By ARABELLA SERRATA
editor@sbnewspaper.com
Wayne Dolcefino, the name and face of Dolcefino Consulting, a Houston-based investigative firm tasked with inquiring about the dealings between the San Benito Economic Development Cooperation (EDC) and the developer of the Resaca Village Commercial property, recently appeared on a locally produced podcast on the “Micky G. Channel,” addressing some general questions about himself and on his work in San Benito.
An Emmy-award-winning broadcast journalist by trade, Dolcefino has posted two videos on San Benito, “Drunk with Power” and “Arrogant with Power,” exploring a number of issues about the Resaca City centering around a controversy surrounding the Resaca Village project. “Drunk with Power,” covered difficulties his firm had obtaining public records, among other matters. In that video, Dolcefino spoke with an employee of VARCO, the commercial mall’s developer, who discussed the company’s treatment.
After receiving access to the campaign records, Dolcefino discovered a barratry scheme that city officials allegedly had loose connections to, according to Dolcefino. The video also spoke of the Dolcefino team discovering a sex offender listing for Juan Flores, a sitting San Benito EDC board member. The video is available on the Dolcefino Consulting website and its official YouTube channel.
Weeks later, the firm posted, “Arrogant with Power” on various internet platforms which covered residency issues in the town, including that of City Manager Fred Sandoval who resides in Pharr despite the City Charter citing the need for the City Manager to reside within city limits. Dolcefino noted how Sandoval’s treatment has differed between that of the former City Manager Manuel De La Rosa and Commissioner Carol Lynn Sanchez who was ousted from the Commissions weeks prior to her tenure expiring after the Commission claimed she did not reside within city limits. De La Rosa, meanwhile, maintained part-time residency in San Benito. The video also reviewed what Dolcefino claimed were cases of nepotism across the city institutions.
The podcast went over the nature of Dolcefino Consulting with Dolcefino saying that his firm is independent and impartial to the governments within the towns he investigates. The podcast’s hosts discussed growing up in San Benito and questioned the city’s lack of expansion. The hosts reviewed the situation with the Resaca Plaza from a local’s perspective, and Dolcefino said the plaza is an extension of the issues with the San Benito EDC.
During the course of the podcast, Dolcefino casted his doubts on the EDC’s ability to manage a shopping center and said that it ties into the nepotism issue he was hired to investigate, recounting how he asked the EDC for documents on its revenue and expenditures but was refused access. Dolcefino said that the EDC is hiring lawyers to access his records to see who hired him, and was critical on “the waste of taxpayer money.”
Dolcefino says that the name “Drunk With Power” is a reference to an alternative meaning of resaca, which could also mean hungover and further elaborated on the refusal of EDC to hand over its records shows a lack of transparency. The journalist also mentioned how the police were called on him after asking for those records, and says his team asked for the records six weeks before they physically traveled to San Benito. He also refuted Sandoval’s declaration that Dolcefino misquoted him on the residency issue.
Dolcefino expressed his suspicions that San Benito was hiding something after he attempted to speak with city commissioner Deborah Morales and instead was met with Morales, who refused to speak to him. Additionally, Dolcefino alleges Morales promptly called the police chief to remove him for directing questions towards her during an open City Commissioners’ meeting, as shown on the first video. “It gives you a sense of, “What in the world are they hiding,’” said Dolcefino.
Dolcefino recounted that his team allegedly stumbling on the registered sex offender who was still serving on the San Benito EDC at the time, John Flores. He says his team had been performing background checks on the city officials, when they found a listing under Flores’ name, discovering that he failed to update his residency information after moving from Houston to San Benito, something Flores is legally required to do.
When the team was certain it was the same person, they notified the San Benito Police Department (SBPD) which led to Flores’ arrest the following day. When the event hit local news outlets, Sandoval was quoted as saying it was the city’s “due diligence” that resulted Flores’ arrest. Dolcefino disputed this, saying the arrest was due to his team’s work and not the city’s due diligence. Dolcefino continued his criticisms of the city’s hiring of Flores, and cited his application, which stated he was the Mayor’s cousin. The Mayor, Ricardo, “Rick” Guerra has vehemently denied any blood relation with Flores.
Guerra, meanwhile was featured in a video interview produced by “El Rrun, Rrun,” news outlet, which was uploaded online. Guerra briefs the audience on the plaza before his involvement and relays the claim from the development company that the pandemic was why construction slowed down. Dolcefino discussed the situation from his understanding, where VARCO had already invested about $8 million into the project, but the city attempted to take complete control of it.
Dolcefino questioned Guerra and the city’s desire to renegotiate the contract.
“You don’t think the delays cost them [VARCO] money?” asked Dolcefino.
He says that San Benito should have done what they could to ensure the project was completed rather than be combative about the contract. Dolcefino scoffed at the interview’s attempt at transparency and the city’s lack of urgency on having Sandoval reside in San Benito. He then taunted the city’s attempt to sue him.
“I want the taxpayers to get every penny of their money spent on good things. I wish the best for the City of San Benito. I don’t like it when one faction runs everything… I am going to fight to get those public records because every taxpayer deserves to see them,” said Dolcefino. He closed with one request: for the mayor to release the public records and said a suit against him would force the City and EDC to disclose all those dealings and records publically, including emails between past and current officials
After his closing statement, the podcast’s hosts discussed the state of San Benito.
“You can’t keep a secret in San Benito, it all comes out,” said one of the hosts.
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