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Mayor Steve Adler hit with ethics complaints days before leaving office

By and FOX 7 Austin Digital Team
Published  January 5, 2023 8:22pm CST
Austin
FOX 7 Austin

Mayor Steve Adler hit with ethics complaints days before leaving office

Austin City Council Member Mackenzie-Anne Kelly and Linda Guerrero, a former candidate for Austin City Council District 9, have filed ethics complaints against Austin Mayor Steve Adler during his final days in office.

AUSTIN, Texas - Outgoing Austin Mayor Steve Adler has been hit with multiple ethics complaints over actions taken during the runoff elections. 

On Dec. 1, Mayor Adler held a news conference outside City Hall encouraging Austin residents to vote. He also endorsed city council candidates, and the news conference was streamed on the City's TV channel.

City Councilmember Mackenzie Kelly and District 9 candidate Linda Guerrero filed two complaints that were sent to County Attorney Delia Garza on Wednesday. 

One states that Mayor Adler used city resources, ATXN equipment and staff, for political endorsements, which violates the Texas Election Code.

"The legislature recognizes that using public resources for politicking and political endorsements is a serious matter and made it a Class A misdemeanor," said Bill Aleshire, the attorney representing Kelly and Guerrero. 

The ethics complaint says a review of the video and transcript of Mayor Adler's press conference showed:

  • About 15% of the conference was to encourage the public to go vote in the runoff election.
  • About 10% of the conference was spent by Mayor Adler denouncing a petition drive related to police oversight.
  • About 30% of the conference was spent making the political endorsement of Zo Qadri and Jose Velasquez.
  • The remaining 45% of the conference was spent on Mayor Adler's dual endorsement of Kirk Watson and Celia Israel for Mayor.
  • The video includes the names of City staff involved in producing the press conference as well as copyright information, "This is an ATXN Production@ 2022, All Rights Reserved."

The ethics complaint claims, "There can be no doubt that Mayor Adler intended this press conference to influence the outcome of the election."

The second code violation Mayor Adler is accused of is being within 100 feet of a polling place while electioneering and being within 1,000 feet of a polling place while using an "amplification device" for an election speech.

"He used his public position, and most importantly, the resources of the city to make a political endorsement, that is not a precedent that should stand," said Aleshire. "I don't care if you've got three days, one month or two hours left on your term of office, you shouldn't misuse public resources for such blatant, flagrant political purposes in violation of law."

A third complaint falls under the jurisdiction of the city attorney. That complaint accuses Mayor Adler of violating a section of the city charter that prohibits city officials from trying to influence the vote of city employees.

FOX 7 reached out to County Attorney Delia Garza on Thursday, and she was unavailable for comment. FOX 7 also reached out to Mayor Adler’s office and is waiting to hear back.