By Robert Haugh
The Santa Clara City Council approved a sweeping rewrite of its official travel policy on Tuesday and budgeted approximately $70,000 in the next fiscal year for the City Council to travel at taxpayers’ expense.
The changes were initiated by Councilmember Suds Jain and advanced by the Governance and Ethics Committee.
The new policy expands where councilmembers can travel and how they pay for it, including City-issued credit cards (or “P Cards”).
The revised policy has fewer financial and procedural restraints than before.
“The people watching at home deserve an explanation,” said Mayor Lisa Gillmor. “This is not fiscally responsible, and it doesn’t serve our residents.”
A major change was the decision to allow Councilmembers to receive City purchase cards (P-cards) for official travel expenses. That allows for charging costs up front instead of seeking reimbursement later.
Gillmor warned the move strips away accountability and sends the wrong message to residents.
“Our public reads news articles about politicians and credit cards, and they don’t belong together,” Gillmor said.
“You don’t solve accountability problems by reducing accountability,” she said. “With P-cards, the charges happen first, and the questions come later, if at all.”
She also criticized Jain’s committee pushing for the changes since they are likely to incur the most costly travel. “That’s not oversight,” Gillmor said. “That’s self-service.”
Public Trust at Risk
Vice Mayor Kelly Cox echoed those concerns, saying the policy looks indistinguishable from a public perk. “All of these things look like public benefit,” Cox said. “This is public money.”
“If you look at how we are perceived right now, this is a foolish thing to do,” she said. “We’ll hold the public to a higher standard, but we’re going to loosen ours.”
She also took aim at the policy’s broad language, allowing travel for “professional development” or “recognition.”
“That is so broad,” Cox said. “Everybody can travel all the time then.”
Beyond credit cards, the revised policy allows 100% meal reimbursement up to federal GSA per diem rates, extends the deadline for expense reports, permits overnight lodging for local travel, and allows Councilmembers to keep frequent-flyer miles earned on City travel.
Gillmor and Cox voted no.
But the 49er Five all voted in unison to pass the new travel policy, 5-2. Councilmembers Raj Chahal, Karen Hardy, Albert Gonzalez, Kevin Park, and Jain voted yes.
[…] voted against the new City Council travel policy, recommended by Councilmembers Suds Jain, Kevin Park, and Raj Chahal through the Governance and […]
@Adam: I looked at 25-1450. Original request below was for records from 1/1/17 through Nov. ’25. Requester was not paying attention and left that out at end so city only provided one year of records. And why were Patty Mahan and Jerry Marsali left off the request? Makes you think about who made this request. Would love to see Caserta’s hotel charges. How many times did he subscribe to the Playboy channel?
We are requesting all financial records for council members—past and present—hotel stays when attending city-related events.
This information should detail the name of the hotel where the stay occurred, the name of the council member staying there, the event they were attending and how it relates to city business and, of course, the cost of the room.
Also, in the event that a council member upgraded rooms, the records should include the amount the city paid and proof that the council member in question covered the delta.
Our request is for every council members for the last 8 years: Date range 1/1/17 through 11/1//25
Lisa Gillmor
Albert Gonzales
Raj Chahal
Suds Jain
Kevin Park
Karen Hardy
Kelly Cox
Kathy Watanabe
Anthony Becker
Teresa O’Neill
Debi Davis
Pat Kolstad
Dominic Caserta
Please include all communications, emails, text and phone calls to and from City staff, City managers and all council members regarding hotel reservations from the dates of January 1, 2025 to current date, November 25, 2025.
Go look at public records request 25-1450 and see who took the most trips on the city’s dime for 2025. Who? The Governance Cmte. – Jain, Park and Chahal. All knows Park doesn’t have any visible means of support aside from his City monthly stipend.
Wow, Looks like Those 49er 5 are taking advantage and out of control like usual. They need to be voted out. Everyone needs to wake up and smell the rats they are.
$70,000 divided by 7 (assuming an equal amount for each Councilmember) = $10,000. Oh, the places I could go with $10K! Definitely wasting tax payer money.
Karen Hardy and Raj Chahal are voting “safely” as they are both termed-out at the end of 2026. They are making clear their disregard for the citizens of Santa Clara.
