City attorney says ethics complaint filed against mayor is incomplete

The El Paso city attorney rejected an ethics complaint filed against the mayor, saying it did not identify a specific violation of the ethics ordinance.

Meanwhile, the District Attorney’s office said it will not prosecute an assault charge filed by the mayor’s wife against a former city representative’s husband.

Former city Rep. Ann Morgan Lilly filed the complaint against Mayor Oscar Leeser following an incident at a West Side restaurant. She accused the mayor of abuse of office and power and misuse of public police resources.

On Dec. 20, 2016, Lilly and her husband, Rutledge Lilly, were having dinner at Thyme Matters on North Mesa. Ann Morgan Lilly said the mayor and his wife approached her table to ask her how she felt about the decision to take the historic Duranguito neighborhood off the list of possible sites for the Downtown arena.

Ann Morgan Lilly said the mayor didn’t like the answer the Lillys gave him and became agitated.

“He said I didn’t understand poor people because I was rich,” Ann Morgan Lilly told ABC-7. “He then said to my husband, ‘It must be nice to be a rich boy and it must be nice to take people’s homes.'”

As the Lillys were leaving, Leeser allegedly pointed his cell phone at the couple. Rutledge Lilly walked up to Leeser and told him, “You’re a wimp,” the complaint stated. Rutledge Lilly goes on to state, “Leeser got up and his wife then stood up between them.”

Ann Morgan Lilly said she and her husband walked away and left the restaurant.

“The police came to our house about 30 or 40 minutes later and asked what had happened,” she said.

Ann Morgan Lilly said she believes El Paso police have enough to do and there was no reason for police to have been called.

“I am formally filing a complaint under the city code against Mayor Oscar Leeser for abuse of office and power and misuse of public police resources,” Ann Morgan Lilly stated in the complaint.

Leeser told ABC-7 Rutledge Lilly pushed his wife. A police report filed by Leesa Leeser stated she was not in pain, but the contact was “offensive.”

Leesa Leeser filed an assault charge against Rutlege Lilly. A spokeswoman for the District Attorney’s Office said Tuesday the case was declined for prosecution because “there is not enough evidence to proceed.”

In her reply to Lilly, City Attorney Sylvia Borunda Firth asked Lilly to “cure the deficiency within 15 days.”

According to Borunda Firth, Ann Morgan Lilly did not provide, “the nature of the alleged violation, including whenever possible, the specific provision of this chapter alleged to have been violated.”

The city attorney also determined that Ann Morgan Lilly did not provide, “a statement of the facts constituting the alleged violation and the dates on which or period of time in which the alleged violation occurred.”

Borunda Firth also said Ann Morgan Lilly did not provide, “all documents or other material available to the complainant that are relevant to the allegation; a list of all documents or other material relevant to the allegation and available the the complainant but that are not in possession of the complainant, including the location of the documents, if known; and a list of all documents or other material relevant to the allegation but unavailable to the complainant, including the location of the documents , if known.”