Travel records provided to tallahasseereports.com show that Mayor Marks has increased the travel billed to the city each year over the last three years.
During FY 2006, Mr. Marks was on the road for 29 days at a cost of $16,460, in FY 2007 he was on the road 31 days for a cost of $16,731, and in FY 2008 he was on the road 44 days at a cost of $24,062. City officials reported that in 2008, approximately $6,000 was reimbursed to the city by various organizations.
Over the last 3 years we know that:
- Mr. Marks took 51 trips
- There were 4 trips that cost over $2,000 and included sister city trips to Russia and Israel
- 24 trips cost more than a $1,000
Listed below is a table with information on each of the trips taken by Mayor Marks. Future reports will release travel information for other Commissioners and other Leadership staff.
| Start Date | End Date | Days | Purpose | Destination | Trip Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9/30/2005 | 10/3/2005 | 3 | Sunshine State Board Meeting | Coral Gables, FL | $633 |
| 12/8/2005 | 12/9/2005 | 1 | National League of Cities (NLC) Annual Conference | Charlotte, NC | $1,457 |
| 1/26/2006 | 1/27/2006 | 1 | U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) Winter Meeting | Washington, DC | $685 |
| 4/9/2006 | 4/11/2006 | 2 | National Forum for Black Public Administrators (NFBPA) | Dallas, TX | $1,727 |
| 4/27/2006 | 4/29/2006 | 2 | National Conference of Black Mayors (NCBM) | Memphis, TN | $1,259 |
| 5/7/2006 | 5/9/2006 | 2 | Energy Issues Policy Forum | Amelia Island, FL | $1,753 |
| 6/2/2006 | 6/6/2006 | 4 | U.S. Conference of Mayors | Las Vegas, NV | $2,050 |
| 6/12/2006 | 6/12/2006 | 1 | Sunshine State Governmental Financing Commission (SSGFC) | Marco Island, FL | $292 |
| 6/23/2006 | 6/25/2006 | 2 | Florida League of Mayors/Leadership Florida | Orlando, FL | $962 |
| 7/13/2006 | 7/14/2006 | 1 | NFBPA Awards | Washington, DC | $941 |
| 8/4/2006 | 8/6/2006 | 2 | Chamber of Commerce Retreat | Amelia Island, FL | $768 |
| 8/10/2006 | 8/12/2006 | 2 | FLC/Florida League of Mayors 2006 Conference | Jacksonville, FL | $1,019 |
| 9/21/2006 | 9/26/2006 | 5 | Sister Cities Exchange – Trip to Russia | Krasnodar, Russia | $2,353 |
| 9/29/2006 | 9/30/2006 | 1 | FLC Board Meeting | St. Petersburg, FL | $562 |
| 29 | FY06 Total | $16,460 | |||
| 11/16/2006 | 11/18/2006 | 2 | FLC Legislative Conference/FLM Meeting | Orlando, FL | $795 |
| 1/24/2007 | 1/26/2007 | 2 | U.S. Conference of Mayors Winter Meeting | Washington, DC | $1,396 |
| 2/2/2007 | 2/7/2007 | 5 | Sister City Relations – Trip to Israel | Tel Aviv, Israel | $2,361 |
| 2/8/2007 | 2/9/2007 | 1 | Florida League of Mayors Meeting | Tampa, FL | $622 |
| 3/10/2007 | 3/13/2007 | 3 | National League of Cities Conference | Washington, DC | $1,800 |
| 4/13/2007 | 4/13/2007 | 1 | Air Service Development/Delta Airlines Meeting | Atlanta, GA | $655 |
| 4/22/2007 | 4/25/2007 | 3 | NFBPA Annual Conference | Phoenix, AZ | $1,936 |
| 5/2/2007 | 5/5/2007 | 3 | NCBM Annual Conference | Baton Rouge, LA | $997 |
| 5/16/2007 | 5/17/2007 | 1 | Florida League of Mayors | Orlando, FL | $674 |
| 5/21/2007 | 5/21/2007 | 1 | Sunshine State Governmental Finance Commission | Orlando, FL | $486 |
