Ethics complaints filed against 4 council members

Ethics complaints filed against 4 council members

By Rhiannon Meyers
The Daily News
Published March 22, 2009

LEAGUE CITY — The same Montgomery County watchdog group that filed ethics complaints against Galveston City Council members has now lodged complaints against four League City council members.

The group accuses Neil Baron, Tommy Cones, Jim Nelson and Phyllis Sanborn of violating the state’s campaign finance regulations. The council members said the errors are stupid mistakes and oversights, and at least two of the members, Cones and Nelson, have accused the group of being politically motivated by their League City political opponents.

“I think there’s pretty good evidence (the group) received their information from League City citizens,” said Cones, though he declined to name names. “The motive behind all this is political in nature.”

Richard McDuffee, a member of the watchdog group that has described itself as a loose knit organization of like-minded people tired of watching politicians flout the rules, said he has no political ties to any League City residents.

“I’m a taxpaying, money-bleeding citizen who is tired of people telling me what to do and writing the rules ... but when it comes to the rules they’re supposed to follow, they turn a blind eye to it,” he said. “There’s nothing political about it ... Rules are rules. If they didn’t want to follow all those little pesty rules that have been on the books for years, then one, don’t run for office or two, follow the rules.”

The organization has filed similar campaign finance complaints across the state.

Read the full story HERE.