Disclaimer: The comments in this blog are my personal opinion and may or may not reflect an adopted position of the city of Glendale and its city council.

In Part 1, I explained the use of a city ProCard and how seriously it is taken. In Part 2, I showed what travel expenditures Councilmember Turner has publicly posted as well as all of the trips he has not posted publicly. In Part 3, the public information request I made includes any and all emails between city staff and Councilmember Turner.

In Part 4 we see what trips Councilmember Turner put on his ProCard and whether they reflected a city business interest. As part of my public information request, I received a staff generated chart that reflects all Turner trips where documentation in the form of agendas, itineraries or receipts were NOT supplied by Councilmember Turner.

THE TOTAL PAID BY THE CITY FOR WHICH DOCUMENTATION AND/OR PROOF OF A BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP TO THE CITY WAS NOT PROVIDED TOTALS $22,555.61.

  • AG Tech Summit $3,201.99
  • Sister Cities, Germany $872.68
  • August 2023 League Conference $858.04
  • Renaissance Weekend October 2023 $3,706.71
  • Airfare to DC October 2023 $803.22
  • League of Cities Summit November 2023 $1,934.50
  • Colorado Water Users December 2023 $1,885.00
  • Renaissance Weekend December 2023 $4,661.51
  • League of Cities March 2024 $4,631.93

As stated previously, trips are required to have documentation for expenses and a stated business purpose. Although Turner did not provide all the documentation required for the League trips, they do qualify as a business purpose.

However, some trips (excluding League trips) are questionable. One was tCity ohe AG Tech Summit. This conference was held by The Center of Excellence for Indoor Agriculture. Its key themes from its website state:

  • Finding New Sources of Funding in a Changing Economic Landscape
  • Alleviating the Impact of the Energy Crisis through Efficiencies and Alternatives
  • Accelerating Automation to Improve Crop Care and Reduce Operational Costs
  • Balancing Biology and Technology for Crop Growth and Profitability
  • Unlocking the Potential of Plant Genetics to Sow the Seeds of Growth
  • Growing Margins Through New Product Innovation from Crop to Shelf
  • Exploring the Global Potential of Indoor Farming and the Next Regional Hotspots
  • Promoting CEA as a Critical Piece of the Food Security Puzzle
  • Creating Industry Standards to Build Confidence and Communicate the Benefits of CEA

The site describes the conference as: “From multi-acre scale facility design to seed optimization for vertical growing, and from multi-million-dollar funding rounds to the fine margins of running profitable farms, an international speaking faculty will discuss the critical success factors for CEA in today’s economic environment.”

How this conference and his attendance benefitted the city is unknown. The city does not engage in vertical farming, nor is it looking for investors for such a project.

In part of the Sister Cities trip to Germany, Turner took a Vertical farming tour. Again, the city does not engage in farming or vertical farming.

The most egregious use of your taxpayer dollars was for two Renaissance Weekend trips totaling over $8,300.00. Please go to their website, https://www.renaissanceweekend.org/

These trips were purely personal enrichment trips with no city business to be derived from them. It’s a rather secretive organization with no agendas of any kind to be found on its website. I did find the following description: “Renaissance Weekend’s primary purpose is to create an environment free of partisanship and commercialism, where substantive conversations can thrive. It is described as more than a conference, emphasizing a casual, welcoming culture where all participants are heard, and all opinions are welcome. The gatherings are inter-disciplinary, inter-generational, and family-friendly, with provisions for children, including Camp Renaissance programs for younger attendees accompanied by adults. The organization’s mission is to discuss urgent questions of today and essential issues of human experience, fostering bridges among thought-leaders, trend-setters, authorities, and rising stars.

Activities at these weekends include seminars, discussions, informal lectures, and performances, with attendees designing their own schedules from available talks and sessions. Events are held several times a year, with the largest gathering traditionally around New Year’s and smaller weekends throughout the year. Locations are often chosen for their scenic beauty, such as sun-drenched beaches with panoramic Pacific views, snow-capped Rockies, or dramatic coastal areas like “Steinbeck country” near Monterey, California. Specific venues mentioned include Ritz-Carlton Bacara, Rimrock Resort & Spa, and the Monterey Plaza Hotel, offering amenities like hiking trails, golf, spas, and proximity to cultural attractions like wineries and aquariums.”

The Colorado Water Users trips may or may not have been related to city business. However, Turner did not provide the necessary information to justify these trips.

Since Turner did not comply and provide the necessary information to justify these trips after repeated requests to do so, I believe he has been asked to reimburse the city. To my knowledge, as of the end of June, 2025, he has not done so. It is logical to assume that since he will be running for reelection to his Barrel district city council seat, he will reimburse. If he does not do so, it will be used by any candidate that opposes him. Reimbursement, should it occur, does not excuse the abuse of his city credit card for what can be viewed as personal enrichment activities.

In the final Part 5, comments and conclusions regarding Councilmember Turner’s use of his ProCard will be offered.

© Joyce Clark, 2025   

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