Watson, Greco ethics complaints dismissed a month after Austin's mayoral election

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin's re-elected mayor and another candidate for the position did not break campaign finance rules related to donations, according to Austin Ethics Review Commission decisions that came more than a month after the election.

Mayor Kirk Watson and Doug Greco were accused of exceeding the amount of money they can accept from those outside the city: $46,000. Because there's no requirement for donors to tell campaigns their home address, tracking whether campaigns are in compliance can be a challenge, according to James Cousar, who represented Watson in his preliminary hearing.

The Ethics Review Commission voted on Dec. 5 to dismiss the complaint against Greco after it was withdrawn. Commissioners discussed whether they could still take up the matter without a complaint but ultimately voted 7-1 to not pursue it further.

Greco said in a statement that week he appreciated the commission's decision.

"As I had initially promised, we sequestered and did not spend the money pending the federal lawsuit that I initiated, and since the courts did not rule on the constitutionality, we returned over 90 donations worth over $8,000," Greco said. In October, a judge dismissed his lawsuit challenging the donation cap.

The commission voted Wednesday that it did not find Watson's campaign violated the rules. Four commissioners said there was not enough evidence, one said there was and one person abstained from the vote.

During an earlier hearing related to the complaint, Cousar explained that Watson's campaign took extra steps to verify who donated to their campaign, including following up with those who listed addresses outside the city.

"My campaign went to extraordinary efforts to assure we complied with the campaign finance rules. The Ethics Commission actions resulted in no finding of a violation and validates our efforts," Watson said. "It is unfortunate that the campaign finance laws are sometimes used as a weapon by a campaign or supporter of a candidate. It does damage to our elections. I appreciate the work of the commissioners."

KXAN previously reported the commission's decisions in Watson and Greco's cases were delayed until after the election.

Eleven members serve on the Ethics Review Commission, according to its bylaws. The city council appoints them.

Austin City Council beat reporter Grace Reader contributed to this report.