Ethics Board Appointment of Dallas HERO Leader Spouse Shot Down by City Council

The Dallas City Council voted Wednesday to deny a nomination to the city’s ethics advisory commission — the quasi-judicial board that oversees investigations into reports of ethical misconduct brought against city officials and employees — because of the nominee’s spouse’s adversarial relationship to City Hall.

It is extremely rare for the city council to deny a committee appointment nomination. Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson described the expectation that council members approve their colleagues’ appointments as not quite a “rubber stamp,” but close to it. It’s simple politics: council members don’t like to deny their peers’ appointments because they don’t want their own nominations denied. 

Natalie LeVeck, a corporate attorney, was nominated to the ethics advisory commission by freshman council member Bill Roth. Her husband, Damien LeVeck, is the executive director of the Dallas HERO organization, which helped pass several controversial city charter amendments last year. He also runs the X account @Dallasenfuego, where he regularly posts videos disparaging council members and city leadership for what he believes to be waste, fraud and a lack of transparency. 

Natalie LeVeck was one of more than two dozen appointment nominations put forward on Wednesday, but her nomination was pulled to be voted on individually while the rest were approved unanimously. During deliberations, Roth said he nominated Natalie LeVeck because he believes she embodies the qualities of integrity and discretion needed for the role, and that her experience as an SMU law professor and attorney for Google qualified her for the job. 

“I am not appointing her husband to this position,” Roth said. “My appointment and any of our appointments should be based on their qualifications, not on the applicant’s spouses, family members or friends.”

As reported by D Magazine, the application for appointees does directly ask, “Are you or your spouse, either individually or through your employers, involved in any pending litigation against the City?” Since Damien LeVeck was named executive director of Dallas HERO, the organization has threatened several lawsuits against the city, although none have yet been filed. 

The decision to make the vote on Natalie LeVeck’s appointment an individual one was motioned by council member Chad West, who stated that in six years he has never motioned to separate a nominee from the list for approval. In this case, though, West said he felt there were “at least a dozen examples” to be concerned about her appointment to the commission, the primary one being her spousal relationship. 

West referenced Damien LeVeck’s use of artificial intelligence in videos about City Hall as a point of concern. In August, Damien LeVeck published a deep-fake video that appears to show City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert referring to herself as a liar and using profanity to discuss alley trash services. A disclaimer at the beginning of the video calls the clip a “parody,” but West suggested the video proved “that Mr. LeVeck will stoop to any means necessary” to “achieve his goals.” 

“Normally, I think it’s important to remember that spouses and family members can be starkly different people. But the LeVecks appear to be a unified force, whether it be social media presence, electoral activities, political donations or speaking at city hall,” West said. “Mrs. LeVeck cannot be immune from such behavior and does not need to be in a position where she has access to confidential information about council members, appointees and city staff.” 

In addition to West, council members Zarin Gracey, Jaime Resendez, Laura Cadena, Adam Bazaldua, Lori Blair, Paula Blackmon, Paul Ridley and Gay Donnell Willis voted against Natalie LeVeck’s appointment. The remaining six members of the council voted in favor of the appointment. 

In a statement to the Observer, Natalie LeVeck said she plans to continue being an actively involved Dallas resident despite her failed appointment to the commission. 

“As a corporate attorney, law professor and advocate for women, I’m disappointed that my qualifications for a volunteer ethics board weren’t evaluated on their own merit,” she said. “In 2025, I would have hoped we’d moved beyond a place where a woman’s achievements are viewed through the lens of her husband, rather than independently and on their own strength.”