The city of Irving will review its ethics policy following a campaign finance violation complaint.
The complaint was made against former City Council Place 2 candidate Sergio Porres weeks after he lost his runoff election to David Pfaff.
Porres received a $40,000 contribution from the Texas Conservative Project PAC, according to a campaign finance report filed on May 30.
Irving's ethics code limits campaign contributions to $25,000 for candidates running for mayor or city-wide seats.
Porres told KERA that the ethics complaint was a "nothing burger" and that the $40,000 was used to pay expenses in the general and the runoff — not on one election.
"If [the mayor] decides there's a problem, he would send me a letter letting me know," Porres said, referring to Irving Mayor Rick Stopfer. "He hasn't asked me any questions."
Stopfer said during Thursday's work session that he wants to review the policy so that it includes an accountability measure if it's violated.
"Otherwise, we really have a piece of paper that people sign in good faith that really doesn't hold them accountable other than we'll send them a letter and say they weren't accountable of what they did," Stopfer said.
He recommended that the policy have requirements that included a city attorney to review it and include "teeth" if it was violated.
Council members Pfaff and Mark Cronenwett will review the ethics policy and come back with recommendations.
Pfaff said he didn't see the merits of having an ethics policy without an accountability measure.
"Make it very clear that if you're running for a campaign, this is what's expected from you," Pfaff said. "And these are the consequences if you don't run a campaign like this."
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