Dallas City Council Member Reported Campaign Donations From Corporations, Which Is Forbidden

Another Dallas City Council member appears to be sideways with campaign-finance laws.In the most recent campaign-finance filings, council member Kevin Felder — whose District 7 seat includes South Dallas, Buckner Terrace and Far East Dallas — reported receiving eight contributions from for-profit or non-profit corporations.The businesses — which contributed a total of $4,000 of Felder’s $53,825 in political contributions from July 1 to Dec. 31 — include a popular Fair Park-area barbecue operation, a discount beer and wine store and a bearings supplier.But with few loopholes, corporations in Texas are forbidden from making political contributions. The laws are set out in Title 15, Chapter 253, Subchapter D of the state’s Election Code, titled “Corporations and Labor Organizations.”“A corporation or labor organization may not make a political contribution that is not authorized by this subchapter,” the statute reads.Felder said in an interview Thursday that he wasn’t familiar with specifics of his recent campaign filings, but that he would look into the matter immediately and make corrections if needed.“If,” he reiterated.When asked if he knew that donations from corporations were against state law, Felder responded, "I don’t have the code in front of me," before conceding that, yes, that was probably the case.Three of Felder’s fellow council members — Scott Griggs, Philip Kingston and Omar Narvaez — came under fire Wednesday for taking thousands in campaign contributions from four children, ages 5 to 11, of Dallas lawyer James Stanton, a supporter of theirs and former civil court judge.  Continue reading...