Arizona Daily Star 2004

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SOUTHERN ARIZONA ENDODONTICS I
NSURANCE PROCESSOR

Taxpayers will pay for four Tucson-based county parks employees to stay at Starr Pass Resort this week for the Arizona Parks and Recreation Association's annual conference.

Two other employees who are driving in from Ajo will also stay at the resort.

Rooms for conference attendees cost $93 a night. All the employees staying the night are sharing rooms.

Parks officials said the four need to stay at the upscale resort because they will need to be at the conference early to lead morning hikes or they will be working late as part of the entertainment committee.

Pima County has no set policy on when employees can stay at hotels in the Tucson area.

In 2005, the Public Defender's Office drew criticism for holding a retreat at Loews Ventana Canyon. A dozen participants chose to spend the night.

Chief Deputy County Administrator Martin Willett said whether it's appropriate depends on how the employees will spend their time.

"It depends on whether there is value in staying there and whether it relates to what you're doing," Willett said.

"Or is it the same as working late and having to be in early the next day, in which case you might as well sleep at home?"

"If the director has looked at it and believes they really need to be there and are doing bona fide work, then that's legitimate," he added.

Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation Director Rafael Payan said the employees in question meet that criteria.

"Normally, I don't allow people to stay in town, but in this case we felt it was important," Payan said.

"They are meeting with other committee members from out of town. They are helping set up and close down."

Recreation Superintendent Joe Barr and parks planner Steve Anderson will spend one night at the resort, because they will be leading hikes that start at 6 a.m. and will be meeting with people who serve on boards and commissions for parks departments around the state.

Four other employees are staying all three nights of the conference, two from Tucson and two from Ajo.

The other two from the Tucson area serve on the entertainment committee, whose duties include organizing a social outing to Casino del Sol on Wednesday and running the awards banquet and conference social on Thursday.

They will be working until 10 p.m. and returning between 7 and 8 on the following morning.

"There's a lot of interaction that goes on after hours," said Barr. "Normally, the conference is in Phoenix, and we incur all the expenses associated with that. Once every four years it comes to Tucson. We're helping run the conference basically."

Most of the roughly 40 county parks employees attending the conference will return home at the end of the day.

Payan said the decision to have the employees stay was simply practical.

"If we were trying to set this up for their convenience, so they could socialize, that would be wrong," he said. "This is simply operational. If it was in a vacant lot, we would have people there setting up and taking down. We're looking at a core group of people."

Jaret Barr, assistant to Tucson's city manager, said city policy states the city will not pay for employees to stay at hotels and resorts for local conferences, no matter the situation.

Despite its policy, the city is renting one room at Starr Pass for the conference, but city staffers said the room is a workplace during the conference. It's possible the room may be used by employees to stay in overnight, but no employees are specifically assigned to stay in the room.

Barr said the city encourages employees to stay at the hotels or resorts during local conferences — but on their own dime.

Encouraging overnight stays is a way to keep city employees who attend conference mixers, which serve alcohol, from drinking and driving, he said.

But the city won't pay or reimburse for the rooms, he said.