Four of the five Irvine City Council members leave today for an all-expense-paid, nine-day trip to Barcelona, Paris and New York City as part of their role in planning a 1,000-acre park at the former El Toro Marine base.
The cost of the trip is still being calculated, but the itinerary includes two nights at the five-star Grand Marina Hotel in Barcelona.
Traveling are seven members of the Orange County Great Park Corp. board -- including the Irvine council members -- a consultant and five members of the park board staff. Their mission is to check out parks in Europe and New York City built by the three design firms chosen as finalists to create the park. They are also visiting two firms' home offices.
Park board members have said the trip is key to their selection. "You really can't get an appreciation for the work of these firms until you see it," said board spokeswoman Marsha Burgess, who will be on the trip.
The board has taken steps to meet the requirement of the state's open meeting laws even though they will be thousands of miles from home.
A park board agenda for the trip includes the time and location of each leg, including a time for public comment. All five council members will be in New York, but council member and park board chairman Larry Agran will not join the group in Europe.
Park board officials said the agency's attorney approved the meeting through a provision in state law that allows public boards to meet out of town when viewing real estate projects.
The notion that Orange County residents would travel to Europe to participate in a meeting is ridiculous, said Peter Scheer, executive director of the California First Amendment Coalition.
"This strikes me as a really expensive junket," Scheer said.
Scheer also pointed out that the travelers had posted a park board agenda but not one for the City Council while its members are abroad, despite having a quorum and deliberating on matters of interest to the city.
"They're stating that all of the activities they're doing abroad on this boondoggle are public," he said, "and that's really laughable."
Four of the five Irvine council members will attend the Barcelona and Paris legs, with the entire council on hand for the New York City portion. Those going on the entire trip are Mayor Beth Krom and council members Stephen Choi, Sukhee Kang and Christina Shea.
Council members could not be reached for comment Monday on the eve of their trip.
