Two Austin Council candidates are demanding answers why their opponents received nearly $56,000 in city funds.
A letter addressed to the Austin City Clerk from local attorney Roger Borgelt issued yesterday inquires why a pair of Austin City Council candidates were given around $28,000 each to assist with campaign expenses.
In the letter, Borgelt says that neither Pio Renteria (now an Austin City Council member for District 3) nor opponent Susana Almanza signed a contract in time to qualify for money from the Austin Fair Campaign Finance Fund. For more about this situation, see the Austin Bulldog's coverage.
Almanza and Renteria -- a sister and brother who grew up together in East Austin -- beat 10 other candidates to advance to a runoff in December 2014. Borgelt is representing Kent Phillips and Shaun Ireland, two of the candidates who did not make the runoff.
On behalf of Ireland and Phillips, Borgelt seeks to know if there was a procedure in place for determining eligibility for Fair Campaign Finance funding and how these funds could possibly be recovered by the city. He also asked about any prevention measures in place and what kind of oversight there is regarding the funds.
The Fair Campaign Finance Fund, comprised of various elections-related fees, distributed $83,965.74 in 2014 to Almanza, Renteria and District 7 candidate Leslie Pool.
We'll keep tracking this story as it develops.
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| Kent Phillips and Shaun Ireland, District 3 candidates |
UPDATE: Jack Craver wrote an excellent piece in the Austin Chronicle today (12/10) on this subject and other examples: http://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2015-12-11/funding-balance
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