Santa Clara officials visit France, spend $940 in taxpayer money on a private car

Santa Clara City Manager Deanna Santana. Santa Clara City Manager Deanna Santana. Photo: City Of Santa Clara Photo: City Of Santa Clara Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Santa Clara officials visit France, spend $940 in taxpayer money on a private car 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

On a recent trip to France for a conference, three Santa Clara officials ignored the country's famous high-speed trains and instead spent $940 on a private car from Paris to Nantes, according to documents acquired by San Jose Inside.

In September 2019, Santa Clara city manager Deanna Santana and assistant city managers Nadine Nader and Ruth Shikada flew to France for the International Association of Science Parks and Areas of Innovation conference, which Santa Clara will host in 2021.

For three total days in France, the trip reportedly set taxpayers back $8,500.

San Jose Inside detailed all of the specific ways that Santana, Nader, and Shikada racked up those costs: waiting months to purchase their airfare (and possibly missing better deals), and rooming at a five-star hotel in Paris. (Santana paid for her share, but Nader and Shikada billed the city.)

After their night at Marriott Champs Elysees, the three officials hopped in a $940 private car for a (roughly) 240-mile drive instead of boarding the TGV, France's famous high-speed rail, which would've likely helped them reach their destination in a shorter period of time. The cost of the cheapest Paris-to-Nantes TGV ticket, if purchased a couple of months in advance of the ride, is roughly $18 for a single rider.

In a statement to SFGATE, Santa Clara's communications director Lenka Wright argued that the $8,500 spent is "far less than the economic impact that the conference will have" for the Bay Area when the conference comes to Santa Clara in 2021. She also said that the three travelers shared a room for their one night at the Mariott Champ Elysees.

"At the time of the travel, the cost of flying one way from Paris to Nantes, including ground transportation to and from the airport, was equivalent to the cost of obtaining a private vehicle," Wright wrote in a statement. "One way flights currently are running about $225/per person, which - when included with ground transportation for three people to and from the airport - is equivalent or relatively cost neutral."

Read the entire San Jose Inside story here.

Michael Rosen is an SFGATE digital editor. Email: michael.rosen@sfgate.com.