Green racket: DC mayor took ‘economic development’ trip to Masters on taxpayers’ dime
District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bo﷽wser may want a mulligan ♛on this one.
The Democrat took a taxpayer-funded “sports and economic development” trip to last week’s Masters golf tournament in Augusta, Ga.
Bowser, 51, announce🀅d the jaunt on her and a spokeswoman for the mayor’s office confirmed that DC residents 👍paid for all related travel expenses to get inside the gates at the fabled Augusta National Golf Club, DC News Now .
Su༒sana Castillo, Bowser’s communications director, told the outlet t♑hat the mayor was invited by Jodie McLean and Deborah Ratner Salzberg, who are co-chairs of a city task force “to revitalize the Gallery Place and Chinatown Neighborhood.”
The spokeswoman did not disclose the total cost of the more than 500-mile flight south, nor did she immediately respond to The Post’s request for commen♏t.
“No mไatter where I am, my team is working and always in touch with me at a moment’s notice,” Bowser added in a statement of her own to DC News Now.
The mayor has faced sharp criticism for her handling of a crime spike in the nation’s capital before pivoting last fall amid mass by city police — including former chief Robert Contee III.
Violent crime surged 39% in the nation’s capital from 2022 t💞o 2023, with homicides rising 35% and robberies up a whopping 67%.
In two recent high-profile incidents, armed carjackers stole the vehicles of an FBI agent and Reꦰp. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), while a former federal official in the Trump administration was shot and killed by another car thie༒f in February.
Bowser embraced the Black Lives Matter movement during the riots that followed the police killing of George Floyd in 2020, but reversed course in 2023 to fight the city council over a radical crime bill that lightened sentenc♊ing for robberies, carjackings and other gun-r💃elated felonies.
Last year, she also opposed a progressive policing law that hampered officers’ ability to apprehend suspects and increased disciplinary measures, making them “scared 🤡to do their job,” according to Bowser.
The crime spike had briefly threatened a $515 million deal with Washington Wizards and Capitals owner Ted Leonsis, who entertained moving the NBA and NHL teams to a new northern Virginia arena before reaching an agreement with Bowser to stay in the nation’s capital.
It’s unclear what o☂ther projects Bowser may be pursuiไng in Chinatown.
“As mayor, I frequently attended meetings and events to foster economic development, strengthen partnerships, and build rapport with people interested in investing in our city,” DC councilman Vincent Gray, who served a single term as mayor before being unseated by Bowser in the 2014 Democratic prꩵimary, told DC News Now.
“I 𝄹met with people in countless venues, be they overseas, in downtown DC conference rooms, or sometimes at high-profile gatherings,” he said. “I see no controversy in travel that is intended toꦗ promote the District in furtherance of opportunity that benefits residents and local businesses.”
