The Island Bully
Public servants can’t be bullies. At least, not on our watch! But in South Padre Island there are growing complaints a powerful city councilman has become THE ISLAND BULLY! He’s using government employees to punish folks who try to compete with his bar business. It may end up costing taxpayers when the lawsuits start flying.
The Island Bully
“I want to ask if there are any public comments. I’d like to thank Dolcefino Media for coming tonight,” Rees Langston said.
Remember when they threw out the welcome mat for us in South Padre Island?
“In recent weeks, a Houston-based, self-styled investigative reporter has been hired to produce a series of videos targeting the community,” Annie Holand Miller said.
“I know why she is mad. Her family controls much of the real estate in the South Padre Island Entertainment District. The focus of our investigation now,” Wayne Dolcefino told the camera.
“His campaign is designed to intimidate, divide, and disrupt. These videos are filled with inflammatory rhetoric, distortions, and outright disinformation,” Annie Holand Miller said.
His business partners?
The mayor Patrick McNulty and controversial councilman Joe Ricco.
The McAllen real estate developer who owns a large chunk of the island’s entertainment district.
“Mr. Ricco, do you use your office to retaliate against people who question you?” Dolcefino asked Joe Ricco.
“He has employed aggressive tactics to stir conflict, sow distrust, and fracture the community,” Annie Holand Miller said.
“It’s supposed to be a friendly place where people come and have fun. You shouldn’t be greedy that way,” Anabel Garcia said.
For five years Anabel Garcia has been the manager of Coconut Jacks, a small bar that’s a fixture on the bayfront in the South Padre Island Entertainment District.
“We’re small. There’s enough business for everyone on the island,” Garcia said.
But Garcia says the bar has been unfairly targeted by South Padre Island City Hall.
“I just know they have it in for us. They don’t like the fact that we’re still open,” Garcia said.
We spoke to her soon after city inspectors had conducted a surprise two-hour top-to-bottom safety inspection of the place.
“They told us the banners that we had alongside the bar had to be taken down because we didn’t have a permit for that,” said Garcia. “I’m like, everybody else has their stuff on too. Why are we the only ones that are being, you know, targeted?”
Inspectors didn’t tell them who filed the complaint.
But they got a very important clue when they asked if it was City Councilman Joe Ricco who did it.
“One of the employees there was like, ‘He’s got it in for you.’” Garcia said.
“I hear you’re the big boss in town. Do you use your office to retaliate against people who question you? Mr. Ricco,” Dolcefino asked Ricco.
“There’s nothing wrong with a public official who is simply trying to make sure island businesses follow the rules. That’s not the problem,” Dolcefino told the camera.
The town’s mayor pro tem owns two of the bars competing with Coconut Jacks along the bayfront.
His business partners are the mayor of the city and the family of Alter Holand.
The McAllen real estate developer who owns a big chunk of the Island Entertainment District.
The fire marshal hasn’t conducted a full inspection of their bars, or any bars, owned by public officials for more than five years.
One of the other bars is owned by the fire chief.
“Every time Joe Ricco’s name comes up, it’s like, ‘Don’t mess with Joe Ricco,’ because it doesn’t matter what you do he’s going to get away with it,” Garcia said.
In June, the city’s Environmental Health Department cited Coconut Jacks for playing music too loud… in an entertainment district.
“When I asked them to show me what the reading was stating, she didn’t show it to me,” Garcia said.
The DJ had her own sound meter, she knew it wasn’t true that they violated the sound ordinance. But the cops showed up minutes after Joe Ricco had driven by.
“Kind of gets to do whatever he wants, it’s what it feels like. He gets to just do whatever he wants and pick on everybody if they’re in his way,” Sherii Morelli said.
“So it don’t know about you guys, but getting a permit and taking three years for a permit, it’s pretty lengthy,” Nitin Kasan said.
Coconut Jacks has its own small parking lot, but folks who park in the Entertainment District’s main parking lot face getting towed now.
The city doesn’t own the biggest parking lot in their district.
It’s owned by the Holand family, Joe Ricco’s business partner.
