Ethics Commission rejects Bell complaint about Turner fundraising

The Houston Ethics Commission has rejected Chris Bell's complaint that City Hall was letting Rep. Sylvester Turner start the mayoral race with a $900,000 head start in fundraising.

The ethics board ruled last week that it did not have jurisdiction over Bell's case because he could not show improper ethical conduct by a city official, leaving Bell with one less legal option to restrict Turner's advantage.

Bell filed his complaint last month after failing to win an injunction against the city in state district court in January.

Bell argues that Turner should not be allowed to transfer more than $10,000 from his legislative campaign account to his mayoral account, the most a third-party group can donate to a candidate.

The city attorney's office and Turner have said he should be allowed to transfer each individual donation that falls under the maximum cap set out by the city's fundraising ordinances. He opened his mayoral account late last month and starts with about $900,000, according to his campaign.

The ethics commission declined to issue a ruling in Bell's case, saying it was not the appropriate authority to interpret city ordinance or overrule former City Attorney David Feldman.

Geoff Berg, Bell's attorney, blasted the commission's decision.

"We are, apparently, in Houston living under the totalitarian authority of the city attorney's office," Berg said. "The ethics commission rubber-stamped what the city attorney's office told it to do."

Then-City Attorney Feldman told Turner last year that his raise-and-transfer strategy was legal, advice Feldman defended in court this winter as appropriate because the city attorney advises the ethics commission.

Bell still can file a suit in federal court, which he has signaled he is likely to do. He said Tuesday that his team has asked the ethics commission for an opinion, which was suggested by city attorneys in January, to give the city one less potential place to try to divert the case.

"If we had gone directly to federal court, I'm sure they would have again raised the ethics commission," Bell said. "So, now that box is checked."