By Juan Montoya
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Even though 445th State District Judge Gloria Rincones signed the temporary restraining order requested by commercial waste vendor GMS and ordered City of Brownsville District 2 commissioner Jessica Tetreau, former commissioner Cesar de Leon and a representative from the city to give testimony by deposition on or before May 17, their motion for injunction is showing some very visible cracks.
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Visiting Judge Robert C. Pate is scheduled to preside over a temporary injunction hearing at 8:30 a.m.on May 30.
De Leon maintains that he was no longer on the city commission April 16 (he resigned Feb.22) when they voted to vacate the city commission Feb. 5 vote and ordered City manager Noel Bernal to "identify a qualified provider to provide commercial and industrial solid waste disposal services for the City of Brownsville and to negotiate a contract for such services."
Since he was no longer sitting on the commission, he played no role on the decision to award the contract to Republic instead of GMS, De Leon asserts.
“I f*cking stopped GMS, bro.=," De Leon allegedly said. "I stopped them and yes you knew...I’m going to tell you one thing (inaudible) $10,000 contract and I see it man. I saw the one with GMS (inaudible) I see[] and how it is. GMS didn’t donate money to me. But they gave Charlie $15,000."
If Pate finds that De Leon, despite the recording released September 2017, did not commit tortious interference against them in the April 16 vote, their call for the injunction might be in danger.
In the case of Tereau, their allegation that she had an undisclosed interest in the RFP process is even more dubious.
GMS claims that her husband, Arturo Kalifa, is one of two members of JAAGS, LLC d/b/a Carwash Plus, a local Brownsville car wash which has a valuable contract to wash Republic Services’ trucks.
Were Republic Services to win the contract for Brownsville’s commercial and industrial trash collection, the GMS motion claims, "it would need to expand its fleet of trucks to perform the work. These new trucks would need washing, and Tetreau would stand to benefit from the increased revenue to her husband’s business."
That much is true.
But a careful search of the record indicates that not only did Tetreau studiously refrain from discussing the waste contract in executive session or in an open meeting, but also abstained from voting on any item dealing with the waste contract.
GMS also argued that "The Texas Local Government Code requires local public officials who have a substantial interest in a business entity to file an affidavit stating the nature and extent of the official’s interest and “to abstain from further participation in the matter” when the action to be taken “will have a special economic effect on the business entity that is distinguishable from its effect on the public.
"This affidavit must be filed with the official record keeper of the governmental entity. Id. Upon information and belief, Tetreau filed no such affidavit at any time regarding her interest in her husband’s business and its connection with Republic Services and the RFP process."
And even though she is only required to submit one affidavit of conflicts disclosure statement on her relationship with JAAGS LLC, she has - "out of an abundance of caution" and "in the interest of transparency" - filed a statement every year since 2013 (See graphic above, click to enlarge).
With two of its main claims in support of the injunction apparently unsupported by the facts, will it prove lethal for the GMS motion for an injunction?
Even though 445th State District Judge Gloria Rincones signed the temporary restraining order requested by commercial waste vendor GMS and ordered City of Brownsville District 2 commissioner Jessica Tetreau, former commissioner Cesar de Leon and a representative from the city to give testimony by deposition on or before May 17, their motion for injunction is showing some very visible cracks..
Visiting Judge Robert C. Pate is scheduled to preside over a temporary injunction hearing at 8:30 a.m.on May 30.
De Leon maintains that he was no longer on the city commission April 16 (he resigned Feb.22) when they voted to vacate the city commission Feb. 5 vote and ordered City manager Noel Bernal to "identify a qualified provider to provide commercial and industrial solid waste disposal services for the City of Brownsville and to negotiate a contract for such services."
Since he was no longer sitting on the commission, he played no role on the decision to award the contract to Republic instead of GMS, De Leon asserts.
“I f*cking stopped GMS, bro.=," De Leon allegedly said. "I stopped them and yes you knew...I’m going to tell you one thing (inaudible) $10,000 contract and I see it man. I saw the one with GMS (inaudible) I see[] and how it is. GMS didn’t donate money to me. But they gave Charlie $15,000."
If Pate finds that De Leon, despite the recording released September 2017, did not commit tortious interference against them in the April 16 vote, their call for the injunction might be in danger.
In the case of Tereau, their allegation that she had an undisclosed interest in the RFP process is even more dubious.
GMS claims that her husband, Arturo Kalifa, is one of two members of JAAGS, LLC d/b/a Carwash Plus, a local Brownsville car wash which has a valuable contract to wash Republic Services’ trucks.
Were Republic Services to win the contract for Brownsville’s commercial and industrial trash collection, the GMS motion claims, "it would need to expand its fleet of trucks to perform the work. These new trucks would need washing, and Tetreau would stand to benefit from the increased revenue to her husband’s business."
That much is true.
But a careful search of the record indicates that not only did Tetreau studiously refrain from discussing the waste contract in executive session or in an open meeting, but also abstained from voting on any item dealing with the waste contract.
GMS also argued that "The Texas Local Government Code requires local public officials who have a substantial interest in a business entity to file an affidavit stating the nature and extent of the official’s interest and “to abstain from further participation in the matter” when the action to be taken “will have a special economic effect on the business entity that is distinguishable from its effect on the public.
"This affidavit must be filed with the official record keeper of the governmental entity. Id. Upon information and belief, Tetreau filed no such affidavit at any time regarding her interest in her husband’s business and its connection with Republic Services and the RFP process."
And even though she is only required to submit one affidavit of conflicts disclosure statement on her relationship with JAAGS LLC, she has - "out of an abundance of caution" and "in the interest of transparency" - filed a statement every year since 2013 (See graphic above, click to enlarge).
With two of its main claims in support of the injunction apparently unsupported by the facts, will it prove lethal for the GMS motion for an injunction?