Yesterday we reported that our eight City Council representatives are collectively holding $609,540 in “discretionary funds,” which are routinely used to purchase popularity at taxpayer expense.
Each city representative automatically receives $10,000 at the start of each fiscal year and can roll over unspent balances to the next fiscal year, often accumulating over $100,000 in cash. Again, as of February 28, the balances stood as follows:
Alejandra Chavez, District 1 $110,133.65
Josh Acevedo, District 2 $29,900.24
Deanna Maldonado Rocha, District 3 $17,398.77
Cynthia Bojar Trejo, District 4 $83,931.22
Ivan Nino, District 5 $90,961.06
Art Fierro, District 6 $184,898.35
Lily Limon, District 7 $27,220.56
Chris Canales, District 8 $65,095.77
We filed a public information request for all discretionary fund expenditures during the FY 2025 fiscal year and have appended the spreadsheet provided to us below. One can scroll through all eight accounts by clicking the tabs at bottom.
Scrolling from page to page, one will find all manner of waste, from airline tickets for non-essential travel to donuts, candy, and balloons.
We believe that unspent discretionary funds should be emptied into the General Fund at the end of each fiscal year. The Office of the City Attorney and CFO should rigorously review every request to make certain that proposed expenditures meet established guidelines.
The City must put an end to six-figure slush funds!