City hosts French teens as part of Sister City program

$5K effort draws criticism amid budget crunch

By JOSHUA STEWART, Staff Writer

Published 08/05/09

Three French teenagers are learning to sail on the Chesapeake Bay through Annapolis' Sister City program, part of a cultural exchange that Mayor Ellen O. Moyer said she believes is important for the city.

But other city officials said the $5,000 cost is inappropriate when only weeks ago they scrambled to pass an $86 million budget without layoffs or significant reductions in city services.

Officials said they hope the visitors learn from the experience, which primarily involved learning to sail on the Chesapeake, but others said the expense to host them is unfair to taxpayers and indicative of the type of spending that...

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Sister Cities - Disgusting - 2009-08-10 08:21:23

The sister city program has been a colossal failure. It has only helped to provide tax-payer junkets for our politicians to take trips abroad to learn about cultural differences. We paid for the trip for these kids to come sailing in Annapolis? We paid for a car to drive them to Dulles? What's next, are we going to send Sam, who already exceeded his travel budget earlier in the year, to the Ukraine to visit his wife? This corruption needs to stop. Hopefully we will have a new administration that is far removed from the present one and not more of the same. We do not need to be paying for junkets and the personal enrichment of our already questionable leaders. The gravy train needs to end.

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Jeff C. - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Good

Typical Political Pork - 2009-08-06 13:35:47

One of the reasons none of our Federal / State / City / Local government budgets can ever be balanced, too much nonsense junk in them.

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Rick M. - Laurel, Md - Karma: Excellent

Seriously - 2009-08-06 10:33:16

Apparently these kids got a presidential motorcade to bring them to Annapolis. They are already experienced sailors. What happened to host families and businesses that might like some free publicity and do the right thing?
No, it is much easier to the clueless Mayor to spend another $5000 when she already balanced the budget on a credit card!
And why is it that when WE travel to a Sister City it is at OUR expense and when they come here it is at OUR expense.
Is it any wonder why the French refer to us as "stupid Americans"?

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John F. - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Excellent

Disgraceful - 2009-08-05 18:44:45

When does it end? $75,000 for a study on what would happen if the water level at City Dock rose in 100 years, $88,000 for a City Magazine that offers no value to Citizens, and now $5,000+ to bring teens from France to Annapolis as part of the Sister Cities program; which according to the City and the just passed budget, has NO funding. Yes, $5,000 is just a drop in the bucket when you consider it as part of an overall $86 Million budget, however, lets not forget that the City had to borrow $4.5 Million dollars via a bond issue just to balance the FY2010 budget and keep the lights on at City Hall. Not to mention the looming structural deficit that the next Mayor and Council will have to deal with.

It appears that cutting costs and reducing expenses is about as foreign to this Mayor and Council, as the English language may be to our visitors from France.

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Scott Bowling - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Excellent

Sister Cities - 2009-08-05 13:37:15

It's bad enough Moyer and her boyfriend visit all these Sister Cities (where they must make a wonderful impression) at taxpayer expense. Now we are expected to reciprocate the hospitality they enjoyed while junketing by funding summer vacations for European teenagers at taxpayer expense. Is there any more she can squeeze out of the city coffers before she is finally out the door? You go, Herb. Stay on top of it.

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altha b. - annapolis, md - Karma: Excellent