A trip to Japan last year by Coun. Bill McNulty was extended by two days to include a visit to Okinawa to research public facilities. The trip also included a senior City of Richmond manager, which was not part of the original proposal to city council.
“We went there for best practices, to look at facilities. One of them was a swimming pool and we picked up some great ideas. We can justify that trip to understand the way facilities should be built,” said McNulty, who was joined by parks manager Mike Redpath in April 2015.
The council-approved trip was primarily intended to secure a Japanese tall ship, the Kaiwo Maru, for a Canada 150 celebration in Steveston in May 2017.
However, the visit to Okinawa, Japan’s subtropical prefecture, and Redpath’s involvement, were not included in McNulty’s initial proposal last year, which required $12,000 from a council contingency account, for the councillor’s expenses.
According to recently released records, obtained through a freedom of information request made by the News last August, McNulty’s portion of the 12-day trip cost $13,321. A business-class ticket accounted for just over half of the costs, while McNulty had $2,090 for daily allowances. Redpath’s total expenses were $10,500.
Regarding the city’s policy of business-class travel, McNulty said: “If you’re going to do business and you want to get off the plane and do business right away, without spending two days to recover, you need to weigh [the choice of] business class and economy.”
The trip began on April 19 with four nights in Tokyo, instead of two, as planned.
“Tokyo was our base,” said McNulty.
While in Tokyo, McNulty took a train to Yokohama to hand a letter of invitation to the captain of the Kaiwo Maru, which is maintained by the National Institute for Sea Training. The plan also detailed a visit to a maritime museum.
The trip to Japan was required because the institute stated it required face-to-face negotiations, according to McNulty.
When asked, McNulty said Internet communication, such as FaceTime or Skype, was not an option.
“We’ve talked about that, but they want face-to-face,” said McNulty.
After four nights in Tokyo, the pair spent two nights in Richmond’s sister city, Wakayama, as planned, where McNulty secured a Japanese garden ornament for a park in Steveston.
From Wakayama, it was off to Nagasaki for a two-night stay, which included, per the plan, a visit to the Nagasaki Tall Ship Festival.
In Nagasaki, McNulty and Redpath presented letters of invitation to captains of tall ships in attendance (from South Korea, Russia and Japan).
Another week-long trip to Japan, costing $30,000, is planned for this April, in order to finalize the details and potentially sign more contracts with other ships.
“It’s the same thing, you have to sit down face-to-face. …That’s the way they do business,” said McNulty.
“We’re going there to look at all their requests, from clearing customs to tugboat pilotage, literally everything to get them docked and in the country,” he said.
This April’s trip was also approved by council and includes mention of a “delegation.” The itinerary is similar to the 2015 trip.
McNulty said he doesn’t know which staff member will go with him this time, and that decision is up to Richmond’s CAO George Duncan.
McNulty said there are some opportunities in the U.S. He added, however, that Coun. Harold Steves may travel to Mexico City to procure another ship.
Steves said Coun. Linda McPhail may go instead, as she is planning a vacation there.
“I’d rather not go,” said Steves.
