By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Members of The Border Organization during Tuesday’s city council meeting called for
better communication after complaining the city manager had canceled a meeting
between them and city staff about neighborhood problems.
About a dozen members of the grassroots activist group attended Tuesday’s meeting, but
only three spoke to the council during the “Citizen Comments” portion of the meeting.
speaks to city council members during the “Citizen Comments” portion of the council
meeting on Tuesday. Leyva expressed his frustration that City Manager Shawna Burkhart
had reportedly canceled a meeting scheduled between members of the organization and
city staff. (Photo by Karen Gleason)
Pedro Leyva, the first to speak, identified himself as a leader with The Border
Organization.
Leyva told the council his comments were directed “toward Item 13a on the agenda,”
which was a executive session item dealing with “personnel matters to deliberate the
employment contract including the appointment, employment, evaluation, reassignment,
duties, discipline or dismissal of a public officer or employee – City Manager.”
The council also had an item on its agenda to renew the city’s management employment
contract. The council decided to table that item until the entire council was present.
Leyva said he became involved in The Border Organization after struggling “for years
and years” with an issue in his neighborhood. After becoming involved with The Border
Organization and meeting with the issue, he said he began to see progress.
Leyva said, “I felt like my concerns and my voice actually mattered and that I could
make a difference in my neighborhood. We helped the city enforce ordinances that made
it safer and more beautiful. The last meeting we had with the city manager, code
enforcement officer, neighborhood services and police, we were told that a bus stop and a
sidewalk were planned for our street.”
He said The Border Organization planned to follow up on that commitment at another
meeting, but that meeting was reportedly canceled by the city manager.
Leyva said, “It is frustrating to put in time and effort to set up a meeting and then have it
fall through for no reason. Organizing has shown me that I can make a difference, and I
want to continue making positive change, but that has been (im)possible lately. Please
consider this and help us to get back to making progress with you for the betterment of
our city.
“And I just want to make a note that I called the city manager several times about two
weeks ago, and then I went personally to her office but she wasn’t there. They gave me a
phone number to her secretary and I called and until this date right now, I never got a
courtesy call back,” Leyva finished.
The next to speak was Myles Jakubowski, who identified himself as a local business
owner and the member “of several environmental and social justice groups.” Jakubowski
read a prepared statement on behalf of Mariel Rodriguez, a leader of The Border
Organization and a member of the San Felipe Association.
Jakubowski read the following: “We are grateful for all the times
the city has worked
with us to make things better in our neighborhoods. I live on Viesca Street and was one of The Border Organization’s leaders who worked with the city to get stop signs put in
our neighborhood.
“We are the eyes and ears of our neighborhood, and we know when we want to see
improvements, we can’t just sit around and complain and hope something changes. As
leaders with The Border Organization, we know we have to work with our
representatives directly, and that is our democratic right.
“We haven’t always agreed with the city, but we have always been able to work together.
Now, things have changed. First of all, we are used to setting up meetings with the city
staff, like Mr. Carcasi and Mr. Atnipp, to resolve the problems we see firsthand in our
neighborhood.
“Now, all of the city staff need permission from the city manager to have any meetings of
their own. We used to be able to have a couple of meetings in one month and resolve
issues fairly quickly, but now it takes week just to get a response from the city manager,
even when we go through her office and (garbled).
“A month ago, we were going through this process. I called Carcasi, another Border
(Organization) leader called Atnipp, and another leader called Councilman (Randy)
Quiñones. They all agreed to meet, but the staff said we also would have to confirm with
the city manager. Then it took an extra couple of weeks just to get a response from her.
“We came to find out that she called the staff and advised them to cancel our meeting that
we had spent hours preparing for. Why do these voting adults need permission from the
city manager to attend a one-hour meeting?
“The Border Organization has always brought not just concerns, but solutions, and we
feel we are being punished for trying to be active citizens in our community. Please, as
our elected representatives, do what needs to be done to ensure that we can continue
making progress with the city and consider these concerns about your city manager,”
Jakubowski finished.
Ronda Hargrove was the next citizen to address the council. Hargrove identified herself
as a member of the Animal Advocacy Rescue Coalition (AARC) and a volunteer pet
foster.
She said AARC is a local, non-profit “that works daily to improve
about problems they are reportedly having in speaking to and meeting with City Manager
Shawna Burkhart. (Photo by Karen Gleason)
our community.”
Hargrove told the council, “It is disheartening to hear that another community
organization has been ignored and stood up by the city manager, when their sole purpose
is to provide assistance and a voice for the underprivileged population in our community.
“Having engaged and cooperative officials is essential to having a healthy, flourishing
community. Non-profit organizations work tirelessly to bridge the gaps the city is unable
to fill, and it’s a slap in the face to all who are employed or who volunteer with these
organizations when meetings are deliberately canceled and attempts to make contact are
completely ignored.
“I am here to push you all to seek better for our community. Engage with local
organizations that are working to improve the quality of life in our community and please
do not tolerate the passiveness of paid employees, who should be welcoming the efforts
of these organizations, but instead, actively chose to ignore them,” Hargrove finished.
Tara Avila, who identified herself as a leader of The Border Organization, said she was at
the meeting to speak on behalf of Ben Saenz, also a leader of The Border Organization
and a member of the San Felipe Association. Avila then read a statement written by
Saenz.
Avila read, “I was employed by the city of Del Rio for 17 years. I was the only employee
that was laid off in May for the debt the city owes. Or was it for being a whistleblower?
“I met with the city manager right when she started last year and wrote three letters to
express my concerns since then. But nothing was ever addressed.
“Since 2012, I have seen groundskeepers not doing their jobs, just driving around in city
vehicles, wasting gas. The parks department has four take-home vehicles, three for crew
leaders who aren’t the ones responding to work calls. That’s a waste of money.
“We used to clean the parks once a month, and now, you can drive around and look,
they’re all dirty. We used to use a canoe to clean the creek, and now it hasn’t been used
for five years. I did my job, but I also looked at what was happening around me, and I
saw others slacking.
“I got tired of it. I have a hard time paying my taxes, but I pay. We all pay taxes. I spoke
about what I saw because I couldn’t stand seeing our money being wasted, not just in my
department, but in other departments.
“The city manager told me I needed to follow the chain of command for complaints, and
I did. I went to my crew leader, director, department head and then the city manager. But
the issues were never resolved, and the city manager never responded to my letters. I was
simply let go.
“In addition to all this, I adopted the (American) G.I. (Forum) Park
their meeting Tuesday night. Avila read a prepared statement on behalf of Ben Saenz,
another leader in The Border Organization. Saenz, a city employee for 17 years, said he
believed he may have been fired from his job because he complained about his
colleagues’ work practices. (Photo by Karen Gleason)
by Pop Word Field
and have paid out my own pocket to put up holiday decorations and donate three
barbecue pits. The decorations were vandalized, and the barbecue pits were stolen.
“I’ve been working with The Border Organization as a member of the San Felipe
Association to address the property damage caused at the park, as well as speeding during
Little League games. We had a meeting set up with several city officials and Councilman
Quiñones a month ago, but the city manager instructed staff to cancel their meetings with
us at the last minute.
“We do not understand this because The Border Organization has made great progress to
improve our neighborhoods in the past through working with the city. We want to
continue that working relationship, but we are being shut out now. I urge the council to
help us help the city.
“Since this city manager does not want to work with us, we have nowhere else to go but
here,” Avila finished.
The writer can be reached at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com