I was surprised by two things—it took two years to revise the travel policy???? And I was also surprised that Suds, as the head of the Governance and Ethics committee didn’t defend this policy more. This was developed by staff, presented to the committee and approved by the committee. Why not speak up in favor of a good policy?
Because it actually is a good travel policy. I was a travel agent for many, many years and also developed travel policies for two Silicon Valley companies. This policy actually gives the city more control over expenses, not less.
Costs have gone up, so yes, they do have to increase the budget. But they didn’t increase it by much.
It seemed to me that main complaint was the use of P-cards. P-cards are actually a good idea. There are several advantages. It’s easier to cancel a card if lost or misused. It is easier for the accounting department to track expenses, and it keeps city expenses separate from personal spending. Spending limits can be placed on these credit cards. Plus, if the credit card gives points for money spent, these points would go to the city, not to the traveler. I almost wonder if the complaints against the use of p-cards was because the user would no longer get the credit card points. (BTW it is almost impossible to track frequent flier miles earned by the traveler or hotel points earned by a guest. But the city makes the travel arrangements for the council, so they can not cherry pick airline/hotel).
The whole council agreed that travel to these meetings were valuable to them. I hope though it is not just to enjoy the malls in these locations, as mentioned in Tuesday’s meeting. I agree with Kelly Cox that each council member should report on their travel. Maybe not a council meeting (as they are already long) but maybe in their newsletters. We are interested in what they are doing and how they are spending the city’s money.
Wow, isn’t this the same person who (Suds Jain) is being talked about being removed from the 49er Council with a Re-Call?
Sign me up!! How can we help?
Talk about bad timing, for him, but really this is just another day I guess. I’m tired of making jokes about Santa Clara.
This is the time for a BIG CHANGE
How much is enough?
If not now, when? How much worse does it have to get?
Just understand the NFL has no end in sight. No matter what they get, no matter what we give or offer them, there will always be something more they want from us.
Recall Suds Jain
Just The Facts Ma’am
Detailed expense reports should be fully open to the public on a monthly basis, without the need for delayed Public Record Act responses. Let’s track in real time how often certain Council members are feeding at the public trough.
Recent news reports from late 2025 and 2024 have highlighted multiple P-card (purchasing card) scandals and controversies involving city council employees and officials in several U.S. cities, including Pittsburgh, Richmond, Elizabeth City, and Daytona Beach.
Key Incidents
Pittsburgh, PA: Multiple issues have been raised by City Controller Rachael Heisler regarding the use of P-cards for unauthorized expenses, specifically for professional services, which is a violation of city policy. One controversy involved payments to a contractor who had been terminated from another city position, prompting a district attorney’s investigation and a call for stricter oversight from the city council.
Richmond, VA: A city audit in June 2025 uncovered over $5 million in “questionable transactions” out of $38 million in total P-card spending between 2020 and 2024. The audit identified a lack of clear policies, insufficient oversight, and a single employee responsible for nearly the entire program, creating significant internal control vulnerabilities. In response, the city reset the program, canceling most P-cards and implementing stricter guidelines.
Elizabeth City, NC: A North Carolina Office of the State Auditor (OSA) report in November 2025 found nearly $100,000 in noncompliance for food-related P-card expenditures by employees and the former city manager. The former manager’s misuse included exceeding purchase limits, not providing itemized receipts, and failing to obtain supervisory approval.
Daytona Beach, FL: In late 2025, a city commissioner raised an alarm over potentially unallowed purchases, such as a contractor’s employee training and a cell phone bill, which are explicitly prohibited by the city’s P-card policy. The city is conducting audits and has temporarily restricted employee P-card usage.
San Jose, CA: An independent analysis in 2019 highlighted a lack of oversight, with millions spent on travel and entertainment by various departments, including thousands on alcohol and fast food. This led to calls for more stringent controls.
Common Issues
Across these cities, common problems identified include:
Lack of clear policies: Ambiguous or outdated rules made it difficult to determine authorized use.
Insufficient oversight: Many transactions were not properly reviewed or approved by departments, or the approval process was consolidated to a single person, creating risk.
Prohibited purchases: Cards were used for items like personal meals, alcohol, and professional services, which were not permitted.
Lack of accountability: Issues such as shared P-cards, cards not being deactivated after an employee left, and poor documentation were found.
These incidents have led to calls for increased transparency, independent audits, and a complete overhaul of P-card programs to restore public trust.
totally disgusting corruption!!