Ward 2 Coun. Joe Magliocca is apologizing and promising to learn from his mistakes amid calls for an investigation into his expenses by his fellow councillors.
On Monday, Magliocca issued a public apology and preemptively released receipts of his expense claims from 2017 and 2018.
Concerns over the councillor’s spending were raised after it came to light that he spent $6,400 in taxpayers’ money during his four-day trip to the 2019 Federation of Canadian Municipalities conference in Quebec City — twice what was spent by any other Calgary councillor in attendance.
In his statement, Magliocca said he “fully supports” a review of his expenses to ensure they are in line with council policy, as proposed in a Monday notice of motion signed by all of his fellow councillors.
“I fully understand the concern over the amount of hosting expenses I incurred during the convention,” Magliocca stated. “Taxpayers deserve better and I am deeply sorry.
“I have since personally paid back all alcohol and hosting expenses that I incurred during this convention.”
Furthermore, Magliocca said he has voluntarily repaid any alcohol-related expenses claimed since 2017, saying taxpayers “should not be paying for alcohol consumption.”
On Monday, Magliocca’s receipts from 2017 and 2018 were posted to his Ward 2 website.
He said his 2019 expenditure receipts, which he has requested from city administration, will be posted “shortly.”
“Calgarians expect their city council to be fully transparent with all their expenses,” Magliocca conceded. “I am committed to ensuring my mistake will become a positive step forward in restoring public confidence in this council’s expense policies.
“This has been a very embarrassing mistake I have made. I promise to learn from this mistake and move forward in a positive way.”
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