Sydney Romp: Bevan Dufty Explains It All

Yesterday we mentioned the delightful work trip/vacation San Francisco supervisor Bevan Dufty and city treasurer Jose Cisneros took to Australia for Sydney's Gay Mardi Gras. Trannyshack founder Heklina was there, too. And many readers fretted about whether or not city tax dollars went to pay for this trip down under -- an excursion, it should be mentioned, that will reportedly bring in much-needed tourist dollars to SF. Anyway, according to Dufty's office:

No San Francisco tax dollars were used to pay for the trip. In fact, 25 out of 34 individuals paid their own way.

Out of the 9 members of the delegation who were sponsored, most of the funding came from corporate sponsorships like NakedSword [NSFW] or Qantas (which donated many of the flights). Two City departments, San Francisco Airport and the Port of San Francisco, made donations out of their promotion budgets. However, both these departments are what are called "Enterprise" Departments, which are funded by user fees (e.g. United pays to land at SFO) rather than through the General Fund (i.e. tax dollars).

No tax dollars went to pay for the trip? Not one cent? Then, what's the point of working at City Hall? This ethical behavior of our elected officials is most distressing to hear.

(Oh, and the image at right, taken at the California Expo "recognizing the most successful Australian Travel professionals for sending hundreds of thousands of Aussies to CA" was sent to us by Bevan Dufty. Black bar added for your protection by SFist editor.)