SCOTX Place 8: Yanez Ethics Reports Reveal Interesting Expenditures, Lots Of Eating

I was taking a random look-see at campaign finance reports after being struck down with some pretty bad bronchial symptoms yesterday, and came across Linda Yanez’s finance reports for her tenure on the 13th Court of Appeals.

One thing that struck me was that Yanez seems to eat out a lot. A whole lot. Between 2001 and 2005, Yanez spent campaign funds–over $11,000 worth–on meals. The Olive Garden, Logan’s, Luby’s, and Blue Shell in McAllen seemed to be favorites–as was the Cornerstone Grill in her hometown of Edinburg. Yanez seems to have dined out from Pharr to Falfurrias and expensed it to her campaign without saying the dining was actually for a particular purpose. And, almost none of these expenditures are actually listed as a “campaign function” of any kind. Most of the expenditures are listed merely as “dining,” which probably isn’t the kind of specific description the Texas Ethics Commission wants on the reports.

In addition, in one of her reports, Yanez reimburses herself several hundred dollars for “travel expenses,” but only in one instance does Yanez actually say what the travel was for (a trip to Houston). She also purchased a number of airline tickets in the same report without saying where she was traveling. In the same report, she also reports buying “campaign materials” from department store JCPenny in McAllen. I’m not sure, unless it was a gift for a staffer, precisely what supplies JCPenny carries for campaigns.

Yanez also purchase a good deal of travel gas with her campaign finances, including some in Austin, which is not in the 13th Court of Appeals District.

Interesting stuff.

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