Corpus Christi Confrontation
After months of warnings, Dolcefino Media has filed a civil lawsuit in Nueces County against the City of Corpus Christi, accusing city hall of a campaign of illegal secrecy and intentional withholding of public records through fabricated cost estimates. We are ready for a CORPUS CHRISTI CONFRONTATION.
Corpus Lawsuit
I’m really not sure why Corpus Christi city government thinks it’s okay to hide public records and spend your money to hide stuff from you. I thought I had made myself clear a long time ago. We don’t play games with this secrecy stuff. Let’s go to court.
This political ad says the Corpus Christi mayor was convicted. Actually, that’s not true. It’s the handiwork of Corpus Christi United, a political action committee (PAC) created just in the last few days, spending a ton of money in the election. Set up to oppose candidates who support the Inner Harbor desalination plan. That is why the mayor is the PAC’s main political target.
I’m shocked, aren’t you?
Look who is part of Corpus Christi united. Yep, Ajit David. David is going all in to help Councilman Gil Hernandez in his race to replace the mayor. It’s not a hotel war restarting now. David and his friends want the De-Sal project to go somewhere else, obviously. I bet it’s that Harbor Island deal. Ajit’s lawyer is Doug Allison, the former lawyer at the Port, the partner in a de-sal project down in South Texas. No doubt folks Water is on the ballot.
“We have a motion and a second for 30 days,” states Paxson during a city council meeting.
Guajardo was suspended for 30 days by city council in a spectacle that, quite frankly, reeked of politics, a class in conflicts of interest.
“Councilmember, you’re like the judge, how could you be a fair judge in this thing?” asks Wayne Dolcefino to councilmember Paxson.
Paxson was one of the jurors who voted to punish Guajardo in the trial. Right after the trial, she began her campaign against the mayor. Councilman Gil Hernandez, another juror who voted to impeach the mayor. That failed.
It was a smart plan to dirty up the mayor and get taxpayers to pay for it so they could use it in their political campaigns. Now Corpus Christi United is trying to get Gil Hernandez elected mayor. We’ve been examining David’s relationship with Hernandez for months as part of our investigation. The day after David made his complaint about his competitors at Homewood Suites, getting a tax deal, Councilman Hernandez got campaign money from Ajit’s company. At the time, Hernandez was chair of the audit committee.
“Was that timing just a coincidence?” asks Wayne
“It’s just retaliation,” replies councilmember Hernandez.
“At this time, I’ll call for a motion to grant the objection,” announces Paxson during a city council meeting.
Our interview with him was put into evidence in the mayor’s trial to show his bias as a juror or judge. Council just didn’t care. But the fate of the city manager, Peter Zanoni may be on the ballot too. The city’s tried to hide details of Zanoni’s relationship with Ajit David and Raju Bhagat. Zanoni’s admitted flying on Bhagat’s plane to help the developers schmooze the city of Austin on permits, raises legitimate questions.
“Have you taken trips with any other businessmen that you could tell me about, to other cities?” asks Wayne to Zanoni.
“I have, but I’m not going to talk here about it,” Zanoni replies.
The city has fought release of many of the public records we have fought to see. And that’s why we welcome the upcoming retirement of city secretary, Rebecca Huerta. In my view, she should quit or be fired today.
One of Huerta’s big jobs is to be the custodian of public records and to make sure the public gets to see the stuff their own government does that they pay for. She’s ignored every single phone call we’ve ever made to her.
Instead, we’ve received cost estimates that are so ridiculous that it would be laughable if illegal government secrecy was funny. But it’s not.
A case in point. In June, we wanted to review phone records and text messages between five council members and a few other folks: Ajit David, Raju Bhagat, and Doug Allison. That’s about 20 phone bills. The city’s cost estimate to us, wait for it, $32,000, claiming it would take 1,800 hours to supposedly collect and isolate the calls, and texts, between about eight people. When we asked in April to see emails between just Gil Hernandez, and that same cast of characters, the cost was almost $11,000. We have complained to the Texas attorney general already.
“In my view, the city attorney’s office was pulling numbers out their butt. It should not cost any citizen this kind of money to look at records,” states Wayne to Zanoni.
The very officials who had the phone records were asked to decide how much they thought it would cost them to give us their records trusted to report what their phone records show. That’s not the law.
Okay, I admit it. The last time I called the city secretary’s office I threatened to sue her if she didn’t call me back in 15 minutes. She didn’t. So, it’s her fault we’re suing.
Because we now have evidence these cost estimates were, in a word, bullshit. After telling city officials a lawsuit was coming, the city suddenly released three emails between Hernandez, Ajit David, and his partner, and they gave them to us for free. But they’re useless.
Wait a minute… does that mean the city was charging us $11,000 just to look at emails between Doug Allison and Gil Hernandez? Really?
When we first asked to see receipts detailing the city manager’s drinking habits, uncovered in the P-card audit, the city told us it would cost $12,210 to see them. Then they cut the price in half. Guess what? The city has now produced most of them. For free. And I get why they wanted these receipts kept on the down-low… rack of lamb, crab, lobster, a $150 filet mignon… must be nice to be a public official. That’s affordability, all right.
Oh, the alcohol. Taxpayers didn’t have to reimburse Zanoni, but when he interviewed candidates for city jobs, the alcohol sure was flowing! We don’t know who drank what, but the job interview for a potential health director, who wasn’t hired, must’ve been a ton of fun. It was $509 bucks! Eight tequilas, other alcohol too.
Check out this yacht club receipt, six tequilas, two whiskies, and 13 more cocktails.
Zanoni met with Raytech Construction. It doesn’t say who was there, but the receipt shows 14 vodkas, two cocktails, and a tequila.
“And if you want another lawsuit and want to waste more taxpayer money on playing games with records, that’s your choice,” says Wayne to city council.
You can’t say I didn’t warn the city. Time’s up. I’ve tried for months to get these yahoos to stop hiding the truth from taxpayers, telling us just how much Ajit David and Doug Allison control members of city council. We’ve now filed a lawsuit in Nueces County District Court because, I don’t bluff.
“They’re playing games and we have to go to court to stop it,” states Anthony Dolcefino.
Anthony Dolcefino is a personal injury lawyer based in Austin for the Khawaja Law Firm. He’s helping Dolcefino Media on this fight.
“There are egregious cost estimates still outstanding. Thousands and thousands of dollars, hundreds and hundreds of man hours for very simple requests. The judge will make a determination as to whether that constituted an illegal withholding of records,” states Anthony.
Corpus Christi taxpayers will end up paying our legal fees if we prevail. I don’t like wasting your money on a legal fight with the city. I will immediately drop the lawsuit if the city just releases all the records. Immediately. In the public interest. We’ll pay the real cost, not the fake ones. Voters have a right to see this stuff before election day.
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