Huntsville City Councilman Devyn Keith withdrew his request for travel funding at Thursday’s city council meeting, saying he did not want to be a distraction after the council refused to consider his request two weeks ago.

Keith said he respected the majority opinion of the council even if he did not always agree with it and said before the agenda item came up for consideration that wanted it to be discarded.

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The tension at the meeting two weeks ago came after Keith asked for $2,100 for travel later this month for a council-related trip to Washington with the Huntsville-Madison County Chamber of Commerce. Keith did not have enough money remaining in his travel budget to cover the trip.

Keith is also facing four misdemeanor shoplifting charges that he said two weeks ago he believed was a factor in the council not approving his travel.

When the council arrived at the agenda item Thursday, Keith – as the sponsor — asked that the item not be considered. The council then continued through the agenda.

“I don’t want to be a distraction to anybody in D.C. or anybody on this council,” Keith told the council. “There will be many more D.C. trips to take. But to put you in this contest of perspective, I don’t think it’s fair.”

Before withdrawing the trip request, Keith planned to ask the council to approve funding for the trip but he has reduced his request to what’s essentially remaining in his travel budget – which is $789.17, according to the resolution. Keith asks for all but the 17 cents to be applied to the Washington trip. He has said that he planned to cover the balance of the trip himself.

Two weeks ago, Keith asked for $2,100 for the trip with the hope that other council members would offer excess money in their travel budgets to him, citing the fact that the practice had been done in the past.

When Keith made the motion for his request to be considered two weeks ago, no council member seconded the motion. Without a second, the motion immediately died.