Austin City Council member's husband named to ethics commission that oversees the council

Austin City Council Member Paige Ellis' husband, Edward "Ed" Espinosa, was recently appointed to the Austin Ethics Review Commission by Mayor Kirk Watson.
Aaron E. Martinez/American-Statesman

Austin American-Statesman
Ella McCarthy, Austin American-Statesman
August 5, 2023

A recent appointee to the Austin Ethics Review Commission — a government board that investigates ethics allegations involving City Council members and other city officials — is married to a current council member.

District 8 Council Member Paige Ellis' husband, Edward "Ed" Espinoza, was appointed to the commission by Mayor Kirk Watson in July.

Watson doesn't believe there are any legal or ethical concerns with the appointment, and Ellis and Espinoza feel their marriage won't affect Espinoza's actions on the ethics commission.

"If I believed it would be a conflict of interest, I wouldn’t have done it," Watson told the American-Statesman in a statement. "Prior to the appointment, I consulted with the City Attorney."

All 11 members of the commission are appointed by the mayor or a council member and confirmed by the council. Members serve for four years, according to the commission bylaws, and do not receive any payment for the role.

Ellis, who also serves as mayor pro tem, filed a recusal and did not vote on the item confirming Espinoza's appointment, which was passed during the consent agenda vote at the City Council meeting on July 20.

"Mr. Espinoza’s knowledge and experience highly qualify him to serve on the commission," Watson said.

Espinoza has nearly a decade of experience as a TV political analyst and was previously the president of Progress Texas, a "rapid response media organization promoting progressive messages and actions," according to its website. Progress Texas is a 501(c)(4) organization, a tax-exempt social welfare nonprofit, which are sometimes called "dark money groups" because they are not legally required to disclose their donors.

The organization has a history of spending in Texas elections.

According to records kept by the Texas Ethics Commision, Progress Texas spent more than $12,000 on online advertising in the months leading up to the 2020 general election, with political expenditures to dozens of political candidates across Texas.

In the 2019 San Antonio mayoral runoff election, Texas Ethics Commission records show the group spent $113,000 on advertising and consulting expenses.

Progress Texas is affiliated with the Progress Texas Institute, a 501(c)(3) organization, that is "a multimedia, public education organization specializing in cutting-edge digital campaigns," according to its website.

In Austin, the Ethics Review Commission that Espinoza will serve on conducts hearings and makes rulings on sworn complaints alleging violations of the provisions within the commission's jurisdiction, including complaints within the commission's jurisdiction against City Council members, according to the city.

According to the Ethics Review Commission bylaws, "each commission member shall sign an attendance sheet which indicates that the member does not have a conflict of interest with any item on that agenda or identifies each agenda item on which the member has a conflict of interest."

"He wouldn't be able to weigh in on anything that potentially would involve me," Ellis told the Statesman.

Ethics commissioners also can't weigh in on issues involving the council member, including the mayor, who appointed them, Ellis said.

By that rule, Espinoza would have to recuse himself on matters involving both Ellis and Watson.

After having conversations with Ellis and Watson and looking into the Texas Municipal Code and the laws on nepotism, Espinoza said they determined it was OK and took additional measures to ensure everything was by the book.

"It's not entirely unprecedented for people who are very involved in the city to be connected to commissions," Espinoza said. "I intend to exercise my expertise on the ethics commission fairly and accurately."

In addition to Watson's appointment of Espinoza, District 3 Council Member José Velásquez appointed Alysa Nunez, who is a dental hygienist, to the Ethics Review Commission during the July meeting.

"I became interested when I learned that my district didn't have a commissioner during the Zilker vision plan meeting," Nunez told the American-Statesman.