District 6 Council Member Don Zimmerman violated city campaign finance laws, the Austin Ethics Review Commission found Oct. 13 in a unanimous decision. Commission Chairman Austin Kaplan said Zimmerman also demeaned the commission by failing to appear for a hearing on the violations. Although Zimmerman was not legally obligated to appear for the hearing, the commission requested his presence at a Sept. 28 preliminary hearing and followed up with the request in writing, Kaplan said. “We’ve had mayors and police chiefs called before this commission, and they have appeared upon request,” he said. “I think the council member has challenged our power as an ethics commission.” Kaplan said he also believes Zimmerman was not taking the ethical violations seriously, which Kaplan found concerning. On July 27, Austin resident and law clerk Mark Walters filed a complaint to the commission against Zimmerman for violating the city’s campaign finance laws by failing to file a bank reconciliation statement and an annual reconciliation of campaign debt. At the Sept. 28 preliminary hearing, which Zimmerman also did not attend, the commission found reason to suspect a violation had occurred and scheduled a final hearing on the complaint. At the final hearing, Zimmerman’s attorney, Jerad Najvar, argued Austin City Code sections 2-2-25 and 2-2-42, which Zimmerman was accused of violating, conflict with state election laws and the candidate packet provided to all political candidates by the city clerk. Section 2-2-25 requires candidates to file a bank reconciliation statement with their Jan. 15 campaign finance report. Section 2-2-42 requires candidates to file an annual reconciliation of campaign debt. “There are five sitting council members that also didn’t file these forms,” Najvar said. “This shouldn’t be a political ‘gotcha’ game.” He said the information required for each missing statement was already included in Zimmerman’s Jan. 15 and July 15 semi annual campaign finance reports—which he did file. Najvar said it was an unconstitutional burden for candidates to file repetitive documentation, especially when the Texas Election Code does not require the documents. Najvar asked the commission to clarify the language of the code rather than prosecute Zimmerman. Walters said whether the documents are redundant is irrelevant. Austin’s home rule city of self-governance allows it to create its own laws and regulations in addition to those in the Texas Election Code. He said he did not plan to bring additional complaints against other commissioners who did not file the same documents. “Mr. Zimmerman has failed to oblige by the city ordinances," Walters said. "It does not matter whether other council members filed the same reports or not." Walters said if Zimmerman finds city campaign finance laws confusing, he is in a position to change them. Zimmerman was notified numerous times of his failure to file the two documents, he said. Several commissioners asked Najvar why Zimmerman did not fill out the required forms after he was notified he needed to do so. “I would be very inclined to take Council Member Zimmerman at his word, were he here … but he’s not here, and I feel like a mighty defense is being put together," Commissioner Robert Stratmann said, adding he finds it concerning Zimmerman still had not filled out the required forms. The commission voted unanimously not to recommend prosecution for Zimmerman but ordered he must complete and file the required campaign finance forms. Commissioner Donna Beth McCormick made a motion to issue Zimmerman a letter of reprimand from the commission, stating he disregarded city requirements. The motion passed unanimously. City Council will also receive a copy of the letter. “He was notified more than once about the violation and did nothing about it,” McCormick said. Kaplan said the city code requirements could be clarified, but he did not see the language in the code as ambiguous. He said it was the commission’s duty to ensure the city requirements are followed. Kaplan said the commission would work on a recommendation to clarify campaign finance requirements at a future meeting. After the hearing, Zimmerman’s office diverted comment to Najvar, who said he was pleased the commission found the violation to be minor and decided not to prosecute Zimmerman. Najvar said he thought it was improper of the commission to selectively enforce rules that it agreed were confusing, especially when other candidates failed to follow the same rules. “They let themselves be used by a political complainant,” he said of the commission. Najvar also said Zimmerman’s absence should not have been weighed against him. “I don’t think that was proper,” he said. “I advised Zimmerman that he didn’t need to show up.”