DELTONA, Fla. – Deltona Mayor Santiago Avila Jr. is under fire following a recent commission meeting where allegations surfaced regarding his trip to Washington, D.C., during the presidential inauguration. The trip reportedly cost thousands of dollars and was allegedly made without proper approval.
Avila Jr. maintains that he did not attend the inauguration. Instead, he claims his visit was for the U.S. Conference of Mayors and to secure funding for the city.
“There seems to be two different travel policies in our city. The one they’re talking about is from 2007. Let’s say for a second we were going to follow that policy — Full disclosure - I didn’t know that policy existed. I was going off a different policy,” Avila Jr. said.
News 6 obtained copies of both the 2007 and updated travel policies, which state that commissioners and elected officials need approval for out-of-state travel. Avila Jr. admitted he did not seek this approval but said some city officials were informed.
“I spoke to the city manager and told him about the U.S. Conference of Mayors and told him ‘hey, look, I got a really cool email from Sen. Scott’s office.' They gave me a personal invitation to be at the inauguration,” he explained.
Avila Jr. stated he left before the inauguration and only attended the mayoral conference, which had a registration fee of about $1,500. The city’s spokesperson confirmed that Deltona did not pay for the conference and, instead, Avila Jr. attended as a guest.
The spokesperson also told News 6: “Per City policy, the City Manager does not approve nor deny Commissioner travel. That being said, the City Manager is in favor of any Commissioner attending an event where decision makers will be present.”
Commissioners who raised the issue tell News 6 they want the mayor to be held accountable.
“What happened after he got to D.C. really doesn’t even play into a factor because the fact that he got there without permission, that’s a concern,” said Commissioner Dori Howington.
Howington brought the issue to the forefront at the commission meeting on Monday.
“If we allow him to continue in this manner going forward, what’s to stop the next commissioner from deciding they want to go to New York without permission,” Howington added.
Avila Jr. argues that his presence in D.C. was to secure funding for Deltona and shows his commitment to the city.
“I don’t have time for these games, I am too busy working on behalf of my residents in Deltona. They elected me to find solutions,” he said.
A hearing and vote of no-confidence discussion over the matter are scheduled for Feb. 17.
News 6 has requested expense reports and receipts for the trip, and the city spokesperson is working on providing those documents.
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