Van de Putte files ethics complaint against Villarreal

Mayoral candidates spar over TV attack ads

SAN ANTONIO – San Antonio Mayoral candidate Leticia Van de Putte on Wednesday filed an ethics complaint against fellow candidate Mike Villarreal, accusing him of colluding with the Tax Policy Council, a political action committee out of Austin, and its treasurer, Jim Popp.

In the complaint, Van de Putte said the PAC is using a Villarreal campaign employee to buy attack ads on local TV stations, which she said violates the Ethics Code and election law.

"This shows that this city and its mayor's race could be up for sale," she said. "We can not allow this sort of campaign tactic to happen."

In a statement, the Villarreal campaign's communications director said the complaint is nothing more than smoke and mirrors, adding that the campaign did not coordinate with a third-party entity and saying the campaign's marketing firm hired a subcontractor who happened to also do work for an outside group.

In March, Villarreal filed an ethics complaint against Van de Putte, accusing her of accepting more than $1,000 in political donations, a violation of the municipal code.

The city found no evidence of wrongdoing.

Ethics complaint also filed against Mayor Ivy Taylor

Meanwhile, another ethics complaint was filed Wednesday against Mayor Ivy Taylor, alleging she violated the city code by not reporting income on financial disclosure from her spouse for every year since 2010.

Regarding that ethic complaint, Justin Hollis, campaign manager with the Ivy Taylor for Mayor campaign, said "It's an oversight, and it's being fixed."