“I just don’t think it’s fair they’re ticketing us or having our people towed when we don’t do that to them,” Garcia said.
Now the city faces allegations they are targeting Coconut Jacks owners to send a very clear message.
That competition in the entertainment district just isn’t allowed.
The owners of Coconut Jacks recently exposed an alleged extortion scheme by Joe Ricco to demand donations to a walk for women breast cancer charity in town.
In exchange for permission for the bar’s customers to park there.
When they didn’t pay enough, their large donation was returned.
“Would you be concerned if the owners of Coconut Jacks were told that if they didn’t give the check they couldn’t park in that parking lot in the entertainment district?” Dolcefino said in a call.
“I’m not privy, I don’t know any of that, so I don’t know,” Lisa Graves responded in the call.
“What would you be concerned? Or do you not care?” Dolcefino said in the call.
“I think I’m going to hang up at this moment,” Graves responded in the call.
The allegations being made by the owners of Coconut Jacks are part of a complaint we have filed with the city’s ethics board and Cameron County District Attorney.
“In recent months, it has gotten worse,” Garcia said.
And this may explain it. The owners of Coconut Jacks plan to turn the place into a franchise of the popular Bubba Gump Shrimp Company.
The owners complain their permits have been stalled because they will need more parking for the new Bubba Gump. The owners had to comply with the island parking lot ordinance at the time, dictating parking must be within 1,200 feet of the new restaurant bar.
Their planned parking lot is 694 feet away.
There’s not much choice of land around the district. Because, as we told you, most of the real estate is already owned by the Holand family companies.
But then in March of this year the South Padre Island City Council voted to change the parking lot ordinance from 1,200 feet to 200 feet.
“It did catch the Development Standards Review Task Force off guard. We weren’t given a real reason as to why other than ‘look at it,’” Zoning Committee said.
“How are we supposed to know that it’s going to change to 200 feet? Nobody knows that. We did plan,” Kasan said.
“That would make it nearly impossible for any new bar and restaurant to try to compete. But maybe that’s the plan,” Dolcefino told the camera.
Skully’s Bar closed down after his customers were constantly towed too.
“Ricco is like the puppet for Alter Holland and his investment group,” Bill Carroll said.
“The owners of proposed Bubba Gump think that the new parking ordinance is part of a systematic effort to keep people from competing with Joe Ricco and the mayor,” Dolcefino told the camera.
“We’ve been part of South Padre for over 20 years,” Kasan said.
But our complaint to the Cameron County District Attorney and South Padre ethics board goes deeper than possible official oppression, or misuse of government employees.
Videos of past city council meetings show the top two island public officials cast votes that clearly benefited their bars.
Like the vote to improve drainage on the street in front of their bars,
or the vote to spend $700,000 on lighted bollards.
“In the gallery, anybody have public comments or announcements?,” Zoning Committee said.
But first, the owners of Coconut Jacks have to convince these folks to give them a variance so their entire multi-million dollar investment isn’t jeopardized any further.
“They claim the Holand family has tried to essentially create a monopoly in the entertainment district, with the help of their political buddies,” Dolcefino told the camera.
The city may deny it, but the new restricted parking lot ordinance sure messes with their plans.
“It really makes it impossible. Nobody can do it — not me, I mean, not any of you guys. Nobody can do it. It’s a true hardship here,” Kasan said.
The only opposition to the variance came from the Holand family, the South Padre Island Redevelopment Company.
Maybe the folks at Coconut Jacks should have expected this kind of trouble…
A city employee reportedly warned Nitin Kasan when he first contacted the city about a new bar.
“He warned us. He said, ‘Hey, I’m just warning you that you’re going to have problems with the neighbors,’” Kasan said.
Those neighbors are in charge of South Padre Island City Hall, Annie Holand’s partners.
“We trust you to make decisions based on facts, fairness, and what is best for the community. Not on who yells the loudest or who produces the most sensational videos,” Annie Holand said.
“Our complaint is a test for the South Padre Island Ethics Board, we are about to find out if the ethics rules on the island are worth the paper they were written on,” Dolcefino told the camera.
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