The Irving City Council indefinitely tabled two resolutions during its Thursday meeting directed at resort company Las Vegas Sands and its alleged lobbying efforts, including starting the process for an outright prohibition on casino gaming on land owned by the resort company.
The resolutions were added to the agenda on Memorial Day by Council Member Luis Canosa, who has been supported by the Families for Irving PAC. Council members John Bloch and newly elected Adam Muller, also backed by the PAC, supported Canosa’s resolutions for the agenda.
But council member Brad LaMorgese raised several points of order against the resolutions during the meeting and said they were added past the deadline, which requires agenda items be submitted the Thursday before the next meeting.
And because the items were submitted on a federal holiday, LaMorgese said they were not valid under standard administrative practice and should not be considered officially received. He also cited a potential violation of the Texas Open Meetings Act which requires agenda items to be posted 72 hours in advance.
"That is not enough time or transparency for me, let alone the public," LaMorgese said.
He added that the merits of the resolutions should be "carefully considered" at the right time.
When asked why he added the resolutions the week of the council meeting, Canosa told KERA, "Well why not? Why shouldn't I?"
One resolution would have directed city staff to prepare an ordinance prohibiting casino gaming in the high-intensity mixed-use zoning district that includes land owned by the Sands. The ordinance would have been presented to the Planning and Zoning Commission and then the full city council.
Although the corporation took out plans for a destination resort that would have included casino gaming, pending state legalization of casinos, some residents expressed concerns the corporation would try again in the future.
Canosa was one of the first council members to speak out against the destination resort at earlier city council meetings. He said he proposed the resolution to check the temperature on city council members months later.
“We had plenty of public input in regards to that,” Canosa told KERA, referencing casino gaming. “That was a big deal. And now we're just showing that there might have been some progress. We'll see if the needle has moved at all.”
Another resolution requested that the Lone Star Conservative Action Fund, a 501(c)(4) organization, disclose its donors.
Large signs in support of three Irving City Council candidates running against Families for Irving candidates, paid for by the Lone Star Conservative Action Fund, sprung up around the city days before early voting in the May 3 election. Its 501(c)(4) status legally allows it to keep the identity of its donors secret.
The Lone Star Conservative Action Fund spent more than $165,000 campaigning for city council candidates Tony Grimes, David Pfaff, and Priscilla Vigliante, as of the last filing deadline. Pfaff is on the June 7 runoff ballot against Families for Irving candidate Sergio Porres for the citywide Place 2 seat.
Longtime Irving resident Cynthia Sharp spoke during Thursday's public comment section and said she was upset about local campaigning in recent years.
She came with a proposal for an ordinance that would define campaign contributions and set caps on personal and PAC-related contributions for city elections.
"Right now, without caps, local residents are prohibited from running for any local office unless they spend thousands or are backed by a PAC, and that is totally unacceptable to me," Sharp said.
Canosa’s resolution named John Buxie, a registered lobbyist for Las Vegas Sands Corporation, as campaign treasurer for the Lone Star Conservative Action Fund. Buxie is also listed on the group’s 990 information return form.
KERA reached out to Buxie for comment but did not receive a response.
Sands' Senior Vice President Andrew Abboud said during a town hall about the destination resort that they were not financially involved in the May 3 election.
Canosa called the resolution requesting Lone Star disclose its donors an "olive branch" in an effort to promote transparency.
"I think it shows the stance of individual city council members of whether or not they would rather see transparency in our electoral process," he said.
But Council Member Dennis Webb said the resolutions, including a third that would have supported efforts for a ceasefire in Gaza, were put on the agenda to help Families for Irving win in the runoff.
"What you have is these ignorant, young, power-hungry council members from this PAC sitting there doing all kind of craziness that's not legal," Webb said.
If Porres wins in the runoff, that would mean a majority of the Irving City Council is backed by the Families for Irving PAC. However, LaMorgese — the council member who proposed tabling the resolutions — has also been backed by the PAC.
Jimmy Bell, political consultant for the PAC, previously told KERA that the group supports candidates who align with “traditional family values," school choice and single-family housing. The PAC's preferred candidates have individual priorities on certain issues that Families for Irving does not take an official stance on, like casino gaming, Bell said.
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