Apopka mayor faces questions about D.C. trip at taxpayers' expense

APOPKA, Fla. — Apopka’s mayor is facing questions about taxpayer money spent on a trip to Washington D.C. to attend the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ meeting in January—which lasted two days longer than the conference, records show.

A spokeswoman said Apopka Mayor Joe Kilsheimer attended the conference because Apopka was being awarded a $10,000 grant for financial literacy.

But the city ended up footing the bill for rooms at two different hotels for two days after the conference had concluded and an upcharge for upgraded seats, records show.

“Well it bothers me because I know how tight money is,” said Dale Lind, who lives in Apopka.

The mayor’s conference ran from Jan. 16-19 but the mayor’s plane tickets were booked to leave Orlando the 16th and return the 21st.

One of the days of the conference, the mayor booked a separate round trip to make it to a city commission meeting before heading back to D.C. a day later, records show.

While he was gone, Kilsheimer’s wife stayed in D.C. at a Hilton, costing more than $400 a night.

Records show the city also paid for another room that week at a Homewood Suites that apparently no one stayed in, costing more than $2,200 in taxpayer money.

After the conference concluded, the mayor and his wife stayed two more nights at the Hilton and attended President Trump’s inauguration.

A city spokeswoman said the trip was all business-related; he was meeting with lawmakers and doing city business those extra two days.

She said the mayor paid for his wife’s airfare out of his own pocket and emphasized this was a legitimate business trip to benefit the city of Apopka.

Cox Media Group