Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett left Tuesday evening for a 10-day trade mission to Asia, a year after a similar trip to Israel netted a negligible number of local jobs.
Leggett’s trip tab will run about $38,000 for airfare, accommodations, receptions, meals and incidentals for the county’s top elected official and four economic development staffers who will accompany him at various points.
Though the cost is a fraction of the county’s $4.3 billion budget, Leggett’s travel plans have drawn some criticism from Council President Mike Knapp and some union leaders, who fault him for leaving the area while the county faces a $250 million budget gap and impending cuts from the state.
“This trip, though not a budget-buster, seems extravagant in light of the international economic crisis and county’s furlough plans and sends a terrible message to employees and residents alike,” Jane Milne, secretary of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 35, said. “I only hope it isn’t first-class seating.”
Leggett spokesman Patrick Lacefield said the county would only pay for coach travel for Leggett, but the county executive could upgrade to first class if he chose to do so himself. Lacefield would not reveal the names of hotels where Leggett will stay, citing “security concerns.”
Gino Renne, president of the Municipal and County Government Employees Organization, which represents around 8,000 county government workers, had concerns about how his members would react.
“We are being asked to sacrifice, but it is business as usual for them,” Renne said.
Leggett’s office did not put out a news release on his trip, Lacefield said, because they wanted to wait until they had results to discuss.
“We haven’t heard any adverse commentary on it,” Lacefield said. “I think people get it, that you have to go out and find the business, find the investment, they’re able to make the cost calculations.”
After Leggett’s $11,000 trip to Israel last year, the county announced that two Israeli companies had committed to a presence in Montgomery County that could bring up to 25 jobs.
One of those companies has since eliminated its U.S. presence, according to the man who helped organize the Israel trip and a receptionist who answered a phone number listed on the company’s Web site. Lacefield said an additional two Israeli firms have subsequently pursued Montgomery offices.
