Many of the routine practices of the past at City Hall – from donated concert tickets to nice lunches and dinners with lobbyists – are no longer permissible as a result of the new, tougher ethics code the El Paso City Council approved unanimously Tuesday.

The council and members of the city’s Ethics Commission pounded out most of the remaining kinks in the proposed ordinance at a joint meeting Monday evening, leading to today’s vote.

A few differences did arise, but commission Chairman Gerald Mangrum, who has been pushing the process along for two years, urged the council to deal with those later and to vote before the May 9 election.

“I wanted the root document approved before the election,” Mangrum said. “Once you get past the election, the process gets elongated.

“An election is a powerful force to put people on the record.”

As with the revision of the county’s election code, which is working its way though the Legislature, officials are reluctant to stand up against ethics reform proposals.

City Rep. Steve Ortega noted one big incongruity in the new ordinance.

“It seems not to make sense not to allow a $10 meal with a lobbyist, but you can have a $2,500 (campaign) contribution,” Ortega said, adding that he would like to discuss changes in the ethics code regarding campaign contributions.

Afterward, Mangrum said the commission avoided the campaign contribution issue because there would have been no way to include it in the re-write and finish before the election.

“We’re ready, willing and anxious to jump into campaign contributions,” he said.

The new council elected with Mayor John Cook in 2005 looked at setting limits on campaign contributions because of the infusion of big dollars into the campaigns of former Mayor Joe Wardy and some council candidates.

But city Rep. Beto O’Rourke, who had spoken in favor of campaign limits, persuaded the council to go for transparency instead of limits. O’Rourke argued that donors can always find ways around limits, so it is better to have stringent reporting requirements to let people see who is giving.

That was a persuasive argument in a state that imposes no limits on contributions to candidates for governor or legislator.

What did get addressed in the new code was kind of situation that arose when Mayor John Cook accepted expensive concert tickets from Stanley Jobe as well as tickets to an Oscar de la Hoya fight.

Cook did report those contributions in his campaign finance report, as required.

Mangrum said that will not be allowed under the revised ordinance because no city official can accept a gift worth more than $70 unless it is for an event that he or she will attend in their official capacity and part of their official duties.

Mangrum said the overhaul of the city’s ethics code began with city Rep. Susie Byrd’s letter to the commission asking for changes to tighten up the provisions on gift giving.

Other action: Valenzuelas will get $100,000

The council voted 6-0 with two abstensions for a $100,000 settlement of the claim lodged against the city by Jorge Valenzuela Jr. and his wife, Lisa.

City Reps. Emma Acosta and Melina Castro abstained from voting without saying why.

A year ago, the story came to light about the Valenzuelas, who had obtained a city permit to build a large two-story house in the Austin Terrace Historic District. [npt background]

After they had spent about $100,000 on the project, the city took the building permit away on grounds that it should never have been issued because the Historic Landmark Commission had not approved the design of the home.

City Council members and other officials made no bones about the fact that the city made the mistake of issuing the building permit. But the neighbors and the landmark commission both came out against a compromise that would allow a large two-story house to go up in an early 20th Century neighborhood.

When the compromise failed, Valenzuela filed a claim against the city, a necessary step before filing a lawsuit.

As part of the settlement, the Valenzuelas have a month to demolish the structure they had built, which was far from completed when construction was stopped. And, if the Valenzuelas decide to build a house on the lot, it will have to be a single-story home with the garage in back.

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To reach David Crowder, write to dcrowder@epmediagroup.com or call (915) 351-0605, ext. 30