Augusta Commissioner Joe Bowles' proposal to change the way commission travel funds are allocated stirred up a hornets' nest on the board Monday.

Stung by media accounts of their recent taxpayer-funded trip to Reno, Nev., for the League of Cities conference, Commissioners Betty Beard and Calvin Holland and Mayor Pro Tem Marion Williams defended the trip and told the ones who didn't go they should have been there.

Mrs. Beard led the charge against the proposal to allocate a percentage of the travel funds for each commissioner to spend as he or she sees fit instead of in one lump sum.

She also took exception to a statement in The Augusta Chronicle on Sunday attributed to Mr. Bowles about the commission's travel budget being increased next year. Mr. Bowles was referring to the total commission budget being increased $28,000 for 2007.

"I do have a problem with that being increased $28,000 when we're laying people off," Mr. Bowles said. "They're not getting Christmas bonuses, and we have people here who are making $14,000 a year. I would like some control over the commission's budget."

City Administrator Fred Russell said the budget increase was because of the increased cost of commissioners' gasoline and health insurance.

Mrs. Beard said that she didn't want Mr. Bowles to think her a racist but that he and other members should have attended the conference because the focus for the past two years has been on inclusion.

"I look at our mayor, and I'm sure he needed his vacation, but I personally felt he should have been there to listen to what was done and said and look at how they're trying to make a difference for all of us," she said.

Mr. Williams said he disagreed with Mr. Bowles about travel funds because all commissioners have equal opportunities to travel. "This was an item that was budgeted for the National League of Cities, and anybody could have went," Mr. Williams said. "So I don't want no spoiled children hollering about who got the candy because you could have got some, too. If you didn't choose to go, that's your business."

Mr. Holland also said commissioners who don't want to travel should stay home but send a young person to learn what is going on in the country.

"If we want to stay here and complain about the travel, that's your prerogative to do so, but Calvin Holland is going to travel. I've always done that," he said.

Mr. Bowles said he got information from the computer.

"I'm sorry that everybody had made this a personal attack of the spoiled kid, but I, for one, don't have to go to Reno to think outside of an imaginary box," he said.

Mrs. Beard said she thought it was wrong when a young mayor and a young commissioner don't see a need to travel.

"It's unreal," she said.

In defense, Mayor Deke Copenhaver said that when the city has a $7 million budget deficit and is talking about laying people off, he feels a need to cut his budget.

The finance committee voted 3-1 to approve Mr. Bowles' proposal for Mr. Russell to recommend a revised gasoline and travel budget policy that would go before the full commission for a vote.