Before a critical budget debate, one Montgomery County Council member flew to Hawaii

At-large Montgomery County Council member Laurie-Anne Sayles has made 11 trips outside the region on the taxpayers’ dime since she took office in 2022 — more than rest of the council combined.

A review of all 11 council members’ travel records show that Sayles has traveled to conferences in Miami and Cape Town, South Africa, among other destinations. Her most recent trip, to Maui last month, raised eyebrows because it coincided with the week when council made critical decisions about budget cuts and tax increases.

Sayles told The Banner this week that she did not break any rules by traveling to Maui or any other destination, and that she was attentive to her job while away, including attending budget sessions virtually. In a May 22, statement, she strongly defended going to Maui.

“I welcome transparency and am confident that the public record will show my recent travel was appropriate, work-related, and fully consistent with my responsibilities as a Montgomery County Councilmember,” she wrote.

In a June 2 email to The Banner, Sayles’ legislative aide, Sierra Gray, pointed out that the council member missed no votes while away. Gray also wrote about how Sayles’ participation in “numerous national, regional and the professional governmental organizations” has benefited the county and informed policy on data centers, youth engagement and other issues.

The county gives $737,000 to every member of the council to run their offices, money they can draw from for travel related to county business.

Public records of council trips outside Maryland and Washington, D.C., show that from December 2022 to March 2026, Sayles spent $20,307 from her budget on travel. At Large Council member Evan Glass spent the next-highest amount, $3,720 total for two trips to Austin and Alabama.

During this same period several other council members traveled abroad on economic development trips organized through County Executive Marc Elrich’s office. Those trips, to cities in Asia, typically cost between $3,000 and $6,000 per person.

Council members Glass, Marilyn Balcombe, Will Jawando, Kate Stewart, Andrew Friedson and Natali Fani-González each went on one of these trips, which are funded by the Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation and subsidized by Sister Cities International, and in some cases by the countries the county is visiting.

Sayles has not gone on an economic development trip.

In emails to Sayles, Council staff have raised questions about her recent travel to Maui, where she attended two conferences. The first, from May 5-8, was hosted by the National Association of Counties and focused on Western states’ interests.

She told county officials that her attendance at the conference was necessary because she is on the national group’s board of directors.

Via email, a county employee pointed out that the conference is not relevant to Montgomery County’s business, and that she is one of about 130 members of the organization’s board. NACo officials told The Banner that the group did not require in-person attendance.

Though Sayles pressed, the county did not approve using her office budget for the conference. But it did permit her to use it to pay for another conference in Maui at about the same time, organized by the National Organization of Black County Officials, which took place from May 7-11.

County staff reminded her though, that the conference would take place when the council would be hammering out the next fiscal year’s budget.

Sayles said she made responsible use of county dollars in her travels.

“I personally paid for all travel expenses,” Sayles wrote in the May 22 statement to The Banner. “No taxpayer funds were used for airfare, lodging, or conference-related costs. Any reimbursement will follow standard County procedures and applicable budget guidelines.”

On Zoom

Sayles absence was noted in Rockville, where the council meets, and which is six hours ahead of Maui. She was sometimes late to log into Zoom meetings, and some staffers wondered out loud about her whereabouts.

As chair of the council’s Health and Human Services Committee, Sayles was required to preside at meetings of her committee in-person, according to Christine Wellons, the council’s chief legislative attorney.

Council member Dawn Luedtke said she was asked by Council President Fani-González to lead those meetings in Sayles’s place.

“Can she really chair this from Hawaii over Zoom?” Luedtke, who sits on the health committee, said to The Banner. “So I was asked if I could pitch in, and I said yes.”

“I hope I helped the meetings run smoother,” Luedtke added, “because it is very challenging having someone who’s not physically in the room trying to chair a meeting with people who are in the room.”

While in Maui, Sayles participated less in meetings than she usually does and was often off-camera.

“Virtually her screen was frozen on just a static picture of her face,” said Gordie Brenne, treasurer of the Montgomery County Taxpayers League. “Her timing was absolutely awful.”

