A Shrinking City
I don’t like it when people lie about me, but I have a message for hotel developer Ajit David and his big shot lawyer Doug Allison. It won’t change our corruption investigation in Corpus Christi. Folks who live by the bay need to hear this warning. Corpus Christi is becoming A SHRINKING CITY.
Honey, I shrunk my hotel
Corpus Christi,
Corpus Christi is shrinking… Parts of downtown are now in the flood plain.
But that’s not the kind of shrinking we are exposing.
We are eyewitnesses to a city council trying to take democracy away from the folks who vote.
And we’ve been trying to warn you how it’s being pulled off.
Who really gets the blame for the shrinking city.
We have all seen the power of a laser beam.
Remember Wayne Szalinsky? He shrunk his own kids.
Wonder what ever happened to that shrinking ray gun.
Thirty-seven years later I think we may have found it.
Corpus Christi hotel developer Ajit David sure seems to have an unusual influence on Corpus Christi city council… A control.
Maybe it’s not about campaign cash… Maybe they worry he has the laser.
Could it explain why David and his business partner Raju Bhagat got away with submitting what sure looks like false records to the government.
But why the silence from Corpus Christi city hall?
Where is the auditor’s office?
Where is the city manager?
The rogue city council?
We think the truth is worth fighting for… Accountability matters.
Wait a minute isn’t submitting a false government document a crime.
Let’s ask the lawyer spinning the web to enrich himself at the expense of Corpus Christi taxpayers.
More on him in a minute… But let’s talk about shrinking some more shall we.
This is the Marriot Residence Inn on Shoreline Boulevard …. The newest hotel on the bayfront… And to help pay for it the developers asked taxpayers for money.
Commercial Buildings over fifty thousand must get required state permits.
And on February seventeenth, twenty seventeen… The state approved the Residence Inn developer’s architectural barriers documents.
Look at the total cost of the project… Twelve million dollars.
The document is signed by Rhaju Bhagat… And Ajit David… Shoreline hospitality IP.
Four days later… A request for building permits from the city of Corpus Christi for that very same hotel.
But look at this… The building has suddenly shrunk… But not the size of the building… Just the claimed cost.
It’s now just 5.56 million dollars… That cheated the city out of a bunch of money.
Two documents… Both can’t be true.
In March of 2020 developers asked for reimbursement of 940,000 dollars for some of the improvements… For a project that cost 15.3 million.
Four million just for steel and concrete. There were no questions.
Who was chairman of TIRZ 3 then?
Carolyn Vaughn… Now a member of city council… She’s faced ethics questions over a campaign donation from a company linked to Bhagat.
That reimbursement documents turned into the TIRZ were signed by Ajit David.
The work covered by this application for payment has been completed.
But in the documents, we didn’t just find invoices… We see estimates… proposals… No evidence of those payments had been made.
The requested reimbursements include 90,000 for what is described as a rooftop amenity.
A promised rooftop bar never materialized… Ajit maintained in these documents they were improving the roof anyway… To support a sundeck or similar amenity… For users to enjoy the sun… Stars and view of the ocean.
Guess this picture of chairs and a small table was supposed to be the vision… Or a glimpse of the sundeck.
Look at the roof… I don’t see a sundeck or anything close.
The questions first boiled over at council nearly four months ago.
“I’m not saying that was purposedly done. I’m saying would like to know because allegations were made. we shouldn’t get all defense,” said Mayor Guajardo
Who didn’t like scrutiny? Council member Vaughn.
“This thing is an old project. was everything approved by the TIRZ. was everybody voted for it. So, what is the problem,” said Council member Vaughn.
An investigation had been requested by a local community activist Suzie Saldana.
“Does she get paid to come up and talk about the councilmembers good and bring stuff up here. think so… so that right there is a flag for me,” said Council member Vaughn.
But Vaughn wasn’t worried about red flags when Ajit Davids complaints led to an investigation of his competitor… The developers of the new Homewood Suites over their tax incentive. What’s the difference?
“And to me what is going on here is total retaliation was there a federal government document altered,” said Council member Vaughn.
It’s also against the law to alter city records. Or state records. Not sure why it matters which government agency you are suspected of illegally changing.
There is another new hotel on Padre Island getting a two-million-dollar tax incentive.
A Courtyard Marriott hotel and convention center.
The economic board approved two million dollars in tax incentives for what Raju Bhagat claims is a thirty-four-million-dollar project.
But look at the permit application with the city. It says the project is just ten point three million dollars.
“So, you cant tell me hey that’s a mistake they haven’t done anything bad. Well, it’s the taxpayers you all are supposed to be representing,” said Suzie Saldana.
And once again the application to the state for permits valued the project at almost two million more than the city permit.
This time the city caught it… Bhagat’s company lowered the state permit value to match the city’s ten point three-million-dollar number.
