A small Utah city is sending its mayor and her staff on spendy trade missions around the world. Not everyone is happy.

The mayor of Vineyard and two of her staff went on expensive trips to Paris, London, Ukraine and India – and paid steep dues with city funds for access.

The tours and related expenses have largely flown under the public’s radar. But some residents and City Council members of the municipality — which has a one-room library and no fire station — were flabbergasted to discover how much Vineyard shells out on travel and related membership fees.

To date, it’s the equivalent of every Vineyard resident handing over more than $12 to cover the costs. And it’s unclear whether there are more trips on the horizon.

A records request filed by The Salt Lake Tribune found Vineyard taxpayers paid nearly $16,000 alone to send two city employees to Paris and London for a week in June. Those expenses included hotels that cost almost $500 a night. That’s in addition to the $150,000 the city has spent for a three-year membership to World Trade Center Utah through the end of Mayor Julie Fullmer’s term in 2025.

“It’s completely inappropriate,” said Vineyard City Council member Jacob Holdaway. “This should have been done in a more transparent way, if ever approved. And shame on them for the process that they used.”

Records show Fullmer also went on trade missions in the last year through both World Trade Center Utah and another organization the city pays hefty dues — the Utah Aerospace and Defense Association, which rebranded as 47G late last year. The city shelled out $22,500 for three years’ worth of memberships to that group.

“Vineyard makes no bullets,” Holdaway said. “It manufactures no planes, it has no airport … and [they’re] flying around the world on Vineyard’s dime.”

In an interview, Fullmer pointed to the city’s explosive growth. Vineyard went from a sleepy town of 600 people in 2014 to a population of 14,500 by 2022, according to U.S. Census data. Vineyard’s participation with the World Trade Center and 47G, the mayor said, will help attract business and innovation to its burgeoning Utah City development, slated to become the city’s new downtown core.

“It gives the city the ability to be proactive, rather than reactive,” Fullmer said. “And this is really what cities do, especially growing cities in need of a commercial tax base.”

The city’s budget for the 2022-2023 fiscal year was just under $10 million. The City Council and mayor’s chunk of that budget was a meager $109,000 – which includes all their part-time salaries, professional memberships, training and travel.

Meanwhile, all the trade missions and membership fees to the World Trade Center and 47G – paid out through different departments – have cost Vineyard City a combined total of $188,500 since 2023.

Fullmer, however, said the travel is aboveboard.

“I’m very prudent and thoughtful,” the mayor said in an interview, “and follow the regulations and requirements to make sure that our community gets the most for what they’re paying for with tax dollars.”

Public meetings and associated documents, however, reveal little mention of the trade center and aerospace memberships, what they were for or how much they cost. They note no discussion or debriefs of the trips and travel.

It’s only widening a community rift that emerged after an island-building scheme on Utah Lake sunk in spectacular fashion, leaving confusion, mistrust and consternation in its wake.

“We all work really, really hard for our money,” said Kimberly Olsen, a Vineyard resident and certified public accountant whose credentials The Tribune verified on the Utah Division of Professional Licensing database. “We need to pay taxes, but we also need to know how that money is being spent — that it’s being spent in the most beneficial, appropriate way possible. And that’s what I feel like we’re missing right now.”

Lame-duck City Council approves ambassadorships

Holdaway says he ran for City Council after frustration over the mayor’s collaboration with Lake Restoration Solutions, or LRS, the company that wanted to dredge Utah Lake and turn it into an island city for half a million people. Record requests revealed the mayor had pledged $5 million in city funds to help LRS get a hefty low-interest loan from the Environmental Protection Agency.

[View an interactive timeline of LRS’ attempt to get millions of dollars for its Utah Lake dredging project]

Eric Ellis, the former director of the Utah Lake Authority, also issued letters supporting the project, pledging millions of dollars in state funding he did not control. He asked the EPA to keep the letters private. When The Tribune obtained copies and asked Ellis about them in October, he abruptly resigned and took a position as Vineyard’s city manager the same evening.

Holdaway won November’s ranked-choice election in a landslide, and Sara Cameron defeated incumbent Cristy Welsh for the second available seat on the four-member City Council.

