came up during Tuesday’s council meeting because the total trip cost up for approval had jumped from the $1,118.20 listed on a previous version of the agenda. The difference came from Beard missing the early registration deadline.
Beard had intended to go to another event with three other council members, but it required proof of updated COVID-19 vaccination.
Beard told council members Tuesday that he was not vaccinated for COVID-19.
After canceling plans to attend that conference, Beard “checked on this one,” Gaskin said during a Wednesday press conference at City Hall.
Interim City Planner George Irby is also attending the Tenn-Tom conference, registering at the early bird rate.
Beard said he looks forward to attending the conference for “networking purposes” and to “learn as much as I can like I always do when we go and take training exercises.”
“I’m not trying to overspend nobody’s money,” Beard said. “I don’t know where that keeps coming from. … I’m here trying to save as much money as I can.”
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
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