Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell, City Manager Marc Ott and Police Chief Art Acevedo, along with Sue Edwards, the assistant city manager for development services, and Rodney Gonzales, the deputy director of economic growth and redevelopment services who’s also the project manager for the city’s Formula One planning, are off to England today to see how an F1 race is run. They’ll be spending the weekend at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, a track located in the carefully cultivated English countryside between London and Birmingham.
Fire Chief Rhoda Mae Kerr was scheduled to go, but I’ve heard she’s changed her mind and decided to stay home. The Fourth of July and the days before and after it often are busy ones for the Fire Department and maybe Kerr wants to be in town in case a major fire breaks out. She was criticized last year for staying on vacation in Colorado when fires broke out in Bastrop County and elsewhere.
I won’t repeat here the details of what the American-Statesman reported last week (which you can read here and here) and what we said in an editorial criticizing the England trip as a junket (read the editorial here) other than to offer this summary: Circuit of the Americas, which is organizing the F1 race planned for Nov. 16-18 in Elroy, offered to fly two Austin officials to Silverstone and in quick order it was decided that no fewer than six needed to go on what city officials have called an educational, fact-finding trip.
The city says it is paying for four plane tickets at a reported cost of $5,556. (I don’t know how Kerr’s decision to stay home has affected that cost.) Circuit of the Americas is paying for Leffingwell and Ott’s travel, and picking up lodging for Acevedo et al.
Leffingwell and Ott, flying on Circuit of the Americas’ dime, will be seated comfortably in business class. The others are flying coach. According to USA Today’s Travel website, business class on international flights “falls short of first class but still exceeds the offerings of domestic first class.” Sounds very nice.
Meanwhile, coach is coach.
If you remember the “Seinfeld” episode where Jerry ends up in first class, sipping champagne, nibbling on fresh-baked cookies and cuddling with a tall beauty, while Elaine gets sandwiched into coach, you’ll enjoy imagining the mayor and Ott as Jerry, Acevedo as Elaine.
Watch highlights of the episode here.
Leffingwell and the gang get to repeat the experience Monday, when they’re scheduled to return home. Can’t wait to hear all the fun facts they’ve learned.