Weeks later, in Vineyard’s last regular council meeting before the new members were sworn into office, the city stoked the public’s ire for posting a last-minute, 250-page agenda loaded with numerous reforms, including making it nearly impossible to remove Ellis from his city manager job without the mayor’s approval.

Residents packed the council chambers, complaining about all the changes the lame-duck council had jammed into their last meeting.

But one agenda item went unnoticed. Tucked into the consent items — a package of policies and topics that council members vote on with no discussion — was an “Approval of Economic Strategy Contract Extensions.”

City Council Member Mardi Sifuentes asked for an explanation.

“I don’t know what this is,” Sifuentes said at the Dec. 13 meeting.

City Attorney Jayme Blakesley explained the agenda item related to “a number of agreements the city has with economic development entities.” Approval allowed the mayor to renew those contracts, he said.

A brief staff report buried in the massive agenda packet noted the approval meant a two-year contract for “entities and events” that included “WTC” and “UADA.” The document does not list any dollar amounts, only noting that they total more than $25,000 combined.

(Highlights to the above document added by The Tribune.)

The City Council approved the consent items unanimously. They included a $100,000 two-year contract with World Trade Center Utah and a $15,000 two-year contract with Utah Aerospace Defense Association/47G, according to information included in a public records request and in the city’s general spending ledger, a copy of which was shown to The Tribune.

The memberships could have been renewed on an annual basis — the city previously paid for a single year for both (more on that below). But locking Vineyard in for two additional years means they’ll lapse just after Fullmer’s term expires at the end of 2025.

“[The mayor] snuck it through at the end of the year and didn’t explain what it was for,” said Cameron, the newly elected council member. “We’re all kind of at a loss. Why are we signing up for it and why are they so secretive?”

Council member Amber Rasmussen, who voted to approve the memberships, said she supports the mayor but conceded the city could have done a better job communicating the “WTC” and “UADA” contracts.

“We felt it appropriate to make sure we got the years that we needed to complete the goals for economic development,” Rasmussen said. “I truly believe that with time and education, the other council members will actually understand why it’s valuable.”

Both Rasmussen and the mayor pointed to the former 1,750-acre Geneva Steel site, which underwent extensive environmental cleanup, as a reason to court international interests. A large chunk of the property is poised to become Vineyard’s downtown Utah City — and an immense economic opportunity.

Asked why the staff report only included initials for World Trade Center Utah and 47G, and no explanation of what they were, Fullmer said while the public may not have known what it meant, she believed it was clear to the council members.

“My understanding is that all of the council knew and understood what they were voting on,” Fullmer said. “They do understand the acronyms.”

Sifuentes, however, said in a text message that she wasn’t aware of what she was approving.

“I disagree with the expenditure” on World Trade Center Utah, the council member wrote. “I look forward to hearing from our mayor and city staff how this is benefiting our city.”

Spending thousands in Europe

Fullmer said she and the four-member City Council first discussed the possibility of a World Trade Center membership in February 2023, during a planning retreat. Draft minutes from that meeting briefly mention “creating an economic package that … gets us more involved with Silicon Slopes and World Trade Center Utah” as well as “plans [for] our 3D airspace.”

The document makes no mention of the cost of a World Trade Center membership, and notes nothing about Utah Aerospace and Defense Association or 47G.

The mayor said she and the council proceeded to discuss and vote on World Trade Center Utah expenses and trips during several meetings in 2023. A review of agendas, meeting packets and minutes found the Vineyard Redevelopment Agency (RDA) board voted on March 8 of that year to “support” using economic development funds for World Trade Center Utah, but what they intended to spend is not clear.

World Trade Center Utah doesn’t appear again in public documents or meeting materials until the City Council, not the RDA, approved a $50,000 budget amendment to pay for it months later, on June 28.

But records reviewed by The Tribune show the city issued a $50,000 check to pay the membership fee on April 27 of last year, several weeks before the City Council authorized it.

“How is one government entity approving something,” Holdaway said, “and [a] completely different government entity spending it?”

