Weak With Power
We’re working on some shocking new revelations in our investigation of City Manager Fred Sandoval. Stay tuned. In the meantime, this is the latest evidence these politicians in this Rio Grande Valley town just don’t get it. They are WEAK WITH POWER.
Nice to see you too Chicharron.
And yes… we are back.
No applause necessary.
We are supposedly watching history being made in our favorite Rio Grande Valley Town… a legend born.
“A special little pig was born in the heart of San Benito and destined for greatness.”
Chicharron is the official mascot of the Hog Waddle event later this month.
And better than that… he’s allegedly so beloved in town… Chicharron is getting a pardon.
“Chicharron should never be chicharrones, carnitas, tamales, sausage links or any culinary delicacy,” stated Commissioner Jose Navarro during the city meeting.
“Hola. The protected porker is rightfully celebrating his newfound freedom… thank you San Benito for keeping me crispy with joy and not with a deep fryer.”
We’re happy Chicharron isn’t getting fried… but we don’t want San Benito taxpayers to keep getting fried either.
Last year… the city lost $115,000 on a two-day festival… this time the city’s big festival is four days.
The promotor wanted to spend upwards of five hundred thousand dollars on bands… but after word leaked out… Sandoval went to a friendly newspaper reporter to dispute that.
The four-day festival would cost what the two-day festival cost last year. We shall see.
But Chicharron wasn’t the real reason we are watching San Benito city officials back in action.
Pedro Galvan: “I’m very afraid of possums.”
Tom Goodman: “Possums are ugly, I’m with you.”
No… that’s not the reason we’re watching either… San Benito commissioners were about to prove once again that is just fine to keep their taxpayers totally in the dark.
Fred Sandoval: “I love San Benito. I love San Benito.”
We already know Freddy is in love with the town he refuses to move to.
But love was still in the air at city hall.
“I love my job… I love doing what I do. When y’all say that we’re not doing enough that’s when I say… what the heck are you looking at?” asked Mayor Guerra.
Maybe it’s the failure of the elected politicians to explain the relationship between Sandoval and the companies hired to book and promote the festivals…
Companies that stand to make potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars on the demolition and construction of a big concert venue here at the old city fairgrounds…
Companies chosen without any competition… no request for proposals… no bids.
“It’s connecting the dots, man. Connecting the dots,” declared Julian Rios.
We began to discover Freddy’s friends when we did this random surveillance on the city manager to prove he was still living here in Pharr… violating his promise to move to some RV at the Fun and Sun Park.
We watched Sandoval… his top city aide and two other guys chug beer for three hours at the Twin Peaks in McAllen.
Through a license plate check we learned one of the guys was Roy Garcia… a former Pharr employee while Sandoval was city manager there.
They were both part of that disastrous Toby Keith concert that lost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Sandoval had left Pharr months later… but the city was embroiled in a lawsuit over the concert flop for a decade.
And there was something weird about that review of Garcia’s Lexis Nexis report…
It’s an investigative service we use here to identify people… see their business relationships… relatives.
A check of Garcia’s cell phone listings had turned up something weird.
It lists Freddy Sandoval… and his cell phone number.
We wouldn’t have gotten details of the city’s business with Roy Garcia if Sandoval had not broken state law withholding public records.
After I threatened criminal charges… one of the city’s growing fleet of lawyers wrote…
“We are pretty much over a barrel and don’t have any argument against releasing the information.”
More money Sandoval unnecessarily costs folks in San Benito.
But it gets better… turns out Sandoval has hired PR experts to keep tabs on me.
We don’t know yet how much taxpayers are paying to worry about little ole me.
The city appears almost desperate to find out who originally hired Dolcefino
Media to launch the San Benito portion of our multiple investigations all over the Rio Grande Valley.
“At least it has become more obvious who he is working for”
This PR expert wrote… what taxpayer cares…
“Hey, Roy. Come on down for a minute. Roy Garcia,” called Mayor Guerra.
Wait a second… maybe this was the chance commissioners would take to ask
Garcia about his long relationship with the city manager…
For Sandoval to clear the air… he didn’t… neither did the mayor.
Commissioner Deborah Morales had questioned the city’s track record for losing money on these festivals… while the city’s animal problem had gotten worse.
