Mayor Pugh Defends Spending $400 A Night Hotel Rooms In DC For Conference

BALTIMORE (WJZ) --  Mayor Catherine Pugh defended the cost of $400 a night hotel rooms for her and two aides, after a Baltimore Sun report raised eyebrows about the expenditure.

Pugh said the cost to stay at the Capital Hilton Hotel in DC from Jan. 23-Jan. 25 for the U.S. Conference of Mayors was the same rate any other mayor attending spent on the room.

"I didn't spend the money," Pugh said. "The reality is every mayor stays there, every mayor of this city who has been to the US Conference of Mayors every January we all stay there. we've all stayed there for over decades."

She also said the price of the room was negotiated by the conference of mayors.

Pugh said the group paid for food out of their own pocket.

Normally any trip costing more than $800 would get pre-approval by the Board of Estimates. Pugh didn't ask for approval ahead of time.

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