By ALBERT VILLEGAS
Special to the NEWS
The San Benito Commissioners approved a professional services agreement with Carpe Nox Industries during their recent regular meeting.
They also decided that by the end of the month, the Economic Development Corporation (EDC) will evaluate the promoter, Roy Soto Garcia, based on his annual performance.
During the March 3 meeting, commissioners voted to allow the City of San Benito to continue progressing with its annual Hog Waddle, which will feature area product Charley Crockett as the headliner on March 14.
“We could either keep (Garcia) or terminate the way we’re supposed to and keep on with the Hog Waddle,” Mayor Rick Guerra said of the San Juan-based promoter.
City Manager Fred Sandoval reminded commissioners that the agreement with Garcia doesn’t require 30 days’ advance notice but rather termination upon request.
According to the annual contract managed by the San Benito EDC, Garcia receives a $90,000 salary ($7,500 per month).
It expired on Dec. 31, 2025, and was reintroduced to commissioners last month, a few days after a Hog Waddle press conference in the EDC Administration Building at 701 N. Bowie.
The new agreement was approved by a 3-1 vote, with Commissioner Joe E. Navarro following the mayor’s motion; Commissioner Deborah A. Morales voted against it.
In fact, she questioned why the item was brought up for a vote for the second month in a row after elected leaders had rejected it in February.
“I wonder why this was brought back up to us when we denied it for a year, and not taken back to the EDC to change the conditions that were on the (agreement); I’m okay with doing a contract up until March pending an evaluation,” Commissioner Morales said at the beginning of the item discussion.
“There’s been a lot of discrepancy in how we do the contract, how we are spending the money. I just don’t see all the (financial) information we should be getting. I don’t want to be giving out a blank check anymore,” Morales, who also serves on the EDC board, added.
“When it was approved, I was under the impression the agreement was going to last until March, and that’s why I voted yes,” Morales said. “When I see that this is for a one-year contract, I don’t agree with it. There hasn’t even been an evaluation of his (Garcia’s) performance; I’m not saying he hasn’t done a good job, but there hasn’t been transparency. I want to see true numbers that are going on.”
She initially proposed that the City of San Benito not agree to a Carpe Nox yearly contract, with Commissioner Pedro A. Galvan voting the same way. Mayor Guerra and Commissioner Navarro voted differently.
Commissioner Thomas W. Goodman II was absent during the vote.
The item discussion lasted just over half an hour, including the executive session discussion.
Commissioner Morales mentioned last year’s events, called San Benito’s Soul of South Texas Summer Concert Series, which reportedly cost $1 million to host at the San Benito Fairgrounds.
It was a month-long event that began in July 2025. More than a dozen entertainers performed, including country music star Clay Walker, the band Midland, Tejano music acts, and comedians such as George Lopez.
Commissioner Morales acknowledged that public opinion is split on whether it was a financial success.
“I know Garcia has been working, and I don’t want to say he’s doing it out of the kindness of his heart; there are just too many questions and not enough answers — my point of view on it,” Commissioner Morales said. “I know in some eyes the concert series was a success, but some will say it wasn’t.”
Furthermore, she mentioned that the financial figures have already been reported from the recent Soul of South Texas Festival and Carnival Festival held at the same site from February 26 to March 1.
Again, we’re giving a blank check of $1 million, and we judge based on the quality of life, which we could be using somewhere else in the EDC,” Commissioner Morales said. “We need to start small and work our way up; we’re going backwards here.”
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