Photo by M.V. Jantzen

Mayor Vince Gray will be in Charlotte next week for the Democratic National Convention, but WTOP’s Mark Segraves reports that he’ll be paying his own way to get there and will be using his vacation days in the process:

While the mayor will be representing the District and performing some official duties, such as lobbying for support of D.C. Voting rights and budget autonomy, Gray tells WTOP he’s paying for the trip out of his own pocket.

“I’m going to pay my own way because this is a political activity and I want to be there,” Gray says. “I want it to be clear I’m traveling on my own.”

Not only is Gray paying his own travel expenses, he’s using vacation leave for while he’s out of town and he’s not using government staff to facilitate his meetings while in Charlotte.

On a recent official trip to China, Gray traveled without his usual security detail, the expenses of which dogged Mayor Adrian Fenty, who often traveled with his during his term.

Not sure if I would call traveling to North Carolina to convince Democrats to put D.C. statehood in the party platform a “vacation,” but hey, to each his own.