Sandoval addresses controversy

By RAY QUIROGA
publisher@sbnewspaper.com

San Benito City Manager and San Benito Economic Development Corporation (EDC) Executive Director Fred Sandoval addressed a number of issues pertaining to the troubled Resaca Village Commercial Development situated alongside Business 77 and the iconic tributary.

In an almost hour-long phone conversation with the NEWS, Sandoval specifically addressed the ongoing legal dispute with VARCO over custody of the development and the situation regarding the production and subsequent posting of a video segment, which was critical of the City, produced and released by a Houston-based investigative firm.

As previously reported, the City and EDC’s position on the VARCO matter is that it has taken the developer far too long to complete the project, which was initiated in 2018, in violation of its contract with the City/EDC.

VARCO officials contend that the delay stems from the COVID pandemic and that they have not only kept the EDC abreast of the situation, but that the entity’s governing board legally signed off on an extension as recently as last spring.

That notion has been challenged by the current EDC board/leadership and the City, saying that the agreement was never ratified by the City Commission. VARCO then found itself in Justice of the Peace Chuy Garcia’s San Benito courtroom, defending itself from what amounted to an eviction from Resaca Village with the Justice of the Peace siding in favor of VARCO. Judge Garcia told the NEWS that the EDC simply did not meet the burden of proof required to evict VARCO from the property.

A Houston-based investigative firm, Dolcefino Consulting, led by broadcast journalist Wayne Dolcefino, then produced and released video segment entitled, “Drunk with Power” on digital platforms that has subsequently received thousands of views, shares and comments.

During the course of his firm’s work, Dolcefino noted that his firm reached out to the San Benito Police Department (SBPD) when running background checks on EDC board members. Those checks revealed that now former board member, Juan Manuel “John” Flores, was listed as a registered “low-risk, first-time” sex offender in the State of Texas.

Flores, who was appointed to the EDC board in December 2023 by San Benito Mayor Ricardo “Rick” Guerra, was convicted in 2008 of having an inappropriate relationship with a 13-year-old female. Flores was sentenced to five years in prison. He has since been required to register as a sex offender but allegedly failed to do so when he relocated to San Benito. The 71-year-old businessman was arrested by SBPD on May 31 of this year and has since posted bail.

Prior to the 2023 San Benito City Commissioners’ election, Guerra and Commissioner Pedro “Pete” Galvan were on the short end of the commission’s political divide. The power flipped as the results of that election with the addition of current commissioners Tom Goodman and Deborah Morales.

The new majority wasted little time making changes, buying out the remainder of embattled City Manager Manuel De La Rosa’s contract and ultimately replacing him with Sandoval, previously of the Pharr EDC. Then in December of 2023, San Benito EDC Executive Director Ramiro Aleman left his position with San Benito to take on a newly created role with the County.

Given Sandoval’s background with the Pharr EDC, the commission named the City Manager as EDC Director, taking on both roles and hiking his compensation in the process. In the interim, the EDC board was also revamped with new members.

Meanwhile, another point of contention has been power seemingly accumulated by Moraleses, with Deborah sitting on the commission and her husband, Jose, named to the Planning & Zoning and EDC boards.

Jose, was also elected to the San Benito-Port Isabel Navigation District’s Commission and their son was appointed to the Parks & Recs’ board. On that end, Sandoval reiterated a point made by the NEWS in an earlier piece — that there are no formal restrictions limiting family members being named to various boards and that it’s historically difficult to find individuals to volunteer for these unpaid committees and boards.

Nevertheless, the Moraleses were targeted in Dolcefino’s viral segment. It was Jose Morales, as a member of the EDC board, who was especially critical of VARCO’s progress, or arguably the lack thereof.

During his segment, Dolcefino asks if the end goal was for the project to be handed over to a friend, relative or donor of someone involved with the governing bodies. Sandoval said, however, that with the City/EDC’s approval, he’s experienced and qualified to see the venture through to its completion, having completed similar projects for Pharr as EDC Director there.

Insiders also say that while plenty of criticism has been handed down to the current City and EDC leadership for the handling of Resaca Village and other defunct ventures, these public controversies are the result of the current leadership doing its due diligence and making sure taxpayers’ interests are protected in these deals. As a result, they said, some proposed ventures folded under their scrutiny.

As noted, Dolcefino Consulting is an investigative firm for hire, although Wayne Dolcefino has gone on record to say that his firm was not hired by VARCO nor its attorneys. Dolcefino also told the NEWS that he does not openly discuss client information and that while he may be a “journalist-for-hire,” as he’s been dubbed by critics, his clients understand that his, “editorial voice” is his own, insinuating that his investigative pieces are editorially unbiased.

Overall, however, Sandoval insists that these current issues are much to do about nothing and, he said, he has, “way bigger fish to fry.” “As far as I’m concerned, we have drought issues and retail stuff and economic development. My thing is that it fell on my lap, and we were trying to get all the financials and all the data together so I can make and assessment and talk intelligently about it to the current EDC and City Council, and during that process, we got sued. It’s really that simple,” Sandoval said.

The City of San Benito has since filed a countersuit against VARCO but Sandoval said that the City is always willing to negotiate so long as the developer is willing to show the City its financial records with regards to the project, adding that he was shocked to discover that the initial deal with the EDC provided VARCO with what Sandoval described as some of City’s most desirable real estate for such a low sum, further explaining that in doing math, in 15 years, VARCO will have paid some $45,000 for property valued at around $1.2 million.

“Let’s put it this way, if we were starting over again, I would have not approved that deal,” Sandoval remarked. “That’s a really sweet deal for them, and they should at least awknowlege that.”