Sparks Mayor Ed Lawson's War on Transparency
National League of Cities Congressional City Conference 2025
Sparks Mayor Ed Lawson is trying to shut down public records access with AB 51. Hiding behind the "National League of Cities" like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Don't be fooled—this bill has Lawson's fingerprints all over it.
His brilliant idea? Nobody gets public records without photo ID. Apparently, the mayor needs to know exactly WHO is asking questions. Planning to shame them on social media later, Ed? What ARE you so desperate to hide?
Meanwhile, the National League of Cities 2025 Congressional Conference kicks off March 8th with their "pre-Conference" (whatever that means). The actual conference runs March 10-12th. That's a lot of taxpayer-funded mingling.
Ward 4 Councilmember Charlene Bybee spent $3,400.73 for the Tampa Bay National League of Cities November 2024 conference.
Speaking of wasting your money, Councilmembers Bybee, VanderWell, and FORMER Councilmember Dahir all enjoyed a taxpayer-funded trip to Tampa in November 2024. Yes, you read that right—FORMER Councilmember Dahir. He'd already LOST his Ward 5 race, but Sparks (you know, the city $18 MILLION in debt) still paid for his trip. Oh, and his wife traveled with him. How nice.
Ward 5 Councilmember Kristopher Dahir spent the most of the trio, coming in at $3,745.48 for the Tampa Bay National League of Cities November 2024 conference.
Since Mayor Lawson is so keen on shutting down public records access, we decided to see how much Sparks taxpayers coughed up for this Florida getaway just four months ago. The numbers are... interesting. The total amount for the trio to attend was $9,849.68.
Picon is not attempting to be stingy with a dollar, nitpicky, or silly, while we know this travel is but a drop in the bucket compared to the debit the City of Sparks is facing, but it is a good starting point to learn why cities have been fast and lose with spending. Why aren't all hotel rooms the same price? Why can't they share Ubers? And most importantly—why are taxpayers paying for Dahir's wife's accommodations?
Is this why Ed Lawson wants to kill public records access? Because when we look at the receipts, something smells fishier than the Tampa Bay at low tide.
Ward 2 Councilmember Dian VanderWell spent the least of the trio, coming in at $2,703.47 for the Tampa Bay National League of Cities November 2024 conference.