Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Val Verde County Judge Lewis G. Owens Jr. said he believes the way the county is conducting food distribution events is illegal and that all of the members of county commissioners court – including himself – should be removed from office.
Owens’ bombshell comments came during Tuesday’s county commissioners court meeting in a discussion of an accounting of the funds commissioners have spent on food distribution efforts.
“I believe what we’re doing is illegal,” Owens announced during the discussion.
“I put this item on the agenda, if we could get an accounting of all funds that we’re spending, whether it be employees, gas or diesel, and the conversation I just had with Matt (County Auditor Matt Weingardt), I believe that what we’re doing is illegal, so I’m going to ask Matt to look at this, and if it is illegal, I’m asking him to do his job and remove this whole court, if it is illegal for us to be using those funds,” Owens said.
The funds to which Owens is referring are the monies collected annually by the county through its road and bridge tax.
“I think we’re circumventing the intent of the road and bridge tax, and if that’s what we’ve done, like I asked (the auditor) a little while ago, he needs to do his job and ask that every member of this court be removed from office,” Owens added.
“Everyone?” County Commissioner Pct. 1 Martin Wardlaw asked.
“Everyone,” the judge replied.
“Even yourself, judge?” Wardlaw asked.
“I’ve been part of it, so I would ask that if we’re going to go down, we might as well all go down together and remove the whole court,” Owens replied.
After the meeting, Owens stressed the problem is not the food distribution as such.
“We’ve done this when I was a commissioner. They did it before I became commissioner. But we’re not targeting a group that we need to help, whether it be the elderly, veterans. Who are we targeting to go help?” Owens said.
He shared two stories he said illustrate problems that have arisen from the county’s food distribution programs.
“On Friday, I’m at Wings and Rings eating, and we get approached by an individual outside wanting to know if I want to buy hamburger meat because he had rolls of hamburger meat that (he) had gotten from the food distribution,” Owens said.
He said he also believes the free food is creating a microclimate of entitlement.
“But now, at what point do you keep handing out food? I was at Home Depot on Sunday, and I talked to a guy who was putting up fences, and he tells me he can’t find anybody who wants to come to work. (He’s) paying $11 an hour, with eight-hour days. . . . And (he said) the reason he can’t hire them is because they’re getting their little check, and then the guy tells me, you all – meaning the county – are feeding these people, so why should they go back to work?” he said.
Owens said he believes the first step is “asking for an accounting of what is being done.”
“Who are you giving this food to, and how much money is it costing us, with manpower, who are supposed to be road and bridge crew individuals?” Owens said.
He said the road and bridge tax is specifically collected by the county to maintain its roads and bridges.
“The tax is collected to fix your roads and bridges, not to hand out food,” Owens said.
The county judge reiterated he has no problem with distributing food to those who need it.
“If you want to hand out food to, say, the elderly, which I’m all for, let’s set up a department,” he said.
Owens said the commissioners are now also distributing dog and cat food.
“So you’re using county employees to hand out dog and cat food,” he said.
Owens agreed “there was a complete need” to hand out food from the time the pandemic hit the county in March 2020 until the winter storm in February 2021.
“Is it necessary to hand out food? Absolutely. I completely agree that we need to do it, but we need to do it in a legal fashion,” the judge said.
Owens said the determination of whether or not the food distribution funding is legal will rest with the county auditor.
“I really believe it’s illegal, and I think our auditor should do his job and remove us all,” Owens said.
The three county commissioners most active in food distribution efforts, who were present when Owens made his comments Tuesday, said after the meeting the county judge is wrong.
County Commissioner Pct. 4 Gustavo “Gus” Flores said, “First of all, I’m very, very saddened and upset by the way that the leader we have, the county judge, shows no professionalism whatsoever when it comes to coordinating meetings. . . He just went a little bit too far this time.”
Regarding the food distribution, Flores said, “We’ve been doing it for years. While (Owens) was a commissioner, it was done, and it was fine and dandy. . . I’ve been doing it for 11 years, and I started the food distribution in Precinct 1 after the Texas A&M Colonias Program left.”
“Everything was fine, and nobody complained about nothing. Now that (Owens is) county judge, and he doesn’t get any more recognition, he gets all hurt. He wants to micromanage the county; he’s worse than a damn Communist,” Flores added.
He pointed out, “If it’s illegal, there are 40 to 60 counties in south Texas involved in this, so don’t you think somebody would have said or done something to stop this? We are just people with big hearts helping people in need.”
County Commissioner Pct. 2 Juan Carlos Vazquez said he, too, doesn’t believe the food distribution efforts are illegal. Vazquez is a member of the board of directors of the South Texas Food Bank.
Vazquez said, “Of course now that he’s brought it up, we’ll be looking at it, but he had it for eight years, and it was never illegal then. We have a great county attorney and a great auditor. I want to do everything by the book, and I do not believe that it’s illegal.”
County Commissioner Pct. 1 Martin Wardlaw dismissed the county judge’s statements as a personal conflict.
Wardlaw said, “It’s not illegal. It’s a personality clash, is what the situation is. The judge wants to manage the food distribution. He would like to be in (Commissioner Vazquez’s) spot to have the power of the food, and that’s what it comes down to. He wants the power.”
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