The 830 Times
A majority of Del Rio City Council members voted on Tuesday, Oct. 27, to move ahead with a contract between the city and a local pool company owned by Mayor Pro-tem Randy Quinones to reconstruct Buena Vista Pool.
The council voted 4-2-0 to approve a resolution “authorizing and directing City Manager Manuel Chavez to award and to execute a contract in the amount of $941,000 with Connected Home Solutions DBA (doing business as) Stella’s Pools for design-build services for the Buena Vista Pool Reconstruction Project.”
Councilman J.P. Sanchez, Councilman LeRoy Briones, Councilman Leno Hernandez and Councilwoman Elsa Reyes voted in favor of a motion to approve the resolution, and Mayor Al Arreola and Councilwoman Carmen Gutierrez voted against the motion to approve. Quinones did not participate in the vote.
When the council reached the agenda item dealing with the contract, City Secretary Mari Acosta announced, “Prior to reading this resolution, I would like to acknowledge as required under Local Government Code, Chapter 171, Councilman Quinones has filed the conflict of interest with my office, and it is available for viewing.”
Acosta read the heading of the resolution, then Quinones said, “Mayor and council, I need to announce I have a conflict of interest under Texas Local Government Code, Chapter 171. I have substantial interest in Connected Home Solutions DBA Stella’s Pools, which submitted an RFQ (request for qualification) for this item and was unanimously approved and awarded a few weeks back. I have filed the required conflict of interest affidavit with the city secretary and abstain from all discussions and voting on this item.”
City Attorney Ana Markowski Smith said, “We’re going to consider this item in executive session.”
The council went into its closed executive session at 7:08 p.m. and returned to open session at 7:51 p.m.
Arreola announced no action had been taken behind closed doors, and the council took up two other items.
Acosta re-read the heading of the agenda item, and Arreola asked if there was a motion.
Hernandez asked if Quinones could leave the council chambers before discussion began, and Quinones stepped out of the meeting room.
Hernandez then said he would make a motion to discuss the item, and Reyes gave the second.
Hernandez reiterated a statement he had made at the council’s last meeting, noting Del Rio is a small city, and “it’s very hard to avoid conflicts of interest.”
Hernandez then addressed Del Rio citizens, saying, “In this particular case, we hear your voices. We understand your concerns, and I don’t want to ignore that. I wanted to make sure to let everyone know that this process began way back when it was first bid out. It was bid out for six weeks, with no responses. It was bid out for an additional six weeks with the two responses, one being the company that is owned by Councilman Quinones.”
Hernandez said when the contract came before the council in August, the council “had to ensure that all our i’s were dotted and our t’s were crossed,” and all of the issues related to a conflict of interest were addressed. He said the council was also concerned about “a lack of trust” the issue might cause the public if those steps were not taken. But, he said, “We heard no noise” after the August vote.
Hernandez said that changed after the council’s last meeting, when it considered an agenda item about the cost of the pool reconstruction project. He noted the project budget was $1.5 million, with the Stella’s Pools’ proposal coming in at $941,000. Hernandez said the Stella’s Pools bid is saving taxpayer dollars.
But after the council’s vote on the contract at its last meeting, “We started feeling (a) controversy. We started hearing voices from the outside saying, ‘What’s going on? What’s happening here?’” Hernandez said.
He added, “It is our job to ensure that we are doing everything as ethical as possible, and that we’re taking every consideration and every concern and putting it in the forefront. And so, I wanted to let you know that I felt like we did all of that.”
He also assured the public the council went into executive session because he had a legal question on the contract. The question was answered, he said, and several issues unrelated to the contract were also discussed.
Hernandez said, “I feel satisfied with the procurement processes, by the work of (the) purchasing (department) and the administration, and even the previous vote that this council took in August. I feel satisfied with all of that.”
Hernandez also spoke again about the need for vendors to seek out work with the city, though he added some may not want to do that because of the red tape involved.
The councilman said he wanted to address comments out in the community that he is related to Quinones. He said he began hearing those comments shortly after he was elected but added he did not know if they were related or not. He said he did more research with family members and learned “my grandmother’s brother is Councilman Quinones’ wife’s great-grandfather.”
Finally, Hernandez said, “This council is very deliberate on everything that we do. We’re doing our best to do everything by the book and to ensure the trust of you guys, the public, and the administration that was putting all this work into it.”
