San Antonio Councilman Marc Whyte (D10) was approved by the city’s Ethics Evaluation Board on Monday for inappropriate use main images on his project product throughout his 2025 reelection race.
Whyte quickly beat 4 challengers with virtually 60% of the enact that race.
But among those oppositions, Eric Litaker, submitted an issue on April 21 affirming that Whyte had actually gone against the city’s values plan by uploading pictures absorbed the City board instruction space to the councilman’s project Facebook web page.
After an independent lawyer was employed to assist evaluate the issue, the Ethics Evaluation Board provided Whyte 5 $500 penalties, for an overall of $2,500. He will certainly additionally obtain a letter of lecture and obligatory values educating.
Mayor Erik Walsh created the council in January advising participants concerning the plans bordering use city sources throughout political elections.
On Tuesday, Whyte contested the concept he had actually done anything incorrect– or anything various from what various other council participants additionally did throughout the project period.
” All the photos on my Facebook web page entailed city workers or logo designs additionally readily available to the general public, which the code plainly mentions is not an infraction,” Whyte informed the San Antonio Record. “A judgment similar to this suggests that all council participants remain in offense of the code since every council participant has the very same or comparable photos on their individual web pages.”
It’s the 2nd time Whyte has actually been approved by the board in much less than a year.
He dealt with an issue in August of 2024 affirming he would certainly abused his main power by guiding authorities to the home of lawyer Martin Phipps throughout a Feast event. After developing a timeline of the evening’s occasions, the Ethics Evaluation Board concurred and provided Whyte a letter of lecture and obligatory values training.
” The city has to locate a means to quit the [Ethics Review Board] from being utilized as a political tool,” Whyte stated. “We are seeing this much commonly in circumstances similar to this.”
A wave of values complaints
Monday’s conference of the Ethics Evaluation Board came as a wave of values grievances were submitted throughout the 2025 community political election, however the majority of the complaints were disregarded without a board hearing.
The city employed lawyer Nadeen Abou-Hossa to evaluate grievances made versus Whyte, Councilwoman Sukh Kaur (D1), and Councilwoman-elect Ivalis Meza Gonzalez– every one of which were submitted by political challengers.
A 4th values grievance, versus then-mayoral enthusiastic Beto Altamirano, seemed submitted by a fan of Mayor-elect Gina Ortiz Jones.
The grievance versus Meza-Gonzalez was disregarded back in April, throughout the warmth of the project, while the board waited till after the political election to evaluate the remainder.
On Monday Kaur was provided a letter of lecture and obligatory values training, while the grievance versus Altamirano was disregarded.
Kaur approved for abuse of main resources
This year bar proprietor Julisa Medrano-Guerra, among 9 prospects that ran versus Kaur in Area 1, submitted a varied values grievance charging the councilwoman of concealing possessions and mistreating city sources.
The majority of the accusations were disregarded, however a section of it, charging her principal of team Ryan Salts of merging project job and main council company at a Lavaca Neighborhood watch conference, was sent to the Ethics Evaluation Board.
On Monday the board approved Kaur with obligatory values educating.
Later on the councilwoman stated she thought her team had actually acted properly based upon the assistance she had actually formerly obtained from the city, however she appreciated the board’s choice and prepared to perform the added training.
” Moving on, I am dedicated to functioning carefully with city team to clear up assumptions and reinforce training to make certain complete conformity with all moral criteria,” Kaur stated.
She was reelected with 65% of the citizen in a drainage versus a various opposition, Patty Gibbons.
Afterwards Kaur regreted the specifically awful race, in which the Medrano-Guerra project employed a private detective to follow her to a bar. Medrano-Guerra is wed to Phipps, that won the very first significant values conflict in current memory versus Whyte in 2024.
Kaur’s 12-year-old closed DWI apprehension additionally ended up being public throughout the race.
” They tossed every little thing at me this political election cycle,” Kaur informed fans at a political election evening event.
Grievances versus Altamirano dismissed
Altamirano, a technology business owner, was just one of the greatest fundraising events in the 27-candidate mayoral race, and has actually hinted concerning strategies to compete workplace once more in the future.
He dealt with a principles grievance affirming he would certainly approved in-kind project payments that go beyond the lawful limitation– consisting of given away project office from an LLC possessed by previous Mayor Henry Cisneros– however it was evaluated by the Ethics Evaluation Board and disregarded on Monday.
After completing 3rd in the mayoral race with 12% of the ballot, Altamirano informed fans: ” I’m not going anywhere. I’m 35 years of ages, time gets on my side.”
