Newsletter Signup
The Austin Monitor thanks its sponsors. Become one.
Most Popular Stories
- Latest State of Downtown report shows the city core’s businesses and housing are in transition
- Austin reopens applications for people who need help paying rent
- Watson is ahead in election for Austin mayor, but it’s unclear if he’ll avoid a runoff
- Nearly 52% of registered voters in Travis County cast an early ballot
- Updated: Austin Energy still considering options to answer to grid growing pains
-
Discover News By District
Popular Whispers
- Meet Austin’s new park director finalists
- TCAD will soon be verifying property owners’ homestead exemptions
- Riverside intersection for Project Connect part of TXDOT’s $746M I-35 contract
- Smart Cities Connect brings fall conference to downtown Austin
- Siegel, Bledsoe announce new endorsements in D7 runoff
Tag Archives: City of Austin Ethics Review Commission
Ethics commission finds Prop J PAC violated campaign finance laws
After hours of politically caustic testimony, the Ethics Review Commission found at its May 8 meeting that the No on Prop J political action committee had violated city ethics codes by failing to disclose a $10,000 donation in a timely…
Bonds & Propositions • By Jessi Devenyns • May 14, 2019
Rodriguez case fails to find agreeable settlement
In a novel solution, the Office of the City Auditor and Frank Rodriguez presented a settlement agreement to the Ethics Review Commission at what should have been the final hearing on the case May 8. However, ethics commissioners felt the…
City Hall • By Jessi Devenyns • May 10, 2019
Ethics commission loses some duties
Austin’s Ethics Review Commission will no longer be looking at allegations of ethics violations related to most city employees. On Thursday, City Council approved changes to the ordinance governing the commission’s authority after ensuring that reports about such allegations would…
City Hall • By Jo Clifton • Mar 29, 2019
Ethics violation raises questions about city laptop policies
DeShawn Scott, a temporary administrative specialist in the Public Works Department, left his position in December after the Office of the City Auditor opened an investigation into Scott’s use of his city computer for purposes related to his two outside…
City Hall • By Jessi Devenyns • Mar 20, 2019
Ethics Commission looks into omission of PAC donation
How does one forget to report $10,000? That was the question of the evening for the Ethics Review Commission at its March 13 convocation. In a complaint filed by Fred Lewis last November, he accused the No on J political…
Elections • By Jessi Devenyns • Mar 15, 2019
Despite statute of limitations, ethics commission moves forward with Rodriguez case
More than a year after Austinites and reporters raised questions about Frank Rodriguez’s continued ties to Latino HealthCare Forum, a nonprofit he founded while he was serving as a senior policy adviser for Mayor Steve Adler, the issue came before…
City Hall • By Jessi Devenyns • Feb 19, 2019
Subscribe to our newsletter
Ethics Review Commission dismisses case against Human Resources director
The city of Austin professes to have a “mother-friendly” work environment that supports new moms and working parents. However, a complaint filed in December by the Office of the City Auditor brings that policy into question. The complaint filed by…
City Hall • By Jessi Devenyns • Feb 14, 2019
'Valid' ethics complaint dismissed for being unconstitutional
Last October, Mayor Steve Adler’s campaign manager, James Wick, filed an ethics complaint against Megaphone GPAC, a general purpose political action committee opposing the mayor’s re-election. At the time, several attorneys opined that the complaint would be dismissed due to…
Elections • By Jessi Devenyns • Jan 15, 2019
Reporter’s Notebook: The bonus no one wanted
Violations that make lawyers giggle… On Jan. 9, the Ethics Review Commission heard the preliminary case of DeShawn Scott, an administrative specialist in the Public Works Department, who used his city computer for purposes related to his own outside businesses: Texas…
Reporters' Notebook • By Austin Monitor • Jan 14, 2019
Austin Energy employee accused of fraud found to be 'not in violation'
After three hours of discussion surrounding the definition of “intent” in application to fraud, the Ethics Review Commission found Curtis Graves, Austin Energy’s former superintendent of system operations, not in violation of city code by virtue of three votes. “You…
City Hall • By Jessi Devenyns • Jan 11, 2019
Camelback is back, but this time at the Ethics Review Commission
After so much contention and inflamed passions on both sides, it’s no surprise that the story of the Camelback planned unit development did not end with the Nov. 1 approval by Council. On Dec. 12, the Ethics Review Commission heard…
City Hall • By Jessi Devenyns • Dec 17, 2018
Ethics Review Commission declines to weigh in on city anti-discrimination and harassment policy
City Council recently asked the Ethics Review Commission to review its proposed amendments to the anti-discrimination/anti-harassment portion of the City Code, which includes language such as “No City official or employee shall engage in conduct or use language that is…