The RDA formed to clean up and redevelop the old Geneva Steel plant. While the mayor and City Council members serve as the RDA board, they are separate legal bodies with different authorities and budgets. The RDA derives its revenue from property taxes collected within the Geneva site boundaries that would have otherwise gone to the city, to fund things like cleanup costs and infrastructure. But the World Trade Center memberships came from the city’s coffers, not the RDA budget.

“This is the smoke and mirrors of the mayor,” Holdaway said.

Next came the travel.

Fullmer said the City Council approved funds for two city staffers to travel to Paris and London as part of a World Trade Center Utah mission during their regular meeting on the evening of April 26, 2023. But a records request shows the employees had already booked flights that morning, and paid at least a portion of their participation fees the day before.

Those participation fees – which totaled $6,250 for the trip – were in addition to the $50,000 in annual membership dues the city paid World Trade Center Utah.

The employees also stayed in hotels that cost $4,745 for seven nights from June 17-24. They apparently shared a hotel room at the swanky 4-star Hotel Toujours in Paris, at a cost of $481 a night, according to a booking confirmation.

“They … shared a room because they were concerned about the cost,” Rasmussen said. “They shared a bed, in fact.”

But the staffers stayed in two separate rooms at the Westminster London for the second leg of their trip, another booking confirmation showed, with the city paying $466 a night for each.

Fullmer called the $16,000 total price tag for the trip “a small investment when you’re getting large returns and huge companies that are offering hundreds and thousands of jobs.”

Whether any specific businesses will move to Vineyard because of the trade mission remains up in the air.

“These things take time,” Fullmer said.

Vineyard mayor goes to Ukraine and India

Social media posts by the mayor of Irpin, Ukraine, show Fullmer in that country sometime in October or November. She’s briefly seen in promotional videos, but does not engage in interviews or other outreach materials found.

News releases and other promotional materials show Fullmer also participated in an 8-day mission to India organized by World Trade Center Utah from Feb. 26 to March 4. She would not say who she met with when asked.

A LinkedIn post by 47G further shows the mayor participating in a meeting with a delegate from Vietnam six months ago. Fullmer said the meeting occurred in Utah, but she did not recall where.

The mayor said her trade missions were “widely publicized.” But a review of Vineyard’s website, public meetings, social media and the mayor’s own social media channels do not appear to note any of the travel. Fullmer’s public calendars — requested in December, before Utah lawmakers made those records private last session — do not note the Ukraine trip.

47G – which led the Ukraine trade mission – does not mention Fullmer or Vineyard in its own news release about the tour.

Fullmer says she paid for her trade mission trips out of pocket. She collected $24,218 in wages and benefits as a part-time mayor in 2023, according to the state transparency website.

The mayor’s LinkedIn profile notes other potential sources of income. She lists herself as the current co-founder and general partner of OutWit Media Group and OutWit Media LLC, which is either a digital marketing firm or a tech startup investor or both. Her husband, Curtis Fullmer, is also listed as a co-founder. But OutWit is not a registered Utah business. An internet search for OutWit Media’s website shows a 100% Black-owned audio company based in South Africa uses that name, as does a digital marketing agency in Canada.

Fullmer’s profile also notes she’s the current founder of JFB-Consulting.com. But a visit to JFB-Consulting.com shows it’s a marketing company aimed at the pharmaceutical and biotech industry, headquartered in Sweden.

The mayor declined to answer questions about her resume.

“I feel comfortable talking about city stuff,” Fullmer said, “but I don’t really feel comfortable talking about my private life.”

Her profile further notes she chairs a $360 million “investment board” that “revitalizes & cleans the environment, establishes economic vitality, and develops market driven innovative cities.” She confirmed she was referring to her role on the city’s RDA board, which is unpaid.

The mayor would not say how much she spent on her trips to Ukraine and India, and she would not say whether she had any future international trips planned to discuss city affairs.

And while Fullmer may have set sail on her own dime, it appears she at least tested the waters to see if the City Council would authorize taxpayer funds for one of the trips.