Sayles said in her statement that she “continued to manage my constituent and legislative responsibilities without interruption.”

On the road

The economic development trips taken by Elrich, who taps one council member and a staffer or two to attend with him, have cost the county a total of about $30,000 since December 2022, according to county officials.

According to a list provided to The Banner by Elrich’s office, he traveled in 2023 to Taiwan with Fani-González and to India and Vietnam with Glass. In 2024, he went to Thailand with Stewart. In 2025, he went to Taiwan with Friedson and to China and Japan with Jawando. Balcombe joined Elrich on a trip to Taiwan earlier this year.

Sayles’ trips since she joined the council included a NACo conference in Philadelphia, a NOBCO conference in Miami and a Sister Cities trip to Cape Town, South Africa, which cost $4,126. While Montgomery County is part of the Sister Cities International organization, Cape Town is not one of the county’s sister cities.

The first of Glass‘s two trips, in July 2023, was to the National Association of County Governments conference in Austin, Texas. He was reimbursed $2,878 for it. The second, in November 2024, was to Alabama with Rockville-based Jewish Studio, a community group that organized the trip for Jewish community leaders to study the civil rights era. The county reimbursed Glass $841 for this trip.

Glass, as the council’s designated appointee to NACo represents the council at NACo meetings that are particularly relevant to Montgomery County.

“It was a deeply powerful experience and a reminder that the lessons of the 1960s remain as relevant today as ever,” Glass wrote to The Banner. “As the Voting Rights Act and other civil liberties face ongoing challenges, those struggles offer important guidance for our own time.”

Council members pay for county-related travel out of the same office budgets they pay their staff. Most members hire at least four staffers. Sayles website lists two staffers.

Lobbying for Maui

County staff told The Banner there are no “blackout dates” prohibiting council members from taking business trips or vacations.

But when council members want to travel on the county’s dime, council executive director Craig Howard and other staff who are not part of individual council members’ offices verify that conferences are non-partisan and relevant to county business.

Staff told Sayles that the NACo trip was ineligible for county funds because it was not relevant to county business, but she continued to ask for approval.

The Maui conference “focuses on issues facing Western counties and residents” and “is not related to County work or issues under consideration by the County,” council Deputy Director Sandra Marin wrote to Sayles in a Jan. 30 email.

NACo’s Western Interstate Region Conference in Maui hosted sessions on land management, wildfires and drought. Held at the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort and Spa, the conference also included nature tours, karaoke and a documentary screening on a Hawaiian wildfire. It is not clear if Sayles participated in any of these activities.

Undeterred, Sayles in a March 2 email requested NACo CEO Matthew Chase intercede on her behalf with county staff. On April 16, she emailed a letter for NACo officials to sign and forward to Howard highlighting her position on NACo’s board of directors.

Chase wrote back April 16, explaining Sayles’ board role but did not request that the county pay for the trip.

In response, Howard in an April 23 email encouraged Sayles to attend the meeting virtually as other council members had in the past. He noted the board met only one day during the conference.

The response frustrated Sayles.

“I’m navigating some pretty difficult storms here in MoCo with our new Executive Director denying reimbursement and justification of my attendance at the NACO WIR conference,” Sayles told Maryland Association of Counties Director Mike Anderson in an April 28 email. “Go figure!”

Sayles later submitted a request on April 7 to attend the National Organization of Black County Officials conference in Maui.

Staff approved this trip as a reimbursable expense, but reminded Sayles’ staff in an April 13 email that the trip would overlap with a week of budget work sessions.

This conference was held at the Westin Maui Resort & Spa and cost $1,125 per ticket. Sessions focused on the economy and technology, according to the conference agenda. Leisure activities included beach yoga, ukulele lessons and a koi feeding but it is not clear if Sayles participated.

“This was a very critical budget juncture,” said Brenne, of the Taxpayers League. “She must have known that it was going to be a hot budget, and that her presence would have allowed her to participate in hallway conversations and arm-twisting and all the other stuff that goes on in that final week.”