Since the city council doesn’t seem to care. We are filing a criminal complaint to see if an outside agency will conduct the investigation… The apparent fraud may be beyond the statute of limitations.
It is true that other contractors have pulled off this permit racket before… The city busted school contractors doing it years ago.
But why ignore it when Ajit David and his long-time business partner do it.
“So, if you are going to ignore all those things. you want me to go to the auditor,” said Mrs. Saldana
The auditor is gone now… Council simply looked the other way at auditor George Holland ethical issues.
When Holland was investigated for alleged misconduct… His lawyer was Doug Allison… The council ignored outside investigators when they said to fire Holland.
And the day before the audit committee met to decide Hollands fate we have text messages between Allison and a former audit department complainant.
“Tomorrow is an important day for George and you too” Allison wrote.
Allison later advised her to change her story…
A day after Holland returned from his absence from city hall… Is when the auditor he issued the now infamous memo alleging the Homewood committed fraud because they took out the date on a press release.
Suite’s developers likely committed fraud.
And that’s the other breaking news… The city has now produced the work done to make that conclusion. Including the fraud examination presentation.
Which was supposed to include strong interviews.
The key findings. Supposedly reasonable evidence of forgery abuse of office and misrepresentation.
But there’s no evidence in those few documents that anyone was interviewed… The original complaint is missing.
So is evidence of any independent investigation.
This hotel fight has consumed Corpus Christi city council for more than a year… Cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands. The city refuses to tell us exactly how much.
“Today is a day I never believed is a day the people of Corpus Christi would have to reason,” said Mayor Guajardo.
And it’s led to that so called trial of Mayor Guajardo.
Guess who’s front and center.
Doug Allison… He represents Rachel Caballero… She has a blog
“I don’t even like you nats,” said Caballero
So why is she afraid to answer questions.
It’s not just me. Look at the local station.
The removal trial being carried live on YouTube is getting lots of pushback.
I’ve been investigating Texas government for a long time. And if what is happening in Corpus is not illegal… Unconstitutional… It should be.
The mayor is going to be judged by the very people on city council who are clear political and personal enemies.
In what court would that be allowed?
Think about it. You’re accused of something and when you walk into court the jury are a who’s who of your biggest enemies. That’s fair.
There’s a mayoral election in November. So, what’s the point… It’s clear.
First Allison wants a pay day… He’s suing the city for Ajit and city council seems poised to pay him off… They just fired the lawyer who told them to fight.
City hall sources say Allison wants three hundred and seventy-five thousand in legal fees. Ajit admits he’s paying Allison to go after the mayor…
And Allison got a chance to question the mayor under oath for hours.
A way around the Texas supreme court ruling that blocked an effort to get another deposition from the mayor in Ajit’s civil case…. Her lawyer pointed out the obvious conflict.
“Two different legal cases are being conflated into one,” said John Flood.
But getting rid of the mayor… Even for a few months may have another goal.
It could but another nail in the inner harbor desal project.
Taxpayers have already spent fifty million on the project and risk losing millions in grant money if they don’t do it.
But the port of Corpus Christi and the Nueces River authority want to take control of the water supply from the city.
They have spent millions on a potential desal plant on Harbor Island… property the port leases to the NRA.
Who could potentially get that deal.
Allison is the co-founder of US desalination and managing partner of RGV desal.
His business partner is former port director Sean Strawbridge.
You haven’t seen the results of our ongoing investigation of the river authority yet… But stay tuned.
But we have this email… Strawbridge sharing the news of their desal dealings in the Rio Grande Valley… Trying to set up a visit.
“Honey if this thing works it put us right there with the invention of electricity.”
Sometimes when you investigate folks it’s hard to figure out if they are naïve… Or plain stupid… Or corrupt.”
but watching Allison laughing it up with the jury in the mayor’s removal before it started says a lot.
They call Larry Elizondo the godfather of the coastal bend…. And on his podcast, he interviewed Ajit David.
There is too people who won’t open their mouths without getting paid one is a lunatic with a lamp shade the other is Wayne Dolcefino,” said David
Ajit is obviously a big fan of mine. People we investigate always are…. He’s also a bald face liar… Claiming on air that we’ve tried to solicit his business during our ongoing investigation.
“He sent e-mails after e-mail if you pay 7500 dollars and he gave me the entire menu,” said Ajit David
Produce all these e-mails Ajit…. On April 9th we sent a request for an interview.
You never responded.
The cost of Ajit and Raju’s buildings aren’t the only thing shrinking.
The image of Corpus Christi government is shrinking too. and these
councilmembers just don’t seem to care.
“This is being led by the puppeteers by some people who are the puppeteers and one of them is sitting right next to me and that is Mr. Allison. And you guys are the puppets”
“Honey, I think that went well. we should have them over more often.”
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