City Manager Spent 4 Days In Las Vegas At Conference

JOLIET, IL - As it turns out, new city of Joliet manager David Hales spent four days staying overnight in Las Vegas to attend a retail and real estate conference in late May. Hales' out of state travel expenses were the highest of the 16 city of Joliet officials whose out of town travel reimbursements went before the city council's finance committee this week for approval. The city's travel expenses for June totaled $8,458.

Hales, who makes an annual salary of $215,000 managing City Hall for Joliet, submitted about $1,875 in travel expenses for his time attending the Las Vegas Convention Center. The Global Retail Real Estate Convention went on between May 20-23.

The website for RECon called it "three days of deal making, professional development workshops, networking and ICSC's Global Awards Ceremony and more."

Here's a rundown of Hales' bills the city council agreed to reimburse earlier this week:

• $1,010 for hotel lodging in Las Vegas, May 19, May 20, May 21 and May 22.
• $548 in round trip airfare
• $115 for meals
• $110 for taxi cabs
• $92 for parking fees

Joliet Patch discovered Hales' $1,875 expense while reviewing this week's meeting agenda for the financial committee meeting. The Joliet City Council hired Hales last September and he started with the city of Joliet the week after Thanksgiving. He replaced Jim Hock who retired in April 2017.

Besides Hales, the city's new economic development specialist Derek Conley, 30, also attended the event. The purpose of the conference appears to closely align with Conley's new job responsibilities.

"I want to be that first point of contact as new businesses or companies look to Joliet, and that it's up to me to give that pitch," Conley told Joliet Patch during an interview in June. "We need to kind of market ourselves."

Conley's travel expenses were around $1,230, which is more than $600 less than Hales. Conley stayed in Las Vegas one fewer day than Hales, the city's travel records show.

Besides Joliet, the village of Plainfield also apparently sent a delegation out to the conference. Minutes from an April 12 village of Plainfield Economic Development Task Force meeting show that village "staff provided an update of its preparation for the RECon 2018 conference. Staff has identified multiple retailers and hotel groups that will be attending the conference and currently setting up meetings with these groups."

In any event, here's a rundown of the other out of state travel expenses submitted during the month of June by city of Joliet employees and politicians:

• Mayor Bob O'Dekirk, May 21, "White House Event, one-day trip, Washington, D.C." $782 Airfare.
• Maria Green, Joliet police administration special projects coordinator, Sept. 16-21, Newport Beach, California, International Association of Crime Analysts, $476 Airfare.
• James Hargrow, Joliet Police investigations, July 2-7, $525 Airfare, National Black Police Association, National Education/Training Conference, San Diego, California.
• Carlos Matlock, Joliet Police investigations, July 2-7, $1,390 total expenses: $409 Airfare, $981 Westin GAS Hotel, National Black Police Association, National Education/Training Conference, San Diego, California.
• Alan Roechner, Joliet Police administration, deputy chief of investigations, $1,045 for upcoming hotel lodging in Orlando, Florida, October 6-9, 2018, International Association Chiefs of Police Conference.

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Main images of city manager David Hales via Joliet Patch Editor John Ferak