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We have determined that Renard Johnson, the Oligarchy candidate for Mayor whose brother and former business partner was indicted for a $3 million Ponzi scheme, has violated campaign finance law 43 times, as evidenced by his July 15 campaign finance report.
On April 23, Our City Council amended Chapter 2.92 of the Code of Ordinances, which now requires all candidates for City office to post notice of campaign contributions of $500 or more on a City Council agenda within 30 days of the contribution date. This is in addition to the campaign finance reports mandated by Texas law under Title 15, Chapter 251 of the Election Code.
To that effect, City Clerk Laura Prine sent a memo to all candidates for City office on May 1 notifying them of the compliance requirement, which was reported by KVIA in advance of the April 23 vote:
Nevertheless, Renard Johnson refused to report to City Council a total of 43 campaign contributions amounting to $43,200 even though he reported them on his July 15 state-mandated report.
We have highlighted in orange the contributions he failed to report to the City, which are on pages 7-87:
Make no mistake about it. Johnson is in violation of the law.
By refusing to report his major contributions to the City, the public and media have been kept in the dark about his supporters for months, and they will now be kept in the dark until October, only a month before the election.
This is not an oversight. It is a strategy.
We texted his campaign manager Laura Zimmerman for comment and she has declined to reply. We also reached out to the Johnson campaign via email, Facebook, and Instagram and did not hear back. In fact, the Johnson campaign has never responded to any of our inquiries.
FUNDRAISING IN AUSTIN AND SAN ANTONIO
Johnson’s April 17 fundraiser at WestStar Tower was attended by almost all the major local developers and their bankers and attorneys.
We suspect that his campaign, headed by Lauren Zimmerman, does not want the general public to know he has been anointed by our local Oligarchy since he desperately hopes to appeal to the taxpayers at large.
And then there are his out-of-town fundraisers. One was held at the Texas Lyceum in Austin on March 27 and another took place at The Weston Centre in San Antonio on July 23.
WHERE ARE THE MEDIA?
Our feckless media, which have reached an all-time low in their capacity for investigative reporting, have utterly failed to vet Renard Johnson, who avoids news interviews like the plague.
The media have not questioned Johnson about the extent of his knowledge of his brother’s alleged Ponzi scheme, even though the two men worked together in the same building during the period of the alleged crimes.
The media have not asked Johnson why he is fundraising on the other side of Texas and why those contributors want him to be Mayor of El Paso.
The media have failed to analyze Johnson’s July 15 campaign finance report and to identify the 43 violations of the Code of Ordinances.
The media have failed to ask Johnson how he plans to pay for all the expanded public spending he is demanding, even as he claims he will lower our taxes.
We deserve better.
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