City hires outside counsel for Gregson case

The city’s Ethics Review Commission will work with an outside counsel in examining an ethics complaint filed by a San Marcos resident against council member Scott Gregson.

At its meeting last week, the city council approved the appointment of the Law Firm of Davidson Trollo Ream and Garza as special counsel for the commission. City Attorney Michael Cosentino explained that whenever a complaint is filed against a council member, the council must appoint an outside lawyer to advise the ethics commission.

“The same thing applies when a council member requests an advisory opinion,” he said.

The city used the same law firm in 2016, when Gregson requested an ethics advisory opinion on his eligibility to vote on matters related to the Downtown Master Plan.

Cosentino said that the next step for the Ethics Review Commission will be to meet in executive session to determine if there is cause to go to the next step with the ethics complaint. The commission will decide whether the issue leading to the complaint is a violation of the city’s Ethics Code and whether the complaint is in the proper form. No date has been posted on the city’s website yet for the commission’s meeting.

The ethics violation complaint, filed Aug. 19, states that Gregson “used his position in the San Marcos City Council to benefit financially from the BIG program to the tune of almost 28,000 dollars. His voting for this program should have excluded him from its benefits. His business partner, Vance J. Elliot, and himself used grant monies to improve their properties.”

The complaint cites a report by KXAN about the BIG (Business Improvement and Growth) program and its use at properties Gregson owns.

Gregson has denied any wrongdoing and stated that neither he nor any business he owns interest in has applied for BIG program funds. He said that tenants of buildings he has ownership interest in had applied for BIG funding, and that building owners are required to acknowledge that a tenant is submitting an application to the program.

According to the city, the BIG program is meant to provide “technical and financial assistance to property owners or business tenants seeking to renovate or restore exterior façades, signage, lighting and life-safety systems for commercial buildings.”

The resolution appointing special counsel for the Ethics Review Commission passed 6-0, with Gregson abstaining.