But she didn’t raise the issue either.
Neither did Commissioner Goodman… I had called him personally to fill him in on what we saw at Twin Peaks even before our broadcast… not a word.
“Any other questions? Anybody?” asked Roy Garcia.
Moments later… commissioners voted to give another of Garcia’s companies a contract for demolition work at the fairgrounds site… Carpe Nox Industries…
A company that was created just five months ago with another Garcia… also involved in that Toby Keith concert debacle a decade ago in Pharr.
Roy Garcia’s Carpe Nox Entertainment had already been paid for a feasibility study of the concert venue…
Kind of a conflict of interest because he stood to financially benefit from the concert venue…
That resulting feasibility study told San Benito they could make money… assuming tens of thousands of people would come to this unpopulated industrial area to see music.
The feasibility study was just five pages… including a cover sheet.
“There’s a gentleman who posted a concern about the feasibility study, a study that was five pages long, averaged $3,000 a page because it was a $15,000 study. What happened to requesting bids for these projects?” questioned Julian Rios.
We also learned another company hired to get bands for the upcoming Hog Waddle was called Empowerment Endeavors…
It’s run by Jeronimo Saldana… he was a Special Education teacher at Pharr ISD.
A viewer sent us these pictures a few days ago… and look who Saldana worked with at Liberty Middle School.
Roy Garcia… a Liberty staff group chat announced Garcia had resigned to pursue an opportunity for his family.
Maybe it’s that planned multi-million dollar fairgrounds project.
We had an early indication of how that February commission meeting would go… behind the mayor and commissioner Goodman, we saw a giant sign of Fred Sandoval’s… head on a stick.
Julian Rios didn’t make that one, but his printing shop makes a lot of them… for children.
“It’s a fat head, that’s just what they are called. They are called fatheads,” Rios explained.
After the meeting the commission posed for pictures with them… signaling their allegiance to a guy who had promised to move to the city as required ten months ago.
That was silly enough… but the following day San Benito used its Facebook page to show that city employees were pledging allegiance to Freddy.
Most are smiling… what choice would they have? Wonder what would happen if one of them had said no.
Or if they said I live here, why don’t you?
“That was ridiculous,” exclaimed Rios.
We posted the picture on our Facebook page… what are they smoking in San Benito, we asked… we soon learned a ton of San Benito’s frustrated citizens shared Julian’s critique.
The comments came pouring in…
“Oh gosh, I hope taxpayer money didn’t pay for those fat head signs.” “Narcissism on full display.”
“It’s repulsive, to say the least… these people are clueless.”
“Is that Putin they’re holding?”
“Fix the streets, you idiots.”
“They have to post giving themselves a pat on the back to feel better about themselves.”
“Why not invest that in new sewer system and fixing streets instead of lining the city manager’s friends’ pockets?”
“When the people say no more, I’m okay with it. I’ll retire the second time. I’ll retire, it’s fine with me. It doesn’t bother me,” insisted mayor Guerra.
Maybe the mayor should call for an early election to see if folks are ready for him to go.
Hundreds of people who voted in Guerra’s first election signed petitions to force him out but not enough to trigger a recall.
Lots of residents told petition collectors last fall they were afraid to sign a document that would be public… for fear of retaliation…
“The impact that we could have if we were to sign the petitions and not have any type of retaliatory effects from city hall. The city is a big employer of the community and the school district, and we’ve seen that same group of people scratch each other’s backs,” reminded Rios.
One woman who isn’t afraid is Maya Latigo… one of many friends we have made in San Benito.
She finally pursued a police complaint again years after her first police reports were not prosecuted. She alleged that mayor Guerra’s brother Johnny sexually assaulted her at a Housing Authority project site.
Not the brother who assaulted me…
The Housing Authority has refused to release their investigation of her complaint.
San Benito police say they will not pursue charges now because of the statute of limitations.
“How about holding up signs that state how sexual harassment is in the workplace? No investigation coverups. No more abuse of power.”
This guy had an interesting answer to our what are they smoking question after this bizarre Facebook post… smoking Chicharrones he said.
Chicarron better watch his back… if the Hog Waddle loses money again.
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