SAN DIEGO, Aug. 1 (UPI) -- A taxpayer association in San Diego asked Mayor Bob Filner to reimburse the city $21,244 it paid for two police officers to accompany him on a trip to Paris.
The 70-year-old Democrat traveled in June to Paris to speak at the National Council of Resistance of Iran, taking with him two police officers who served as security.
Filner released a statement Wednesday saying he would reimburse the Organization of Iranian-American Communities the nearly $10,000 they paid in travel expenses to have him speak at the event. Under law, the organization would have been allowed to pay the expenses as a non-profit, but it doesn't have non-profit status with the Internal Revenue Service.
Now Felipe Monroig, president of the San Diego County Taxpayers Association, is calling on Filner to also reimburse the city for the money it paid for his security detail, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday.
"It's clear the mayor's trip was little more than a vacation," Monroig said.
The Paris trip controversy comes just days after the San Diego City Council voted to file suit against Filner to hold him liable for damages in sexual harassment suits against him. City Attorney Jan Goldsmith said he would have to reimburse the city for attorney fees.
