Edinburg city manager, secretary out

Many changes came with the first Edinburg City Council meeting since the Nov. 5 elections, including terminations and appointments.

The agenda item that brought the most controversy was the discussion and possible action regarding the employment of City Manager Juan Guerra. After several hours behind closed doors in executive session, the council came out with a decision.

“I’d like to make a motion for our City Attorney Omar Ochoa to negotiate a separation agreement with our City Manager Juan Guerra, with a $250,000 severance package and six months of medical insurance,” said Councilmember Gilbert Enriquez.

Mayor Richard Molina called the motion “ridiculous” and said he was criticized for giving Guerra a $25,000 pay raise to keep him at the city when he had other offers on the table.

“At the end of the day, the new majority wants to go a different direction,” Molina told The Rider. “I didn’t mind that, but I do mind the fact that they’re paying a quarter of a million dollars to buy him out. I think that’s not good. It’s taxpayer’s money, and they got to pay for it.”

The motion passed with a 3-2 vote in favor of negotiating a separation agreement with Guerra. Councilmembers David White, Homer Jasso Jr. and Enriquez voted in favor, while Molina and Councilmember Jorge Salinas voted against it.

“We thought a separation agreement was best for both parties,” Enriquez said.

Newly elected Councilmember White motioned to appoint former City Manager Richard Hinojosa as interim city manager. This motion was approved with the same 3-2 vote that agreed to the separation agreement.

An item that has been on multiple city agendas was the discussion and possible action regarding the employment of City Secretary Ludivina Leal. Enriquez motioned to terminate Leal’s employment with the city and appoint Joe Rios as interim city secretary. The motion passed unanimously with a 5-0 vote.

“I just felt that it was necessary to remove her as city secretary in order to restore integrity back into the city secretary department,” Enriquez said. Leal was arraigned Sept.4 on one charge of illegal voting in connection with the 2017 mayoral election.

Enriquez’s also motioned to remove the city’s two temporary municipal court judges, Armando M. Guerra and Agustin Hernandez.

“I do believe we do need a temporary judge, but let’s evaluate before we appoint a temporary judge,” Enriquez said. The motion passed 5-0 in favor of removing these positions for the time being.

Hidalgo County 332nd State District Judge Mario E. Ramirez administers the oath of office to Edinburg Municipal Court Judge Toribio “Terry” Palacios during a special Edinburg City Council meeting Wednesday night. “I ran for municipal court judge in 1994. I’ve been unopposed since,” Palacios said. However, this year’s election was the first time Judge Palacios had an opponent.

With David Torres losing his councilmember position in the Nov. 5 municipal election, this also meant the council had to appoint a new mayor pro tem. Molina initially nominated Enriquez for mayor pro tem, but he declined and nominated Jasso. The council approved Jasso’s appointment in a 5-0 vote.

“It was just out of respect for Councilman Jasso,” Enriquez said. “He’s going to be here for another 30 days or so … he’s served eight years here with the city and I felt that it was a going away present that he’d be mayor pro tem.”

Jasso did not seek re-election to the Place 3 seat.

Jasso then motioned to appoint new members to the Edinburg Economic Development Corp. board of directors. The EEDC was recently served a lawsuit by Enriquez, which he says is not for monetary gain but specifically for information.

“I was told I was not allowed to have executive session materials; I dispute that, and the reason I dispute that is because I’m an elected official,” Enriquez said. “I can’t fulfill my duties as an elected official unless I have all the documents.”

Jasso motioned to keep Jorge Salinas on the board and nominated Dan Diaz, Roland Gomez, Xavier Salinas, and Enriquez to be the new members. The motion passed with a 5-0 vote.

He also motioned to remove Celine Pardo as municipal court clerk and appoint Maribel Velasquez to the position.

“I think this is detrimental; I just think it’s going to lead to a lawsuit. That’s just my two cents,” Molina said. The motion passed with a 4-1 vote. Molina cast the only nay vote.

During a special meeting before the regular one, Toribio “Terry” Palacios and White were sworn in to their elected positions.

Palacios, who had run unopposed since being elected municipal court judge in 1994, said the city had tried to change the city charter to make it so judges are appointed and not elected.

“The same people who tried to change the city charter now put someone against me, which was fine,” Palacios told The Rider. “I mean, that is the democratic process, and I have no problem with that, and if someone is not doing their job, somebody should run against them.”

White, who is a former police chief for the city of Edinburg, said he is excited about being elected.

“Good, honest government is what I intend to bring,” White said. “We’re going to keep our city moving forward and the growth of our city to continue.”

No candidate received a majority of the votes for the Councilmember Place 3 seat, so there will be a runoff election on Dec. 10 between Juan “Johnny” Garcia and Deanna “Coach” Dominguez. The Hidalgo County Elections Department will conduct the runoff. Early voting will take place from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Nov. 25 to Dec. 6 in the Hidalgo County elections building and on the UTRGV Edinburg campus.