District 10 Councilman Marc Whyte, who led the charge against the Vista Park Apartment complex project, speaks to reporters last month. Credit: Michael Karlis

San Antonio’s Ethics Review Board (ERB) ruled Monday that District 1 Councilwoman Sukh Kaur and District 10 Councilman Marc Whyte violated the city’s ethics rules during their recent reelection campaigns, the Express-News reports.

Meanwhile, the panel dismissed an ethics complaint filed against Beto Altamirano, a tech entrepreneur who ran for San Antonio mayor in May’s citywide election. That complaint was filed by Rory Vance, a campaign staffer for Gina Ortiz Jones, who won the mayoral contest in a June runoff.

The ERB found Whyte at fault for using city facilities, personnel, equipment or time while on city duty for private purposes. The board will issue a letter of reprimand to Whyte and ordered him to pay a $2,500 fine — the first financial penalty it’s issued in at least seven years, according to the Express-News. He’ll also be required to undergo ethics training.

The complaint, filed by Eric Litaker, who unsuccessfully ran against Whyte in the May 3 election, accused the councilman of posting photos of San Antonio police and fire personnel to his campaign Facebook page, creating the inference that he’d been endorsed by both groups.

It’s the second time Whyte, who was also charged with a 2023 DWI, has been found in violation of the city’s Ethics Code in less than a year.

Kaur was found responsible for breaking the same section of the ethics code as Whyte, according to the daily. A complaint filed during the campaign accused her chief of staff, Ryan Salts, of handing out campaign signs and discussing his boss’s reelection campaign while he was at a Lavaca Neighborhood Association meeting representing the D1 office.

Although council members are allowed to employ their district staff for campaign work, they are barred from doing so on city time.

Kaur won’t be issued a formal reprimand, according to the Express-News, although she will be required to undergo ethics training.

Meanwhile, the board unanimously concluded that the campaign finance complaint filed against Altamirano was baseless, the daily reports.

Jones staffer Vance in early April accused Altamirano of accepting donations that exceed campaign finance limits and of failing to report that his campaign rented office space from former San Antonio Mayor Henry Cisneros.

Even so, the ERB found that Altamirano reimbursed some donors whose contributions exceeded limits, according to the daily. Through a representative, the former candidate also said he’ll provide details about his rented space in an upcoming filing.

Subscribe to SA Current newsletters.

Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter| Or sign up for our RSS Feed

Related Stories

This article appears in Jun 12-25, 2025.

Michael Karlis is a multimedia journalist at the San Antonio Current, whose coverage in print and on social media focuses on local and state politics. He is a graduate of American University in Washington,...