Are El Paso City Representatives meeting behind your back?

ABC-7 has video of what appears to show four El Paso city representatives having an after-work meeting last Thursday. The following day, those same city reps. met with Mayor Oscar Leeser for a meeting at least two El Pasoans say was a violation of the Texas Open Meetings Act.

Two ethics complaints both state City Reps Cortney Niland, Jim Tolbert, Lily Limon and Peter Svarzbein got together to talk about the new downtown arena without the public present. The complaints refer to a meeting at Mayor Leeser’s office which included members from a community group on behalf of residents of the Duranguito neighborhood. City Council later voted to look for the voter approved arena and Duranguito no longer faces demolition.

The video obtained by ABC-7 shows what appears to be the four city reps gathering in a parking lot. ABC-7 was told the footage was recorded Thursday, December 15th, just a day before the same four city representatives met at the mayor’s office.

ABC-7 wanted to verify when it was recorded. That same night, ABC-7 Reporter Stephanie Guadian interviewed Representative Niland about the push to remove her from office.

Niland was wearing a black turtleneck with a cream colored sweater pancho. In the video, you see a woman with what appears to be the same outfit with her back toward the camera.

If that was from Thursday night, it meant those same reps later met at the mayor’s office Friday morning at 10 a.m.

The man who filed one of the complaints accuses them of intentionally violating the ethics code. The Texas Open Meetings Act states no more than four city reps can meet at a time.

So, when the four met with the mayor, making five, the complaints states one of the reps would step outside for a bit and then rotate to avoid a quorum.

ABC-7 called all the city reps and left messages at their offices Thursday. Niland called back and said she was available for comment. ABC-7 called and sent numerous text messages to Niland but did not hear back.

ABC-7 also spoke with a member of the ethics commission, who says the city attorney’s office is looking into the complaint and will decide if the commission should investigate.

When asked if that was a conflict of interest, since the city attorney worked on the arena deal, ABC-7 was told City Attorney Silvia Borunda Firth would have to get a review from outside her office.