El Paso City Council moves ahead with plan for additional disclosure from political donors

El Paso Times
Adam Powell, El Paso Times
November 21, 2023

El Pasoans are one step closer to having a better picture of how political donations impact city decisions following a vote by the El Paso City Council.

City representatives voted 4-2 during a work session Monday, Nov. 20, to greenlight recommendations made by the Ethics Review Commission on broader disclosure for political contributions.

El Paso city Reps. Joe Molinar and Cassandra Hernandez voted against the recommendations, while city Reps. Art Fierro and Henry Rivera were not present for the vote.

City Council directed staff in August to adopt changes to the city's Ethics Code regarding political donors and contributions. In October, the council heard an update on those efforts and directed staff to work with the Ethics Review Commission to advance the plan.

A public hearing on the new ordinance will be held Dec. 6. City Council will then vote on the finalized proposal a week later.

The new rules will require that council members disclose political donations before casting a vote that might benefit a donor. However, the rules would not bar candidates from voting on those items or impose any limits on contributions.

If those rules are not followed, the new ordinance would allow for a civil penalty of up to $500. Offenders would have 30 days to pay the fine before the matter is taken up in a justice of the peace court.

The ordinance would likewise give the Ethics Review Commission jurisdiction over political contribution disclosure and any violations of the new requirements.

One city representative 'uncomfortable' with recommendations

The recommendations made by the Ethics Review Commission and presented by the city's Financing of Election Campaigns Cross-Functional Team initially put the onus of reporting requirements on council members only, but city Rep. Alexsandra Annello moved to have the new rules include both council members and contributors.

For Hernandez, the latest recommendations were beyond the scope of what was requested in October.

"I feel like this is far reaching from the original request," Hernandez said. "This not what we, folks who submitted their request for a change in ordinance, were seeking."

Hernandez, who was reprimanded by the Ethics Review Commission earlier this year, argued that it was not "prudent" to anoint the Commission with new powers and responsibilities and said doing so made her "uncomfortable."

While city Rep. Brian Kennedy agreed that the recommendations were not what council members expected, he contended that they may be an improvement.

"It may not be what was originally requested," Kennedy said, "but I think it has changed into something that is more viable as a tool and a nice safety net."

Molinar did not express any misgivings over the proposal, preferring to seek clarity on how a potential violation would be addressed. He has previously called additional contribution reporting "unnecessary."

And while Mayor Oscar Leeser expressed no opinion on the matter, he seemed to question whether the recommended disclosure requirements would effectively stop a donor looking to dodge notoriety.

"I know what we're trying to do is control donations, and people donate a lot of money candidates, but at the end of the day, they're going to figure out how to do it," Leeser said just before the vote. "We can put all we want, and we can put all the backstops, but at the end of the day, if somebody wants to figure out how to do it, they're going to get it done."

What will the new requirements be?

While City Council voted to finalize the latest round of recommendations, which the Ethics Review Commission vetted, the new rules won't become city ordinance until the final vote next month.

As it stands now, the proposal that will go before city representatives will require that political donors who contribute $500 or more be identified, both on the meeting's agenda and verbally, when City Council is taking a vote that might benefit them or their business.

The rules would not apply to people being recognized on a council agenda.

The reporting requirements would extend from the beginning of a candidate's campaign to the end of his tenure on City Council.

Further, the proposal mandates that the city manager's office establish a process to inform campaign or political donors of their new responsibilities. It gives the Ethics Review Commission jurisdiction over candidates, political committees and political or campaign donors.