Ethics Commission dismisses all complaints filed against mayor, city reps and city attorney
The city of El Paso’s Ethics Review Commission dismissed all ethics complaints filed against the mayor, four City Council representatives and the city attorney during a meeting Thursday evening.
Attorney Alan Bojorquez was hired by the city to look at the complaints. He told the commission he found no violations of the city charter, nor the code of ethics.
Mayor Oscar Leeser, representatives Cortney Niland, Peter Svarzbein, Lily Limon and Jim Tolbert were accused of holding a rolling quorum by walking in and out of a meeting held Dec. 16, 2016 without notifying the public.
The meeting was regarding the city arena potentially being built where the Durganguito neighborhood now stands.
The meeting was held at City Hall and included activists and members of the historical preservationists community.
The five city officials were accused of violating the Texas Open Meetings Act. The Texas Rangers are currently investigating.
“The allegations against the council members all involved the Texas meetings act which is a state statue. And under that statue the enforcement of it is done in court and not in an ethics commission meeting. So whether it is a civil trial or a criminal trial, that’s where the Legislature intended it to be dealt with,” Bojorquez said.
Jud Burgess and David Aviles, both of whom are running for city offices, filed the ethics complaints against the mayor and four reps.
“It was plain to see that they were obviously trying to skip the Texas meetings act by taking turns. And now we have the new one where they are using their personal cellphones in an attempt to avoid using their city cellphones like they are required to,” Burgess said.
Another complaint was filed by City Rep. Ann Morgan Lilly against the mayor.
On Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2016, Ann Morgan 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. The conversation led to an alleged altercation.
That complaint was closed after the city attorney asked for more information, adding that Lilly had missed the deadline to reply.
Two other complaints dealt with City Attorney Sylvia Borunda-Firth. Those were dismissed as well.
The two complaints filed against Borunda-Firth were also dismissed. They alleged she missed a deadline to review the original complaint against the mayor and city reps and that she should have recused herself because the complaints involved city officials.
The Ethics Commission also voted on changes regarding filing and investigating ethics complaints.
During the first part of the meeting, the commission unanimously agreed to changes including:
Amending the ethics complaint form to make it easier to understand and fill out correctly.
Considering people other than City Council representatives to appoint members to the Ethics Review Commission.
Requiring training for members of Ethics Review Commission. City attorney’s office will provide training.
Having outside counsel and not the city attorney initially review the complaint if the filed complaint is against the city manager or the mayor. If so, the City of El Paso will have to budget to pay for those attorney fees.
Establish a one-year statute of limitations for a violation of ethics ordinance.
All changes must first be approved by El Paso City Council members before changes are made final. The next Ethics Commission meeting is scheduled for April 6.
HISTORY OF FILED COMPLAINTS
According to documents obtained by ABC-7, two complaints were filed by Jud Burgess and seven by David Aviles.
Both men filed the initial complaints on December 19th and 20th, against City Councilors Lily Limon, Jim Tolbert, Peter Svarzbein, Cortney Niland and Mayor Oscar Leeser.
The group is accused of holding a rolling quorum by walking in and out of a meeting held December 16th, 2016, without notifying the public. Surveillance video obtained by ABC-7, shows the city reps entering and leaving city hall during the meeting. Four days later, the group voted to remove the Duranguito neighborhood as a possible location for the voter-approved Downtown arena. The conversation led to an alleged altercation.
Last month, City Attorney Sylvia Borunda-Firth dismissed the two ethics complaints against the mayor and city reps. In a letter obtained by ABC-7, Firth stated the complaints filed by the two men did not describe a city ordinance that was violated, and instead, centered on a possible violation of state law.
On Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2016, Ann Morgan 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.
After the incident, Ann Lilly filed an ethics complaint against Leeser.
