By HEATHER CATHLEEN COX
Staff Writer
reporter@sbnewspaper.com
City of San Benito officials met Thursday, July 31 for “an educational seminar” which was prompted, at least in part, by an incident which transpired earlier this month where Assistant City Manager Art Rodriguez confronted the driver of an ambulance that was operating without a permit within the City limits.
On the morning of July 18, Rodriguez said he approached drivers of a Hidalgo County ambulance. The emergency vehicle was reportedly en route to pick up a terminally ill female child in an effort to transport her to a doctor’s appointment in Mercedes.
The ambulance in question had been previously scheduled to arrive at the San Benito residence of San Juanita Carrillo to pick up her 7-year-old granddaughter – the aforementioned ailing child.
“We discussed that (matter) with the municipal court justices,” said City Manager Manuel Lara, “and I shared with them that some of these ambulances are coming in without a permit to operate in the City.”
Of the meeting, Lara said, “We provided a lot of information for the justice. We also had our mayor present. It was an educational seminar. We spent a lot of time on the process and contracts and how to handle it so we don’t bring liability to the City.”
Lara elaborated, saying, “We’re going to pick up a campaign to get more information to the public. That way they can read or call us on issues they have. I’ve asked for more publications, and I want to make sure the public has enough information.”
Reportedly, many residents of San Benito were previously unaware that they did not have a choice with regard to ambulance service providers. To correct this misunderstanding, Lara said, “We’re going to try to do more publicity so the citizens can have a better understanding of the agreement we have with STEC (South Texas Emergency Care).”
The contract San Benito has with STEC is exclusive, meaning, no other ambulance provider has license to pick up a patient in the city limits, whether for emergency or non-emergency situations.
Mayor Celeste Sanchez said, “The meeting was to discuss the exclusive contract with STEC and how we will deal with ambulance services that violate the contract. As we know now, several ambulances are coming in from Hidalgo County to provide a service, and they don’t have a contract with the City to do that.”
“We discussed several solutions,” said Sanchez. “One was to inform the public of why we have a contract. We are going to do a big publicity (campaign) to inform the public and ask them to help us keep this exclusive contract. Otherwise, the service will not be free anymore.”
With regard to the manner in which Rodriguez approached the ambulance while it was en route to pick up a client, Lara expressed, “Mr. Rodriguez was within his area of responsibility.”
“What Art did was not out of the realm of his authority to do,” Sanchez said. “He only gave them a warning and told them about our contract with STEC.”
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OK, Mr. Rodriguez, I will stick to IMHO and you can hang with your IMHO’s.
I do agree with you on one point…protecting the city and its taxpayers <i.should always be paramount…the ‘has been’ part is your opinion, again.
“Well, all I know is what I read in the papers.” – Will Rogers as quoted in the September 30, 1923 edition of The New York Times.
As President Reagan once said: “doveryai no proveryai”
Google it!
Yes Joe, it’s Russian…an old ‘Cold War’ adage that Reagan stole, translated meaning trust but verify.
The longer story is more interesting…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trust,_but_verify
Joe, You go to the City meetings, right? Did the City Commission just the past week finally sign their agreement with the City to ‘fix’ the misstep of the Assistant City Manager?? Looks like this lady has a great law suit especially since the contract with STEC had not even been signed. Looks like the over-zealous ACM was also very wrong in his actions.
Actually, the agreement, which you can read HERE, signed this past week between the “San Benito Fire Department” and STECF is for training for the SBFD, who is seeking a license from Texas Department of State Health Services (“TDSHS”) as a first responder organization (“FRO”) to provide first responder service to the citizens of the City of San Benito.
The EMS Contract, which you can read HERE, between the City and STECF for “EMS services” was actually signed last year (2013).
I am not an attorney but I believe that in regards to a lawsuit, there has to be some “loss incurred” to seek rememdy from the court. Not being a witness or privy to any reports I can’t attest that a lawsuit is in order or not. As the San Benito News reported, it appears to be a case of they (ambulance drivers) said vs he (Assistant City Manager) said. Only by testifying under oath will the truth be known.
In regards to the actions of the Assistant City Manager, all I will say is the city has a Code Enforcement Department with Code Enforcement Officers who are there to ensure all city, state and federal laws and codes are followed.
Many local governments including San Benito employ officers whose job it is to enforce the regulations.
A code enforcement officer is informed about a possible violation through complaints, governmental agencies or by discovering the violation on his own. The code enforcement officer has the authority to enforce the rules and regulations.
I could not ascertain anywhere on the City Charter or the City of San Benito web site the job description or authority that an Assistant City Manager is delegated besides managing his/her departments.
RESPECT MY VOTE
#WeThePeople
IMHO opinion, I have to respectfully disagree with your comment or clarification: “this appears to be poorly written contract on behalf of the citizens and is another failing of the City Attorney.”
