Innovations & strategic planning director for Elk Grove accepted European travel gift from left-leaning think tank

No value reported on overseas trip by the city employee

The city of Elk Grove zoning administrator and director of strategic planning and innovation, also known as the Innovations Czar, accepted a trip to Europe in 2022.
Christopher Jordan reported one gift he received in 2022 from Washington D.C.-based Aspen Institute. Jordan described the gift as “nonprof. [sic] form for values-based leadership and ideas.”
The travel description was to Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The dates provided were October 6 through October 11, and Jordan assigned no value for the travel, meals, and accommodations.
Founded in 1949, the Aspen Institute describes itself as “a nonpartisan forum for values-based leadership and the exchange of ideas.”
According to Media Bias Fact Check, Aspen has a “slight to moderate liberal bias.” Additionally, “they often publish factual information that utilizes loaded words (wording that attempts to influence an audience by appealing to emotion or stereotypes) to favor liberal causes.”
Information on Aspen’s website about the conference Jordan appeared to attend was called CityLab2022. That invitation-only conference was held October 9 through 11 in Amsterdam and was co-hosted by Bloomberg Philanthropies.