Not just a junket in paradise?

Excerpt from this article:

If you can take the tropical air, it's nice in Bali now. The temperature ranges from 78 and 86 degrees, and while humidity is around 80 percent, it is, well, Bali - one of the world's most glorious islands.

All of us enduring a sometimes-rainy December in Northern California can be allowed envy for Santa Clara Mayor Patricia Mahan and Councilman Pat Kolstad, who are attending the United Nations Climate Change Conference at the Bali International Conference Center, courtesy of electricity ratepayers.

The city-owned utility, Silicon Valley Power, is paying $5,700 for Mahan's trip, which includes $2,243 for air fare. Kolstad's bill is being footed by the Northern California Power Agency, a consortium of publicly owned power companies that he serves as chairman.