I hope you don't need a face-to-face with Mayor Tom Leppert, council member Ron Natinsky, state Rep. Rafael Anchia or Karl Zavikovsky, head of the Office of Economic Development, any time soon. They won't be around -- instead they'll be in Madrid, Valencia and Paris between October 2 and 10. On a trade mission "to encourage foreign direct investment and corporate relocations," wink wink. Aw, come on now. I kid. Seriously: This is all part of that City of Dallas Regional Center program that swaps out U.S. visas for investment dollars -- and how prescient was this headline? Whassup.
On the other side is the posse's travel itinerary, provided just to make us jealous. As in:
In addition to the CDRC and corporate development meetings, the delegation will attend a formal signing ceremony for a unique three-year partnership between the Prado Museum in Madrid and the Meadows Museum at Southern Methodist University. The agreement includes the loan of major paintings and an internship exchange program between the two museums. Pentecost, a major El Greco painting is currently on loan to the Meadows Museum.And they're mixing in a little quality Calatrava time. But fret not, says the release: "No taxpayer funds will be used to pay for this trip. Instead, Mayor Leppert has raised money for a special World Affairs Council fund which will finance the trip. This fund facilitates trade and cultural travel for city officials." Maybe you remember the mayor's last trade mission to Asia? Man, those were good times.
