State Sen. Rodriguez puts Stout on unpaid leave until Stout’s campaign for county commissioner ends May 27

May 7, 2014 Update: El Paso State Sen. Jose Rodriguez has placed his aide, David Stout on unpaid leave.

Stout is running in the Democratic primary run-off for County Commissioner Precinct 2 against incumbent Sergio Lewis.

Earlier this week ABC-7 showed that Stout took six different groupings of two day sick leave absences from his state job in January and February.

A third consecutive day would have required a doctor’s note.

Facebook posts on Stout’s account appeared to show he was campaigning on one or more of those days.

ABC-7 investigated Stout’s attendance after he made a campaign issue of Lewis’s attendance.

In an email on Wednesday, Rodriguez told ABC-7 that all of Stout’s leave was in accordance with Senate rules, but in order to avoid the appearance of impropriety, he has placed Stout on unpaid leave for the duration of the campaign.

The run-off election between Commissioner Sergio Lewis and Stout is May 27. Early voting starts May 19.

“I have always encouraged people to engage in the civic and political processes of our community, and have always held myself and my staff to the highest ethical standards,” Rodriguez told ABC-7 in an email. “My employees work hard, and whatever time they take off, they have earned. However, because of my concern that his campaign activities could be conflated with official Senate activities, I requested David to take time off from the office while he campaigned. I approved the use of his leave in accordance with the Senate rules but I left the details to my staff.”

Rodriguez emphasized in the email that he approved Stout’s use of leave consistent with Senate rules.

“I want to be clear that state law does not require a Senate employee who is running for office to either resign or be placed on leave without pay,” Rodriguez wrote in the email to ABC-7. “In addition, Senate rules allow each Senator and department head to set his or her own office policies for all leave. However, to avoid any perception of impropriety and to get back to the important work of the community, I have placed David on leave without pay until the campaign ends.”

May 5, 2014 Story: Precinct Two County Commissioner Sergio Lewis is questioning whether run-off election opponent David Stout, as an aide to State Sen. Jose Rodriguez, misused sick leave by campaigning in the county election.

“I wouldn’t let that happen. I would not let that happen,” Lewis said. “If I was in a situation, and one of my aides was campaigning, they definitely would not be using sick leave to be campaigning, if that’s the question.”

According to Stout’s senate time cards obtained by ABC-7, between August and this past March, he requested 498 hours of comp time — more than 12 weeks worth. And 152 of those hours — nearly four weeks worth — were sick leave, 64 of which came in February, the month before the election. In the entire fiscal year ending August 2013 — Stout took 51 hours of sick leave.

Lewis released a flyer recently, saying he’s missed just five commissioners court meetings in three and a half years, and that Stout has been campaigning on the taxpayers’ dime.

“It’s time that I’ve worked hard for to accrue,” said Stout, who makes $40,000 a year as an aide to the senator. “And this just goes again to the attacks that he is now bringing up against me. This is something that’s dishonest. I’m not working on state time. All this time is time that is owed to me.”

Stout’s campaign website says, “Our current commissioner does not show up to work.” A recent flyer from Stout reads, “Donde esta Sergio Lewis?” and says Lewis misses 41 percent of his Central Appraisal District meetings.

“According to the report, I think this is a clear reflection of my opponent’s character,” Lewis said. “The question is, is he using sick leave — as a question — is he using sick leave to campaign? Has he been using sick leave to campaign?”

The senate employee handbook says Stout would need a doctor’s note if he takes three consecutive sick days. But Stout used all 64 of his February sick hours in two-day increments. He also took Dec. 16 and 17 as sick leave, when he posted a Facebook picture from the Democratic Party Headquarters of him drawing a place on the county ballot.

Stout posted another picture on Valentine’s Day just before sunset with a caption saying he was finishing block walking. Yet he requested no time off that day — but the time card shows sick hours crossed out and initialed. Stout couldn’t explain why that was.

No time off on Election Day either, yet he was actively campaigning on Facebook and posting pictures.

“No rules here were broken,” Stout said. “I have not been campaigning on state time. This is time that I have accrued as a state employee. And for my opponent to be flat-out lying and telling people that I am campaigning on state time — this is terrible.”

Secretary of the Texas Senate Patsy Spaw said Monday that full-time employees cannot campaign on state time, putting in question the days Stout campaigned but didn’t request time off.

Spaw also said sick leave is accrued at eight hours a month and can roll over from one fiscal year to another. Stout has worked for the senator nearly three years. The way aides use sick leave is up to each individual senator, Spaw said.

State Sen. Jose Rodriguez’s office didn’t return ABC-7’s call Monday.