My partner in political crime reports this morning that Mayor Greg Ballard will reimburse taxpayers for the cost of his wife’s flight to accompany him on an Asian trade mission this week.

That’s a good, if belated, step in the right direction, but I still haven’t heard any good explanation for why we should be footing the bill for any part of her trip. (Also, is the First Couple flying first class? What’s their itinerary? When will this information be disclosed?)

Winnie Ballard is a native of the Philippines who moved to the United States almost four decades ago when she was, by my calculation, about 20 years old. How many college-age kids do you know who have an intimate knowledge of corporate culture? By her own admission, the Missus doesn’t miss her native land one bit, and she’s kept up with her roots solely in the kitchen.

Now, let’s talk geography: Do you know how far it is from the Manila to Shanghai? Almost 1,150 miles. Manila to Tokyo? Close to 1,900 miles.

But here’s the Much Bigger Point: There’s a vast chasm between Chinese and Japanese culture, and aside from a general lumping in under the header of “Asia,” my guess is there are plenty of differences between Filipino culture and Chinese and Japanese cultures.

I’m sure to be treading on some thin ice here, but isn’t it racially insensitive to assert that someone who emigrated from a country 36 years ago has so much in common with the entire region from which she emigrated merely because she was born there?

I can trace my roots back to Scotland, Germany and, um, Kentucky, but that doesn’t mean I should be sent to those places as an ambassador of good will who is intimately acquainted with the goings-on there.

Moreover, I thought we were trying to move beyond a society where we pigeonhole people based on the color of their skin or the ancestry of their last names.

If someone could tell me one deliverable Winnie Ballard actually brings to this trade mission (or to the 25th floor, where she hangs out all day), I’ll hush my mouth, but if Hizzoner is simply going to trot out her Asian heritage to justify taking her on a taxpayer-funded vacation, forgive me, but I’m outraged.

This is public service, not Club Med.