By RAY QUIROGA
publisher@sbnewspaper.com
Ousted San Benito Economic Development Corporation (EDC) Board Member Renato Rodriguez, removed by a majority vote of the San Benito City Commission at last week’s meeting, said his removal was more about asking too many of the “wrong” questions than about inconsistencies in his board application.
In response, Commissioner Daniel Cortez told the NEWS that EDC board members serve at the commission’s discretion and that Rodriguez’s removal was meant to eliminate distractions and let the EDC focus on more pressing issues.
During the November 3, 2026 San Benito Commissioner’s meeting, Commissioner Victor Manuel Gonzalez read from City bylaws, which state that false or misleading statements in a prospective employee’s or a board member’s application constitute grounds for termination.
“Making a false or misleading statement on an application is grounds for disqualification or termination. Board qualifications: appointees to city boards must meet residency and other active requirements under the City of San Benito Ordinance. Board members generally serve at the city commission’s pleasure and can be removed,” Gonzalez said while reading from a city ordinance.
During a 45-minute conversation with NEWS Wednesday evening, Rodriguez, 41, and a contractor by trade, maintained that he’s a dual resident of San Benito and Mission, where he owns a home. He later added that he spends at least two to three days a week in the Resaca City. The 2003 San Benito High School graduate also said his driver’s license lists his San Benito address.
Rodriguez said he was forthcoming about his dual residency as soon as he read the EDC Board bylaws after his appointment to the board, and that his status wasn’t an issue at the time.
“Is it about the information? Was it about the address? No, everybody knew. I have nothing to hide. I shared all the information,” Rodriguez said.
Although the matter was not discussed at Tuesday’s city commissioners’ meeting, Rodriguez did admit to having sealed court records for an unspecified infraction committed at age 20.
Rodriguez also dispelled concerns about any affiliation with Varco Real Estate San Benito, LLC, the development company that constructed Resaca Village along Business Hwy. 77. The City and the EDC have been engaged in a lengthy legal battle over the property’s ownership.
Rodriguez clarified that he worked for a company called Varco Renovations during his time in San Antonio, but that company is not affiliated with Varco Real Estate San Benito, LLC.
“I have nothing to do with Varco (San Benito, LLC). When I lived in San Antonio in 2014, I worked for a company called Varco Renovations, owned by a gentleman named Chris Hernandez. I don’t think I worked for him for a year before starting my own business,” Rodriguez explained. “I don’t know anyone at Varco Real Estate. I have no affiliation with them.”
Rodriguez also said that City Attorney Eric Flores is his attorney and represents him in a civil lawsuit against Cross Church, but that relationship has nothing to do with his appointment to the EDC board.
Commissioner Cortez said he did not personally know Rodriguez when he nominated him for the board in May of this year, adding that Rodriguez was recommended to him by someone in the community.
“I didn’t know him (Rodriguez). I needed someone to serve on the EDC board. The person I wanted and the people I approached were unable to serve, so someone else recommended him,” Cortez said.
The vote to remove Rodriguez from the EDC board was 3-1, with Commissioners Gonzalez, Cortez, and Rick Perez voting in favor of his removal, and Mayor Pedro Galvan voting against, arguing that the commission failed to provide sufficient evidence that Rodriguez misled officials in his application or committed any other alleged malfeasance.
“Lying on an application is grounds for forfeiture? Is that what you’re saying? So we’d like to tie that into the commission, too, then? Well, that’s good. That’s a good idea. I’d like to investigate that further. It could open the door to transparency,” Galvan noted, alluding to the possibility that other officials may not have been forthright in their applications.
Galvan also objected to appointing Jose Eduardo Cavazos as Rodriguez’s replacement, noting that no application was submitted or vetted.
In a text exchange with the NEWS, the mayor asked whether Cavazos was related to Gonzalez, an accusation Gonzalez denied.
When asked whether he sought to secure contracts through his dealings with the EDC, Rodriguez said there is no restriction on his competing for contracts, as long as he abstains from voting as a board member.
Rodriguez added that he raised concerns about the EDC’s attorney fees, which, according to him, exceeded $1.3M last year and, based on his experience, were excessive, despite the EDC’s legal entanglements with Varco.
He also questioned why, when selecting services, only a few bids were selected for review, whereas in past dealings on other boards, there were at least three proposals to choose from.