11 June 22 - 28, 2023 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents campaign after receiving criticism from parents for what they said was a lack of communication regarding the fentanyl problem in its schools. In the video, Lilia Astudillo describes how her family’s life has been ripped apart by the January over- dose death of her 14-year-old son Jose Al- berto Perez. Villanueva’s sentencing hearing is sched- uled for October 4. He faces up to 40 years in federal prison. ▼ CITY HALL JUST HOW CONVINCING, EXACTLY? DALLAS WRESTLES WITH HOW TO HANDLE CITY HALL CORRUPTION. BY JACOB VAUGHN D allas’ Inspector General Bart Bevers is tired of hearing about the city’s historic reputation for corruption. Before he was hired about a year ago, five Dallas City Council members had been con- victed of felonies over a 16-year period. At a recent City Council meeting, Bevers said there were several cases his office would have filed in the last few months if Dallas had a lower standard of proof for eth- ics violations. In part, that’s why the city last week ad- opted a slate of new amendments to its code of ethics. Laura Morrison, a senior assistant attor- ney for Dallas, walked the City Council through the proposed amendments to the city’s code of ethics. The amendments aim to clarify rules around gifts for city officials and how those should be reported, and they extend conflict of interest restrictions to all city employees. Under the amendments, members of the council, boards and commissions would not be required to recuse themselves from mat- ters that they have a conflict with if a major- ity of the other members share a similar conflict. For example, a City Council vote on what to do about Dallas’ tax rate would affect ev- eryone on council, so none of them would have to recuse themselves. An offense for disclosing confidential information, which could be punishable as a class C misde- meanor in municipal court, is also being proposed. Also winning approval was a disclosure requirement for people who were paid to participate in a sitting City Council mem- ber’s most recent election campaign. This and the standard of proof used in cases of alleged ethics violations were the main points of contention at the City Coun- cil’s discussion of the new rules. Dallas had used “clear and convincing” as its evidentiary standard in cases of al- leged ethics violations. But the amend- ments changed that to a “preponderance of evidence.” Clear and convincing evi- dence would prove something is highly and substantially more likely to be true than not, according to the legal encyclope- dia Nolo Press, whereas the preponder- ance of evidence standard would have to show something is at least more than 50% likely to be true. Bevers explained that there were 11 or 12 cases in the last several months that his of- fice would have filed if it could have used a lower standard of proof such as the prepon- derance of evidence. A few steps would have to precede a hearing in a case based on the preponder- ance of evidence, Tammy Palomino, the interim city attorney said at the meeting. First, someone must bring forward an ethics complaint. Then, the inspector gen- eral must prove that the accused knowingly violated the code of ethics. From there, the “clear and convincing” evidence standard would be used to bring the matter before a panel of the city’s ethics commission. Then, the inspector general must convince four of five ethics commission panel members to agree with them. “So, it’s a very difficult burden on the person bringing the case,” she said. Bevers said “a preponderance of the evi- dence” is the standard of proof used in cities across the country, and he’s not sure why Dallas would be resistant to it. Dallas City Council members Cara Mendelsohn and Jaynie Schultz agreed with the change. Oth- ers didn’t. “We’re talking about high stakes here,” Paul Ridley, City Council member for Dallas’ District 14, said. “We’re talking about peo- ple’s reputations. Their careers are at stake. I think we need that higher standard of evi- dence.” Ridley asked Bevers if he could name another city that uses the lower standard of proof. Bevers said he didn’t have a list of them prepared and didn’t name any spe- cific city. District 1 City Council member Chad West and Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Omar Narvaez agreed with Ridley that there should be a high standard of proof if the city is going to be putting people on the chopping block. But Bevers disagreed, pointing out that requiring such a high standard of proof is hindering his ability to do his job, which is to help foil corruption in the city. “Why does Dallas feel the need to cling to, exclusively cling to, be the only city in the country to cling to this high burden of proof when nobody else is doing it?” Bev- ers said. “I don’t know the answer to that question and it bothers me.”
