A member of the city’s Board of Adjustment will not face a final hearing on charges he involved himself inappropriately in an appeals process involving the neighborhood association of which he is also a founding member. At Wednesday’s meeting of the Ethics Review Commission, commissioners voted 8-0 that there was not enough evidence to move […]
City of Austin Ethics Review Commission
The Ethics Review Commission is charged with review of, among other issues, ethics complaints leveled against City of Austin boards and commission members. They meet quarterly.
Posted inCity Hall
Complaint filed against former police monitor
The Office of the City Auditor has filed an ethics complaint against Austin’s former police monitor, Margo Frasier, alleging that she used her city computer for her outside consulting practice and that such use was a violation of the city’s Code of Ethics. Nathan Wiebe, chief of investigations for the auditor’s office, filed the complaint […]
Posted inCity Hall
Ethics commission sets final hearing for former music department staffer
Austin’s Ethics Review Commission will hold a final hearing next month to determine whether a former music office employee attempted to inappropriately pay herself out of city coffers. The complaint against Ashley Buchanan, who worked as an employee in the Music and Entertainment Division for four years until 2015, is at the heart of the […]
Posted inCity Council
What really happened with the new ethics ordinance?
An ordinance approved by City Council last month aims to strengthen the Ethics Review Commission, the citizen panel tasked with investigating and judging ethics complaints made against city officials. The ordinance, which had been in the works for about a year and a half, will give the commission a number of new powers, including to […]
Posted inCity Hall
Ethics Review Commission weighs campaign finance proposal
Members of the city’s Ethics Review Commission are considering a number of potential changes to Austin’s campaign finance rules in the wake of a federal court ruling that blocked enforcement of certain restrictions on candidate fundraising. In a ruling last year prompted by a lawsuit by former City Council Member Don Zimmerman, U.S. District Judge […]
Posted inCity Hall
Ethics Commission says voters have given Zimmerman a greater sanction than it ever could
Austin’s Ethics Commission dismissed a complaint against City Council Member Don Zimmerman on Nov. 9, saying there was no sanction it could give him greater than being voted out of office. Commissioners voted 5-3 in favor of the complainant. But, in order for the motion to pass, the commission needed six supporting votes, or two-thirds […]
Posted inElections
Zimmerman campaign mailer provokes ethics complaint
City Council Member Don Zimmerman may once again face the wrath of the Ethics Review Commission for violating a campaign finance ordinance that he believes is not legal. The outspoken conservative possibly broke city campaign rules, the commission decided Wednesday, when he failed to include the following disclaimer on a mailer he sent to voters […]
Posted inCity Hall
Complaint filed against former housing director
The chief of investigations for Austin’s Office of the City Auditor filed a complaint late Wednesday against Betsy Spencer, the former director of Neighborhood Housing and Community Development, with the city’s Ethics Review Commission. In that complaint, Chief of Investigations Nathan Wiebe alleges that Spencer knew about a conflict of interest involving one of her […]
Posted inCity Hall
Ethics complaints over free SXSW tickets dismissed
Complaints against two city officials alleging that they used their positions to acquire free tickets to the South by Southwest Interactive Festival were dismissed quickly by the City Council Ethics Review Commission on June 22. The commission determined that although the high cost of the tickets — over $1,000 each — raised some eyebrows, neither official […]
Posted inCity Hall
Ethics Review Commission overhauls complaint requirements
The process for bringing a complaint before the Ethics Review Commission will become more complicated, but hopefully more transparent, if City Council passes a recommendation to overhaul the commission’s ethics complaint requirements. Commissioners want to address common and long-running problems with the citizen complaints they receive. Their goal is to make the process clearer and […]
Posted inThe Code
Ethics complaint against CM Renteria delayed
Did City Council Member Pio Renteria violate city code by participating in recent revisions to the Short Term Rental Ordinance? That question will be left for another day, after a Wednesday night ruling that the complaint filed by Thomas Clark against Renteria needs some work. At its most recent meeting, the Ethics Review Commission was […]
Posted inTipSheets
Reporter’s Notebook: Music and moments of vindication
Which genre do you live in?… In case you missed it, the city’s district music summits kicked off this weekend with the punk/alternative summit in District 2. Even if you didn’t go, there are nine summits left to catch, each of which offers a genre’d opportunity to weigh in on the Austin Music and Creative […]