Aleshire complains to city auditor about Garza

Attorney Bill Aleshire has asked the Office of the City Auditor to look into whether Mayor Pro Tem Delia Garza’s use of city funds to pay her bar dues was legal. As reported in the Austin Monitor, the city paid Garza’s Texas State Bar dues in August 2018 and June 2019. The city also paid for her membership in the Austin Bar Association in 2019. Garza said she thought it was appropriate for the city to pay those dues. Her attorney colleagues on the Council, Mayor Steve Adler and Council Member Ann Kitchen, said their bar dues were not paid by the city. City Auditor Corrie Stokes told the Monitor that her office will do a preliminary investigation into Aleshire’s complaint. After that, if auditors conclude a full investigation is warranted, her office will hire an outside investigator because under city code, the auditor’s office is not allowed to do a full investigation of a Council member.