Lightner and Faulconer — already in the smartcar heading for elsewhere?

San Diego’s city hall has been a point of departure for lots of local politicos of late, most famously Republican mayor Kevin Faulconer, who has gone to the East Coast and back several times and up to Sacramento at least twice to promote his fledgling hopes for higher office. City-council Democrats are now hitting the road, according to an April 28 joint news release by Sherri Lightner, Marti Emerald, and Myrtle Cole regarding a junket to “advance their ‘Families First’ agenda.”

Says the release: “Among the topics to be discussed are economic development, infrastructure financing, workforce development, homelessness and cyber security. In addition to industry specific meetings, the San Diego delegation will be meeting with the other elected officials from the San Diego region, including Congressman Scott Peters, Congresswoman Susan Davis and Congressman Juan Vargas.” Says Lightner in the statement, “We’re bringing a lot of good ideas, and I believe San Diego will benefit from strengthening our partnerships with some of the nation’s foremost industry professionals.”

She was also set to deliver closing remarks at the Washington DC premiere of National Geographic’s “World’s Smart Cities San Diego,” a promotional video touting the merits of San Diego, funded with a reported $1.5 million from city hotel taxes, and UC San Diego, SeaWorld, and Sempra. The tab for the councilwomen’s trip is being picked up by taxpayers. “Each Councilmember (and in fact, each department) has a line item in their budget for business trips,” according to an email from Lightner director of communications Jennifer Kearns. “This trip is being paid for out of each Councilmember’s allotted Council budgets for travel involving Council responsibilities.”