‘Waste of our time’: Ethics complaints against El Paso Mayor Dee Margo dismissed by commission

The city of El Paso’s Ethics Review Commission unanimously voted Thursday afternoon to dismiss ethics complaints against Mayor Dee Margo alleging he had improper financial interests in downtown redevelopment and improperly used personal email for city business.

The allegations were filed by El Paso native Stuard Blaugrand, who currently lives in Dallas.

“The complaints were very poorly written,” said board member Bill Hicks.

“They made allegations of state code violations, they made open records allegations. They failed to make ethics code violations. They failed to sustain any kind of violations of our City Ethics Code. In my opinion and the opinion of the committee, it was a waste of our time,” Hicks said.

Blaugrund’s complaint claimed the mayor spoke favorably about real estate and business developments that he could have a vested interest in through his investments with Borderplex Realty Trust.

Margo had denied using his office to take any favorable action to promote properties within the trust.

KVIA 2019