Mayor Leeser proposes changes to city's ethics ordinance review process in upcoming council meeting

El Paso City Hall
(credit: KFOX14/CBS4)

KFOX14
by Ariana Parra
Tue, July 4 2023, 3:22 AM GMT-7

EL PASO, Texas (KFOX14) — Mayor Oscar Leeser is scheduled to ask city representatives to recommend making some changes to the city's ethics ordinance review process during Wednesdays city council meeting.

On the agenda, Mayor Leeser is asking that the council direct the Interim City Manager and City Attorney to amend the city's Ethics Ordinance Complaint Review Process to change the timeline when it comes to respondents addressing and filing their response to a complaint.

The current review process allows respondents to file a response before the City Attorney refers the complaint to the Ethics Review Commission which is something Mayor Leeser said is incorrect.

KFOX14 reached out to Mayor Leeser for an interview about the agenda item, and while he was unavailable at the time, he did send this statement:

“The item regarding the City’s Ethics Ordinance is on the agenda to ensure that any respondent’s timeframe for a reply begins once the City Attorney has rendered her legal opinion on the complaint. It is illogical for the timeline to begin prior to the City Attorney’s assessment and referral to the Ethics Review Commission. It was likely an omission during the last review of the ordinance, and we are cleaning it up at this time to make sense and align with what should happen.”

This addition to the agenda comes after an El Pasoan filed an ethics complaint against Representative Cassandra Hernandez for her misuse of taxpayer funded gas cards.

The ethics commission is scheduled to hear that complaint July 19 at 5:30 p.m.

El Paso City Council will meet Wednesday morning.

We will be sure to bring you the latest on the council's decision, both on air and online.

To see the agenda item, click here.

To see the current ethics ordinance, click here.