By ALBERT VILLEGAS
Special to the NEWS
Two major individuals are back on the City of San Benito’s Economic Development Corporation (EDC) Board of Directors following split votes by the San Benito Commissioners at a regular meeting on Tuesday.
Ricardo “Rick” Guerra, who, in May, lost his bid for re-election as San Benito Mayor to former commissioner Pedro “Pete” A. Galvan, has returned to the EDC board.
Guerra is now an appointee rather than an ex officio member.
Under San Benito city ordinance, an elected mayor and/or commissioner(s) may serve on some EDC board seats as ex officio members. However, they can be removed from the board upon an election loss.
After the May election, the current commission removed Guerra and former San Benito commissioners Deborah A. Morales and Thomas W. Goodman.
Guerra was nominated by Place 1 Commissioner Ricardo Perez, Jr. He was seconded by Place 1 Commissioner, Place 4 Commissioner, and Mayor Pro Tem Jose E. Navarro.
Mayor Galvan didn’t agree, but the appointment passed by a 4-1 vote.
Before the vote, Mayor Galvan asked whether Guerra had submitted an application, whether he lived within the city limits, and whether he owned or ran a business.
Perez’s microphone was off, so there was no definitive response.
At a special meeting earlier last month, Mayor Galvan recommended that the city administration look into not only how appointments are made but also how changes may occur.
At a regular June follow-up meeting, he once again noted that various interpretations can lead to “confusion, frustration, and distrust.”
City Attorney Eric Flores said the city charter ultimately supersedes any “conflicting” ordinance that may have been passed and any bylaw adopted by a board or committee.
Last month, the commission learned that a future EDC appointee must live within the city limits and either have held a managerial role, be a business owner, or be an officer.
“He was your former mayor, so you’re appointing the former mayor to the EDC board,” Galvan said to Perez. “The reason I voted no is that I had (former) commissioners Goodman and Morales request representation on the EDC board.”
“I told them that if the voters had voted them down for a public office position, I didn’t feel it was my place to put them on the board again. The community makes that decision,” Galvan remarked.
Galvan and Perez were at odds over this vote, and former EDC President Anna Garza Llanes, whose board term had expired.
Last month, Perez recommended waiting until Aug. 1 for the application deadline, but after he was turned down by the mayor, he told Galvan it was because “he’s running the show.”
Llanes was also appointed by a 3-2 vote of the commissioners.
Commissioner Perez moved to appoint, seconded by Place 3 Commissioner Victor M. Gonzalez. Place 2 Commissioner Daniel Cortez, Sr. agreed.
The no votes came from Mayor Galvan and Commissioner Navarro.
“You appointed a president with a $1 million deficit in the EDC, and you reappointed her to the board,” Galvan told Perez.
Perez countered, “There wasn’t a $1 million deficit; you need to reevaluate that. There was an overage from EDC of $134,548, which is way short of $1 million.”
Attorney Eric Flores emailed each commissioner prior to the July meeting regarding what Ordinance 25 stipulated and provided a legal opinion on the EDC’s Board of Directors, including Place 6 (formerly held by Llanes) and Place 7.
Each commissioner had a couple of weeks to submit their recommendations, provided they qualified.
There were four applications submitted for the EDC’s at-large board seats.
Mayor Galvan had nominated Elbert Leroy Gomez, who had previously served as an EDC board president. He received a second from Commissioner Navarro, but Gomez was ultimately rejected by a 3-2 vote.
The mayor said that Renato Garza Rodriguez, Kathy Bogart, and Llanes were the ones who turned in applications.
When Mayor Galvan asked whether the commission should delay to receive more applicants, Commissioner Cortez cut him off and nominated Rodriguez.
A second was scored by Perez.
Rodriguez was the sole unanimous vote among the commissioners.
At the meeting, Mayor Galvan made a couple of motions to nominate Ray Garcia and Abraham Villagran. When Commissioner Navarro seconded both times, the motion died 3-2.
It initially appeared Villagran would be admitted, but microphones were again off, so Mayor Galvan said a clear answer could not be heard.
Last month, the EDC board was unanimously established for the first four places. It included: Place 1, Vicente Reyes (by Commissioner Perez); Place 2, Esteban Rodriguez (by Commissioner Cortez); Place 3, Erica Guerra (by Commissioner Gonzalez); and Place 4, Hector Gomez (by Commissioner Navarro).
Mayor Galvan had asked to table Place 5, Place 6, and Place 7 with “no holdover to apply.”
Attorney Flores said that, under a San Benito ordinance affecting the EDC, a mayor could nominate a person for “Places 5 and higher,” which doesn’t guarantee a seat because the nomination still requires a majority vote of the commission.
When Mayor Galvan un-tabled his motion, he began asking members of the audience whether they would like to serve on the EDC board.
Rogelio Nunez was appointed by a split vote; however, Joe Rodriguez and Ray Garcia were not elected.