Rasmussen said the mayor emailed her and former council member Tyce Flake on Aug. 23 asking for “permission” to go on the trade mission to Ukraine with 47G. Rasmussen said she warmly supported using city funds to send Fullmer abroad, since the mayor planned to conduct city business.

“She was doing good work for the city of Vineyard that I thought was incredibly important,” Rasmussen said.

Sifuentes, however, had a more tepid response.

“The mayor had the city manager call me and ask for funds to go to the Ukraine,” the council member wrote in a text. “I told them I wouldn’t approve it unless it was taken to a public meeting.”

‘Mayor keeps doing stuff no one knows about’

Learning of all the pricey memberships and travel has Vineyard’s two new city council members, and some residents, left feeling bamboozled.

“We’re such a small city,” Cameron said, “we have plenty of our own needs that need to be taken care of. The mayor keeps doing stuff no one knows about.”

Rasmussen said the city kept information about World Trade Center Utah and 47G quiet because of “a change in climate, politically.”

“People are saying that we’re working with the World Economic Forum, and we’re doing Smart City technology to control them,” she said. “They’re saying things that are radical.”

Holdaway dismissed that assertion.

“This is about taxpayer money,” he said.

A spokesperson for World Trade Center Utah said it hosts international delegations locally in addition to organizing trade missions overseas. The nonprofit’s goal is to bring international investment to the state, and “shape how Utah engages with the rest of the world,” the spokesperson said.

But the city’s other elected leaders say Vineyard is too small to pay such hefty fees. Other dues to professional organizations on the city’s ledger range from $75 for the Utah Association of Public Treasurers to $5,000 for the Utah Valley Chamber of Commerce. The $50,000 in annual dues for a World Trade Center Utah ambassadorship and $7,500 a year for 47G certainly stand out.

“Businesses [join] World Trade Center Utah,” Cameron said. “It’s a business opportunity for people who want to do international trade. … The only other city that’s part of this organization is Salt Lake City.”

There are different tiers of membership at World Trade Center Utah, the spokesperson confirmed. Fifty thousand dollars buys an “ambassadorship.” “Envoys” kick in $25,000, “diplomats” contribute $15,000 and “public” members pay nothing.

The only other government entities paying $50,000 for ambassadorships are Salt Lake City, Utah’s capital and largest city, and Salt Lake County, the state’s largest county. Spokespersons for Salt Lake City’s Mayor Erin Mendenhall and Salt Lake County’s Mayor Jenny Wilson said while they sometimes meet with visiting diplomats, neither the mayors nor their staff have gone on any trade missions abroad.

The bulk of World Trade Center’s members appear to be business owners, bankers, venture capital investors, developers, shippers, employees of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and charitable foundations.

“We might be smaller in size to Salt Lake City,” Fullmer said in defense of her ambassadorship, “but we have an incredible amount of land that is open [for] regional development in the heart of Utah County.”

She noted other elected officials have traveled on international trade missions, pointing to another humanitarian and trade trip to Ukraine led by Utah Senate President Stuart Adams in May 2023 (Fullmer did not participate). Stuart is a nonpaying “public” member of World Trade Center Utah.

Asked why Vineyard was interested in a professional membership with an aerospace and defense association like 47G, both Fullmer and Rasmussen said they want to protect the city’s “3D airspace” from the Provo airport, which lies about 3.5 miles from the city’s southernmost border and 5.5 miles from its future downtown.

Rasmussen also floated Utah Valley University and Huntsman Cancer Institute, which recently announced they will open campuses on the old Geneva Steel site.

“They have cybersecurity and aerospace programs that we want to collaborate with,” the council member said.

Asked why she approved multiyear memberships for the organizations, instead of letting each year’s City Council members decide how to spend taxpayer funds, Rasmussen said she’s open to cooperating and collaborating with the new council members.

“If [residents] don’t like what we’re doing, they can vote us out,” she said. “We chose what we thought was best for the City of Vineyard, and the people of Vineyard.”

Fullmer, for her part, indicated she intends to enjoy ambassador status until the end of her term, and has no interest in issuing a refund to “WTC” or “UADA.”

“Multiyear strategies are something that’s very normal,” the mayor said. “We’re all given cards from the last councils to build on.”