Could an introduction at a party in Vegas spark a long-term relationship in Baltimore?

That’s the contention of a delegation of city officials headed to Sin City this weekend for the annual International Council of Shopping Centers convention.

The three-day fête brings together “dealmakers and industry experts” in the commercial real estate space, according to the convention’s website, which touts the event as the group’s premier gathering. It’s also home to the Maryland Party, a multiday poolside networking event at the Wynn and Encore Resort.

For decades, the conference has been a top draw for Baltimore officials, although attendance fell off during the coronavirus pandemic. In the last few years, it has resurged, with the city sending an increasingly larger cohort.

This year, Baltimore is sending at least eight officials, funding registration, hotels and meals at a cost of more than $27,000, according to publicly available travel requests. Mayor Brandon Scott plans to attend, as does his chief of staff, Calvin Young.

Justin Williams, the city’s deputy mayor for community and economic development, will also attend. Travel requests for the mayor’s staff, which range from $3,117 for the mayor to $4,439 for Williams, will be considered by the mayor-controlled Board of Estimates next week.

Baltimore will also foot a $2,634 bill for Marvin James, who stepped down as Scott’s chief of staff in April and is working as a special assistant, to attend. James went to the conference for the first time last year and said he began preparing for the event months ago with Williams and staff from the quasi-governmental Baltimore Development Corp. James said he wanted to see the plans through.

Last week, the spending board approved four additional travel requests for Council President Zeke Cohen and members Jermaine Jones, Sharon Green Middleton and Antonio Glover to make their own trek to the conference.

The requests, which ranged from $3,682 to $4,736, did not appear on the spending board’s agenda but were “walked on” as late additions. Officials said at the time the emergency consideration was necessary for the board to consider the requests in advance of the trip, in accordance with board policy.

Scott, who attended the convention in 2022, 2023 and 2024, defended the expense, saying city officials make connections at the gathering that have been beneficial to Baltimore. Scott said he networked with the developers behind the rehabilitation of the Edmondson Village Shopping Center at the annual convention. Midwest developer Chicago Trend bought the struggling West Baltimore shopping center in August 2023 and has plans for a $20 million overhaul.

“We’re working with folks to get business here in Baltimore,” Scott said last week.

Cohen, who is making his first trip to the conference, said the council members attending volunteered to go. The group is heavily representative of East Baltimore — all but Middleton live there. Councilman Zac Blanchard, who represents the city’s downtown business district, is not attending.

“This is a council that is concerned both with increasing population of our city but also attracting and retaining business in Baltimore,” Cohen said.

A fund established through the Baltimore Civic Fund to pay for Cohen’s transition into office will pay for a portion of his travel expenses. His trip cost $4,736, $2,426 of which was initially paid by the city and later reimbursed by the fund. The rest was paid by Cohen and will be covered by a separate reimbursement from the fund.

A spokesperson for Cohen said the fund was established prior to Cohen assuming the council presidency in December to cover expenses including professional development and related travel.

“The council president didn’t want to use taxpayer funds for travel related to this conference, and chose to use transition funds to spare them that expense,” the spokesperson said.

City leaders before Scott had been known to take bigger groups of staff. Mayor Catherine Pugh brought about a dozen staffers for the trip. But the number of council members attending the conference has swelled in recent years. Council President Nick Mosby attended in 2023 and 2024, taking three additional members, spending board records show. In 2021, records show only Mosby and Councilman Eric Costello attending.

Kaliope Parthemos, chief of staff to former Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, lamented the number of staffers and elected officials going on the social media platform X this week.

“Waiting for all the (completely unnecessary) city staff ICSC travel,” she said. “If you want to go to Vegas to party pay urself. The City should NOT pay for u.”

Parthemos attended the conference alongside Rawlings-Blake during her time as council president and mayor, news reports show. The Baltimore Sun reported they shared a room in 2007 to bring down costs. Parthemos could not be reached for further comment.

Costs for the Las Vegas conference run higher than those of other conference destinations, city records show. Registration for each attendee cost $1,050, and total travel costs averaged over $4,000 per person.

By comparison, the city paid $2,224 for a member of the administration to attend the Inner City Capital Connections gathering in Miami in 2023.