Following the news that Mayor Steve Adler flew to Mexico on a private jet to celebrate his daughter's wedding last month, despite him urging Austinites to stay home to curb the spread of coronavirus, a KVUE viewer reached out wondering if the mayor used taxpayer money to book his flight.
The viewer referenced a City of Austin payment report from Nov. 30. In that report, there was a charge to Austin Executive Airport Services LLC on Nov. 24 for $9,167.
We reached out to the City for clarification.
"The City leases this space from Austin Executive Airport for office space, and space to house APD’s three helicopters and one fixed-wing aircraft for APD’s Air Support Unit," the spokesperson said. "APD also purchases fuel from Austin Executive to fuel the helicopters."
KVUE also reached out directly to Mayor Adler's office, which quickly responded saying the City of Austin did not pay for any part of the trip.
We can verify that Mayor Adler did not use any taxpayer dollars in his travel to Mexico. The $9,167 charge is a rental expense, according to online records.
Mayor Adler has released two statements to KVUE regarding his vacation earlier this week:
"Every day since March, I repeat that being home is the safest place for people to be. Only at our most trying moments, like around Thanksgiving, have I asked people not to travel as part of extra precautions. Several weeks ago, when my daughter cancelled her planned wedding to replace it with a COVID appropriate more private ceremony and when my family traveled, we consulted with health authorities and worked hard to model the kind of behavior I’ve asked of the community. We were in a lower risk “Yellow” level than now. It is always safest to stay home. However, we aren’t asking people never to venture out. We ask everyone to be as safe as possible in what they do. My family and I are no exception and we’ll continue to do as I ask of our community. During Thanksgiving and as anticipated for Christmas and the New Year, we should all be especially mindful."
And:
"I regret this travel. I wouldn’t travel now, didn’t over Thanksgiving and won’t over Christmas. But my fear is that this travel, even having happened during a safer period, could be used by some as justification for risky behavior. In hindsight, and even though it violated no order, it set a bad example for which I apologize."