A legal contract reflects what the client (the City of San Benito) wants or desires in the contract, not the wants/desires of the city attorney.
I am not speaking for the city attorney but a city attorney pens the contract based on the “input/suggestions/wishes/demands of those in charge and the City Commission (including the Mayor at the time). The main points or meat, for lack of a better word, is presented to the city attorney who in turn incorporates it into a legal contract. The contract is reviewed and edited, if needed, and the City Commission ultimately has “final approval” on the contract.
I have witnessed the City Attorney, who also represents the EDC, advise the CC and EDC when they were about to violate the Texas Local Government Code (i.e. spot zoning) or the Texas Open Meetings Act (i.e. illegal Executive Sessions to discuss salaries in general).
BTW, salary discussions in general shall be discussed in “Open Session” and not in “Executive Session”, especially during budget discussions. If a governing body wishes to discuss the salary and/or performance of a “specific identified individual”, it should be posted as a specific agenda item under “Executive Session”.
I have also read some of the city attorneys other written contracts for the city and I can honestly say that his obligation as the City Attorney has always been to protect the city and the taxpayers.
So unless you have actually read the contract from a legal standpoint, I believe it is unfair to judge it as a “poorly written contract”.
I may “not agree” with every decision the City Attorney has made but I still have respect for the City Attorney and IMHO protecting the city and its taxpayers has always been paramount in his actions.
I dare Art to try that to my family. Theyll have to send two abulances instead of one. To me, these city officials think they are above the law here in san benito. This is the united states not mexico. Even though san benito looks like little mexico because of very slow progress, it is still part of the united states. To all the new officials in office, get rid of these bad apples before you become part of the rotten bunch. CITY OFFICIALS WE DONT NEED TWO ASSITANT CITY MANAGERS AND ALL THESE CITY SECRETARY’S. THIS SHOULD BE ONE OF YOUR TOP PRIORITIES, BUT THATS IF YOUR LOOKING OUT FOR THE BEST INTEREST OF SAN BENITO.
I am an American citizen and no one, not even the city of San Benito is going to tell me what ambulance I have to call. Not going to happen.
Since when is a CITY OFFICIAL in the business of STOPPING,DETAINING and QUSTIONING ANYONE ? IS ART RODRIGUEZ a POLICE OFFICER OR SOME HIGHER CERTIFIED OFFICIAL ? Basiclly RODRIGUEZ called the AMBULANCE DRIVER and the person that called the AMBULANCE LIER’S and he was the only TRUTHFUL PERSON in the whole situation. To me it sounds like RODRIGUEZ IS A BULLY ABUSING HIS POSITION. If i was that LADY i would contact an ATTORNEY.
The City of San Benito has a City Attorney who, I suppose, reviewed and approved the contract. So, why are they seeking advice from the municipal court judges?
The SB News quotes Mayor Sanchez as saying “Otherwise, the service will not be free anymore.”
I respectfully disagree with the Madam Mayor.
Under its contract, STEC will charge patients, not the city, for its services. The service is “NOT FREE.”
Read Ambulance service awarded contract
So basically, the city has negotiated a binding contract between the City and STEC which obligates all its citizens to use STEC for “911 Emergency” and “Non-Emergency Calls” at the same rate whether it is an emergency or not an emergency.
If STEC is not in-network with my insurance, my insurance will not cover the ambulance service for non-emergency service. So, will the city reimburse me for the extra expense because the city has obligated me through “THEIR CONTRACT, not mine” to use STEC for my non-emergency ambulance call?
I believe the State of Texas Health Services and the Federal government also have a say as to what ambulance service companies they are contracted to reimburse expenses through Medicare and Medicaid.
So who exactly is running the administration of this city, a bunch of overpaid “rookies” protecting each other?
THE CITY DOES NOT NEED AN OVERPAID ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER, what part of this does the City Commission not understand or just doesn’t care?
I stand by my previous COMMENT
I agree with your comments DC, Jr., with some clarification…
* The contract was awarded in 2013 under King Joe’s reign.
* This appears to be a poorly written contract on behalf of the citizens and is another failing of the City Attorney.
* Burrocrats 10 Citizens 0!
* The new Mayor has her hands full at this point cleaning up some huge messes. She also has little support on the Commission. Perhaps she misspoke based on what the City Manager may have told her…regardless, she get’s a pass for now, on this one.
* The issue here is the ‘non-emergency’ calls. If the City Commission and Administration signed such a contract, then they were not as bright as I may have given them credit for.
* This was not written to favor the citizenry, but to make someone a lot of money.
* Take a look at the STEC’s 2012 tax form; check out how much their top 2 executives are paid. See any other names you recognize??
http://990s.foundationcenter.org/990_pdf_archive/742/742028156/742028156_201209_990.pdf
The game is rigged!
Whose City is this anyway?