Months earlier, though, the Democrat took to social media to directly solicit money on his personal Facebook page, asking people to send him money \u201cthrough ApplePay and Zelle\u201d to help him address \u201cmajor home repair issues.\u201d One campaign finance expert said such an arrangement \u2014 people giving money directly to a politician, with no transparency as to who gave how much \u2014 creates \u201can appearance problem.\u201d<\/p>\n
In late October, Conchas posted on Facebook to say that his family had been hit with a home repair calamity that included $34,000 in plumbing repairs, leaving them without a working shower. Now he needed to come up with another $10,000 to repair the home\u2019s sewer line. He had exhausted \u201call financing options, my savings, my home owners insurance,\u201d he wrote, so he had no recourse but to appeal to the public.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\u201cAny contribution, no matter the amount, would mean the world to us as we try to get back on our feet and restore basic necessities in our home,\u201d Conchas pleaded.<\/p>\n
Several commenters expressed sympathy with Conchas\u2019 plight, offering to help and asking if there was a link to a site where they could donate. Conchas wrote that he was \u201cworking on a GoFundMe page\u201d but directed them to use Apple Pay and Zelle to send him funds in the interim. One commenter said she had \u201csent a little something,\u201d adding, \u201cI hope it helps.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked by New Times about the solicitation, Conchas told New Times that he put up the post \u201cout of desperation.\u201d When he created that post, he was \u201creally at my breaking point\u201d and had even been \u201ccrying in my room\u201d over the family crisis. His plumbing issues were so dire, he said, that family members \u2014 including his mom and siblings \u2014\u00a0 had to shower at a local gym. His home was built in the 1960s, and \u201cthe plumbing line was completely disintegrated,\u201d forcing contractors to dig up his dining room, his living room and his bathroom.<\/p>\n
He added that he never put up a GoFundMe account but did accept donations for home repairs from friends and family, which he described as \u201cless than $1,000.\u201d He later emailed New Times a thank-you note sent to his contributors, listing the names of the donors and the amounts they gave, totalling $650.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter I received just a few donations from friends, I decided that I would just stop my pursuit of getting donations from people,\u201d he told New Times.<\/p>\n
Sometime after New Times first spoke with Conchas, the post asking for home repair funds was removed from his Facebook page. Conchas told New Times that he removed the post \u201cbecause I\u2019m no longer seeking donations anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n
Conchas said he did not solicit donations in his role as a councilmember but as a harried head of household with a house from hell. But one of his objections to the monthly stipend\u00a0 \u2014 which includes a $450 car allowance and $900 for incidentals \u2014 is that councilmembers did not have to submit receipts or otherwise report how they spent the money. Instead, the money is just added to their paychecks.<\/p>\n
Wasn\u2019t he worried about a similar issue with asking the public for donations for personal use? After all, even if the request is done in a time of need, someone with ill intent could use it to evade campaign finance requirements or even engage in bribery.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, I\u2019m not concerned about that,\u201d Conchas said. \u201cI think it\u2019s because my community trusts me, and I\u2019ve always led with transparency, accountability and ethical leadership.\u201d <\/p>\n
Conchas, who was elected in July 2024 by a mere 70 votes, said he did not consult the city attorney about the post and said he would disclose the donations on the yearly financial disclosure statement he is required to submit to the city. He explained that his home situation was back to normal, with the repairs funded through financing.<\/p>\n
![\"a](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Lupe-Conchas-Facebook-Post.jpg\")
In an Oct. 29 Facebook post, Glendale City Councilmember solicited donations \u2014 made directly to him via money-sending apps \u2014 to deal with a home repair issue.<\/p>\n
Appearances can be misleading<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n While he said he\u2019s not the kind of person \u201cwho would ever sell my influence or sell any of my values,\u201d Conchas admitted that \u201cin hindsight, could I have thought about that perception from other people? Yes.\u201d<\/p>\n Tom Collins, the executive director of the Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission, generally agreed. Speaking generally and not about Conchas specifically, Collins said, \u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s a strict ban\u201d on asking for donations to address a personal situation. However, he added, \u201cYou might not want to be in a position where it looks like you\u2019re using your official position to obtain the donation.\u201d<\/p>\n Collins pointed to two Arizona statutes, A.R.S. 38-504<\/a> and A.R.S. 38-444<\/a>. The former proscribes a public officer from using their position \u201cto secure any valuable thing or valuable benefit.\u201d The latter makes it a class 6 felony for a public official to \u201cknowingly\u201d ask or receive \u201cany emolument, gratuity or reward, or any promise thereof, excepting those authorized by law, for doing any official act.\u201d In other words, a quid pro quo.<\/p>\n Arguably, neither would apply to Conchas, given what is known of his solicitations. Still, Collins pointed out that these laws \u201care certainly not encouraging folks to go out and try to obtain money.\u201d Even if a city official was able to do so in such a way \u201cthat it doesn\u2019t implicate your office at all,\u201d he said it would be best to consult with the city attorney first. For a politician, even the possible appearance of impropriety or any inkling thereof could prove problematic.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you ask me if you ought to do it,\u201d Collins said, \u201cmy answer would be, \u2018Unless you would like a news organization to ask you about it and have a very good answer, you probably don\u2019t want to do it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Conchas\u2019 commitment to ending the Glendale City Council\u2019s so-called slush funds does appear genuine.\u00a0<\/p>\n He raised the issue of the stipends and the car allowance with his fellow councilmembers during an Aug. 26 city council workshop, noting that the decision to take lump sums of compensation had been made in 2022 by the city manager at the time and discussed in executive session. The council had never considered the matter publicly, much less taken a vote on it.\u00a0<\/p>\n Three years before that, Glendale residents had overwhelmingly rejected a $20,000 pay raise for councilmembers. Since the rule change, the payouts had totaled \u201cmore than $300,000,\u201d Conchas said at the workshop. He suggested putting the item up for a council vote so that the public could weigh in on the rule. The council could either keep it as is, enact strict guidelines or sunset the policy altogether.<\/p>\n Councilmember Bart Turner agreed with Conchas\u2019 criticism of the stipend and car allowance, calling it a form of \u201cdouble-dipping\u201d and saying that he had never taken the money. But other councilmembers, including Glendale Mayor Jerry Weiers, defended the payouts, saying they needed the money to pay for copies, car trips and coffee with constituents. By the end of a cantankerous session, the question remained unresolved.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we believe in accountability, we cannot hide compensation behind closed doors,\u201d Conchas told his fellow councilmembers at one point. He said he wasn\u2019t arguing that the payments were illegal, but \u201cjust because something is legal doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s good policy.\u201d<\/p>\n The same could be said of Conchas\u2019 personal solicitation message, of course. That comes with the territory of holding elected office.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re an elected official, you\u2019re asking for money, so you should have already accepted the fact that there\u2019s going to be an appearance problem,\u201d Collins said. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to be ready to deal. If you didn\u2019t think there was going to be an appearance problem, then I\u2019m sorry, but that\u2019s a little naive.\u201d<\/p>\n