Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser took a Saturday trip to the Masters tournament in Augusta, Georgia… and she flew there on the taxpayers’ dime, according to her own office.
Susana Castillo, the mayor’s communications director, said that the mayor had tapped city funds to pay for the trip. Castillo made the remarks on a Monday call with DC News Now.
However, Castillo refused to divulge the cost of travel expenses and instructed the outlet to file a Freedom of Information Act request.
Multiple news outlets, including WJLA and DC News Now, are already seeking this information, but they may need to wait a while in order to hear back. WJLA is still trying to uncover the cost of the mayor’s December trip to Dubai.
Airfare usually costs about $400 for a round trip from D.C. through Charlotte… and $500 for a round trip from D.C. through Atlanta.
The mayor’s golf trip comes as D.C. is dealing with its own struggles, and critics are not happy about it.
“That’s not good,” one D.C. resident told DC News Now. “At least ask if they could pay for it.”
“We need reforms. We need a bunch of other stuff that doesn’t have to do with the Masters,” another person said. “Mayor Bowser, could you come to H Street and help these homeless people, please?”
Bowser told reporters after returning, “No matter where I am, my team is working and always in touch with me at a moment’s notice.”
Democratic Party officials, like Councilmember Vincent Gray, have defended Bowser’s visit.
“I see no controversy in travel that is intended to promote the District in furtherance of opportunity that benefits residents and local businesses,” Gray, a former mayor of D.C., said in a statement.
Bowser’s public calendar described the trip as “a sports and economic development visit.” The mayor accepted the invitation from two chairs of D.C.’s Task Force to Shape Future of Gallery Place/Chinatown Neighborhood, according to Castillo’s remarks to DC News Now.
One resident, describing Bowser as an “excellent mayor,” told DC News Now, “Chinatown isn’t part of Washington, D.C. Chinatown is located in all the states. So, I agree.”
The Horn editorial team