| 6/15/2007 | 6/16/2007 | 1 | Neighborhood Conference/Suncoast League | Sarasota, FL | $756 |
| 6/21/2007 | 6/26/2007 | 5 | Save the Family Summit/US Conference of Mayor’s Annual | St. Louis, MO & LA, CA | $2,610 |
| 6/28/2007 | 7/1/2007 | 3 | Leadership Florida Annual Conference | Palm Beach, FL | $1,584 |
| 31 | FY07 Total | $16,673 | |||
| 10/25/2007 | 10/27/2007 | 2 | SSGFC Board | Naples, FL | $1,322 |
| 10/31/2007 | 11/2/2007 | 2 | National League of Cities | Seattle, WA | $1,202 |
| 11/8/2007 | 11/9/2007 | 1 | Florida League of Cities | Orlando, FL | $722 |
| 11/14/2007 | 11/16/2007 | 2 | National League of Cities | Orlando, FL | $1,634 |
| 12/13/2007 | 12/14/2007 | 1 | Florida League of Cities | Miami, FL | $742 |
| 1/4/2008 | 1/4/2008 | 1 | FLC Exec Comm Mtg | Orlando | $443 |
| 1/11/2008 | 1/11/2008 | 1 | SSGFC | West Palm Beach | $563 |
| 1/14/2008 | 1/14/2008 | 1 | FLC – Joint Ofcrs mtg | Tampa | $466 |
| 1/24/2008 | 1/24/2008 | 1 | USCoM | Washington, DC | $1,498 |
| 2/8/2008 | 2/9/2008 | 1 | FLoM – Board Retreat | Amelia Island, FL | $435 |
| 2/11/2008 | 2/13/2008 | 2 | NLC – FAST Flyin’ | Washington, DC | $1,748 |
| 2/21/2008 | 2/23/2008 | 2 | USCoM | Key West | $1,229 |
| 3/9/2008 | 3/12/2008 | 3 | NLC – Cong. Conf | Washington, DC | $2,115 |
| 4/2/2008 | 4/3/2008 | 1 | FLC-FMIvT | St. Augustine | $306 |
| 4/20/2008 | 4/22/2008 | 2 | NFBPA | Little Rock, Arkansas | $1,368 |
| 5/1/2008 | 5/2/2008 | 1 | SSGFC | West Palm Beach | $767 |
| 5/5/2008 | 5/7/2008 | 2 | LeRoy Collins Institute Board Mtg | Miami | $712 |
| 6/13/2008 | 6/16/2008 | 3 | SSGFC | Ft. Lauderdale | $504 |
| 6/19/2008 | 6/24/2008 | 5 | Mayors Hemispheric Conf | Miami | $1,774 |
| 6/27/2008 | 6/27/2008 | 1 | FLC – Board Mtg | Ft. Lauderdale | $457 |
| 8/8/2008 | 8/10/2008 | 2 | Chamber | Amelia Island, FL | $944 |
| 8/13/2008 | 8/17/2008 | 4 | FLC – Annual Conf | Tampa | $1,105 |
| 9/16/2008 | 9/17/2008 | 1 | Chamber | Miami | $1,038 |
| 9/25/2008 | 9/27/2008 | 2 | FLC – Board Mtg | Miami | $970 |
| 44 | FY08 Total | $24,062 |
Travel Records Show Mayor Hit The Road More In 2008 added by Staff on
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do not blame termites, cock roaches, rats, mice; even tigers for doing what they do. do not blame an uppity black lawyer with a history of benefiting from misplaced tokenism…membership on PSC and attention from whichever governor it was that noticed him years ago…They all do what they do. If you live in India and a tiger eats you that’s your fault. If you live in Talahassee and a termite eats your house that’s your fault.
If the the expensive albeit empty-suit Marks attains the office of Mayor…and keeps it…that’s our fault. not his. He’s just doing what his kind do. To continue to allow it reflects on us the electorate, not John.
Over $8,200.00 to conferences for black mayors or black administrators!
Can you imagine if a white mayor went to a conference for white mayors or white administrators?
There really is no need for all these trips. SHAME ON YOU MR. MARKS!
Free vacations for politicians and their wives while F.S.U. has cut all travel until further notice.
When faced with anticipated reductions in property tax revenues last year, Mayor Marks threatened to cut ambulance and fire services. Fortunately, his travel was not impacted.