One of Burien City Councilmember Jack Block Jr.’s election opponents is accusing him of receiving excessive and unnecessary expenses for taxpayer paid travel.

Lauren Berkowitz said this week Block spent over $32,000 on what her campaign termed “junkets” to locations such as Boston, Washington D.C., Reno and San Francisco. The travel was for a variety of conferences and public events. His expenses were reimbursed by the city.

“Councilmember Block’s travels at taxpayer expense seem entirely inconsistent with his frequent talk about responsibly managing city funds,” Berkowitz said. “His actions don’t seem to match his rhetoric.”

Block responded that the travel expenses are spread over his entire eight years as a council member.

He said he traveled quite a bit in his first term and not as much during his second term. He said he has earned silver level certificates from the National League of Cities and the Association of Washington Cities.

In his first term he went back to the nation’s capital every year to successfully lobby for the city’s interests, he said.

“These aren’t junkets,” Block responded. “These are legitimate training sessions to help me best represent the residents of Burien.”

He noted he missed work or took vacation time to attend the events.

Block added that his city council colleagues approved all his expense reports.

“This is just a hit piece on the part of my opponent,” Block said.

Mayor Brian Bennett, who has clashed frequently with Block, couldn’t resist a jab at the July 15 council meeting when Block complained about the increased budget costs for the CARES animal services contract.

“How about cutting council travel?” Bennett deadpanned.

Along with the press release, the Berkowitz campaign also released a photo of Block they said was taken during an official visit to Reno.

What would normally be considered a routine posed photo of a public official flanked by two attractive young women takes on a special context with Block.

The Burien council earlier this year censured Block for a photo he posted on his private Facebook page during the holiday season of a scantily clad young woman. The council majority of Bennett, Joan McGilton, Rose Clark and Gerald Robison voted for censure. Block and his two council allies, Deputy Mayor Lucy Krakowiak and Councilmember Bob Edgar abstained.

Berkowitz officially complained to the city about the Facebook photo.

Block said the Berkowitz-released photo was actually taken in Phoenix, not the gambling city of Reno.

He said the two women are Arizona Cardinal cheerleaders. He said a vendor at a conference he attended hired them for the event and he posed for a photo with them.

Block’s travel expense records were released as a result of a public records request by Berkowitz’s supporters who gave the information to the campaign.

Block’s other opponent is Kip Walton. Ballots for the primary election must be returned to King County Elections by Aug. 6.
The top two vote getters will go on to the Nov. 5 general election.