Council Attends Conference

Carson City Council members are spending this weekend in Palm Springs attending a Los Angeles County conference and holding a “rap session” with city department heads to determine budget priorities.

All five council members were registered as delegates to a three-day annual meeting of cities that contract with the county for services such as law enforcement and fire protection.

Taxpayers are picking up the tab, which will exceed $2,600. The registration fee for the contract-cities conference, which began Friday, is $235 a person, or $1,175 for the entire council, a city spokeswoman said.

In addition, rooms at the Palm Springs Marquis Hotel cost $95 a night for three nights, a total of $1,425. Meals and entertainment are extra.

Mayor Michael Mitoma said a one-hour council meeting planned for Saturday would provide “kind of a rap session” for council members and city officials. Mitoma said he wants the city staff and council to “try to work as a team” since “that hasn’t been the situation here.”

The newly selected mayor said there is an advantage to taking council members out-of-town “away from the public” so they “don’t play to the audience” at council meetings.