Ethics complaints won’t be heard before Election Day

As voters flocked to the polls on the first day of early voting, the city’s Ethics Review Commission decided it would postpone considering complaints about Mayor Kirk Watson and challenger Doug Greco accepting more than the allowed amount from non-Austin residents. City code limits the amounts candidates can receive from non-city residents on the theory that outside money should not influence local decisions.

Former Commissioner Betsy Greenberg had filed complaints against both of them, alleging that each had accepted out-of-city contributions in excess of $46,000.

However, Jim Cousar, Watson’s attorney, told the city that he would be out of the country on Oct. 23, the date of the next commission meeting, and requested a postponement. As the Bulldog reported, the Oct. 23 agenda now shows the commission will be discussing the scheduling of the complaints against Watson and Greco. For now, the complaints are expected to be heard on Nov. 13, eight days after the general election. Cousar could not be reached for comment Monday.

After the decision to postpone the hearing on complaint against Watson, Greenberg requested that the hearing on the complaint against Greco also be postponed. Greco filed suit against the city to try to overturn the regulation of outside contributions.  However, a federal judge dismissed the case, saying it would be appropriate for Greco to file again after the ethics commission decision.

Commissioners will also be discussing the scheduling of complaints against District 10 candidate Ashika Ganguly and District 6 candidate Krista Laine. Ganguly and Laine both missed the filing deadline for reports on their personal financial holdings that were due to the city in mid-September. Their opponents, Council Member Mackenzie Kelly in District 6 and Marc Duchen in District 10, filed ethics complaints against them. So, those complaints will not be heard before the election either.

In a statement released Tuesday, Greco said “It is very frustrating to learn two days before a hearing that it is now delayed because of a request from the complainant and the Mayor, especially since my request for a similar delay last month was denied. I recently brought a federal case over this city rule that unfairly advantages incumbents, wealthy candidates, and political insiders over grassroots candidates, and the judge ruled the Ethics Commission is the appropriate venue to first make this case. And now two political insiders, the Mayor and Betsy Greenberg, who is a supporter and donor of one of my opponents, successfully pushed to have these hearings delayed.”

In an email to the Monitor Greenberg said, Greenberg told the Monitor, “(E)fforts should be made to hear cases concerning campaign violations before elections.  The preliminary hearing for the Greco and Watson cases could have been held at the August 28th meeting and instead the commission received a briefing.  Similarly, the preliminary hearings on the Ganguly and Laine complaints should have been scheduled for this week.”

Duchen also complained on Monday about a political action committee, called Vibrant Austin PAC, which ran an ad on the Austin American-Statesman website on Oct. 20, declaring that the Travis County Democratic Party, among others, had endorsed Ganguly. That is not the case. The party never endorses one Democrat over another. James Murphy, Travis County Democratic Party executive director, is quoted in a news release saying that the party “has not made any endorsements in this race” and that “any statements to the contrary are inaccurate.”

The Austin Monitor contacted Skyler Korgel, the treasurer for the Vibrant Austin PAC. He said the reference to the local Democratic Party endorsement was “a mistake. It wasn’t intentional.” He said that he personally had nothing to do with the ad, but declined to name the person or persons who did. The PAC filing shows the names of two other decision makers with the PAC, Julio Salinas and Luis Osta Lugo. Korgel said the improper endorsement statement had appeared only in that one ad and that the mistake would not be repeated.

The Austin Monitor’s work is made possible by donations from the community. Though our reporting covers donors from time to time, we are careful to keep business and editorial efforts separate while maintaining transparency. A complete list of donors is available here, and our code of ethics is explained here. This story has been updated to include a statement from Greco.