Briones said he, too, received some calls about the contract, adding he understands why people want to know more about the issue.
Briones said, “For me the position comes down to the facts, the process and the value that this project brings to our city. This item was put out for bidding twice. The first time no one submitted a bid. After that, the process continued, and everyone involved followed the law, and required procedures.
“It’s important to recognize that the process was handled properly. I also believe our city should make every effort to support local small businesses that are willing to participate and follow the same rules as everyone else. When we invest in businesses in our community, we help keep our opportunities, jobs and economic activity here in Del Rio,” Briones added.
The councilman further commented, “The numbers matter. This project is expected to save the city $600,000. That is a substantial savings for taxpayers, and it gives us a chance to move forward responsibly while making good use of public funds. I encourage everyone to look at the full picture.”
Reyes said everything the council and city administrators and staff do is public. She said there are many opportunities for vendors of all kinds to do business with the city.
Reyes said, “If I was a contractor myself, I would know by the time the budget book was ready for the following year. I’d be looking at the capital improvement projects section and looking to see what projects are out there in the next three years, the next five years. Let me prepare myself for that. Let me bug purchasing and keep calling, and you could probably call them every day, that’s fine. ‘When are you all posting? When is that (project) coming up? Is it a bid? Is it a request for qualifications? Is it a request for proposals?’”
She said Quinones, as the owner of a small business, saw an opportunity and decided to submit a proposal and, “like Councilman Hernandez said, (Quinones) dotted all his i’s, crossed all his t’s.”
Reyes said, “I don’t even know how this discussion came upon us because we voted in August to accept him as the vendor, unanimously.”
She added, “Let it be a lesson for all those contractors out there. You all have opportunities every day to try and submit for these projects. I would love for it always to be local, right? That’s what we want, for our community to benefit, for our small businesses to benefit from our projects. . . I have full confidence in the procurement process that our purchasing department has done. I worked with them for 20 years. I know I drove Luis crazy sometimes, but I know that they did everything right, and I’m comfortable and confident in the staff and administration and our city attorney ensuring that all of this was done correctly.”
Gutierrez commented she, too, was “confident in the process that was done.”
She added she would have liked to defer awarding the contract until the council had a written, rather than only a verbal, legal opinion from its attorneys.
Gutierrez said, “I’m not against awarding the contract to this particular company, which happens to be our mayor pro tem’s because he should not be penalized. We are in a small community, and many of them here on council are business owners, and so for that reason, I only wanted to defer to have a written (opinion), . . . so (if) they (members of the public) wanted to come and see the documents, they were there.”
Arreola next recognized Sanchez, who said, “Mayor, I’d like to make a motion to approve this resolution.”
“I second,” Reyes said.
Arreola said, “For the record, everybody here has a vote and a voice. You vote your conscience. We don’t vote how everybody feels, we vote how we think is the best for our community. So at this time we have a first and a second. All in favor?”
Hernandez, Reyes, Sanchez and Briones raised their hands, and Arreola and Gutierrez were opposed.
“Motion passes,” Acosta announced after the vote.
Asked about his vote after the meeting, Arreola said, “You know, I believe (Quinones) is going to do a great job, but, and I asked those questions, I think (if) I would have done that in the beginning of the actual bidding process, I would have been at ease on some of it. I believe in transparency and that everything gets done the right way, which, I think, they do in administration, but I vote from my heart.
“I know there are discussions out there and people are saying different things. That’s not my worry. My worry is me. How do I feel? What do I support and what is in the best interest of our community? Like I said, I think he’s going to do a great job. There are other opportunities in the future for him on other contracts, but I still have to vote me. It’s not that I’m being persuaded right or left. It is what Al Arreola has to stand for in his 20 years as a community servant,” Arreola added.
Gutierrez had asked her questions about a written legal opinion on the situation before voting against the awarding of the contract during the council’s meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 27.
Asked about her vote after the meeting, Gutierrez reiterated another concern she had raised when the council discussed the issue on Oct. 13.
In a text message to The 830 Times, Gutierrez wrote, “I had questions how it would work on contract oversight if the city manager was an employee of the city council and council members are prohibited by the (city) charter (from) getting involved in operations (of the city), I am still waiting on that response.
“We need to provide transparency to earn public trust that every part of the process was legal, but both (of my concerns) need to be addressed satisfactorily before I could vote yes. That’s why I asked to defer the award,” Gutierrez wrote.
The writer can be reached at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com.
