By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Writer’s note: This reporter is a contract writer for The 830 Times who is paid by its
owner and publisher, Joel Langton.
County Judge Lewis G. Owens Jr. during Wednesday’s county
commissioners court meeting
called for a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) probe into the Del Rio Hispanic
Chamber of Commerce for alleged “misuse” of hotel occupancy tax money.
The 830 Times contacted Del Rio Hispanic Chamber President Mary Mota after the
meeting and asked her to comment on Owens’ allegations.
Mota said she plans to call an emergency meeting of the Hispanic chamber board, adding
the board may make a statement after it meets.
Owens made his statement about the Hispanic chamber during the “Judge’s Comments”
agenda item near the end of today’s meeting.
Owens said, “I’ve been waiting for over a month now for the (Del Rio) Hispanic
Chamber to come make a comment to us or to let us know about funds that I believe were
misused or given to a company in order for advertisement.”
Owens said he spoke to Mota and to Joel Langton, owner and publisher of The 830
Times and a member of the Hispanic chamber board, to speak to the court about the
situation.
“I asked her (Mota) to come two weeks ago, if she would please come and make a
comment in ‘Citizens Comments’ or send somebody. She didn’t,” the county judge said.
Owens said it is his understanding “from a couple of the commissioners” that more than
$45,000 of the Hispanic chamber’s monies “were given to an individual” and that “a
couple of individuals that received money were also voted for the main company to get
money.”
Owens later clarified, saying he was told that both Langton and Javier Martinez Jr. voted
to pay Javier Martinez Sr. for print advertisements. Print advertisements paid for with
that money later ran in both The 830 Times and The Texas Times, a weekly newspaper
owned by Javier Martinez Jr. Javier Sr. also sits on the Hispanic chamber board.
Owens during the meeting today also said he believes the Hispanic chamber board is
under the impression that it did not use public funds, since the board has not asked for its
hotel occupancy allocation from the county since 2020 or 2021.
Owens went on, “The problem is, I don’t know how you would separate them from not
being public funds. I don’t know what the city’s going to do, because the city’s been
giving them money all the time. You know, we have the FBI questioning me, questioning
commissioners, one of the commissioners, my engineer, my purchasing, everybody else
on what we do.
“Maybe they (the FBI) should take a better look at what’s going on out in the public, and
if any commissioner or . . . (city) council knew that their status, as a Hispanic chamber, their non-profit status, had been put on hold, and the city kept giving them money,”
Owens added.
The county judge said, “I don’t appreciate the way this was handled.”
“They (the Hispanic chamber) were given opportunities to come and talk to us. I really
don’t care that some of the money was given back, but it just does not pass the smell
test,” Owens said,
Owens said in the proposed county budget for next year, which he will present to
commissioners court in a few months, he will not allocate any of the county’s hotel
occupancy tax money for the Hispanic chamber, although he added a majority of the
court could vote to reinstate those funds.
Owens said he is “very disappointed with all the (Hispanic chamber) board members.”
He said, “I just don’t think it’s right. All they had to (do was) come (talk to us) in
Citizens Comment. I don’t know what the city’s going to do, and if the Hispanic
chamber’s been advised by attorneys that work for other entities that what they did was
enough, in telling the city and not the county, you all are going to be sadly surprised.”
Owens then said he will ask for a criminal investigation of the situation.
“I am fixing to ask for a full investigation into the Hispanic chamber by the FBI, the
(U.S.) Marshals, I don’t know who the hell to go talk to, but we’re fixing to figure this
out. You had an opportunity to come to this court. We are not going to be part of – in a
conversation out in the general public – . . . a cover-up. This court’s not going to be part
of that,” Owens said.
The county judge then directed comments to Langton and Javier Martinez, neither of
whom were present at the meeting, and Owens did not specify if he was speaking to
Javier Martinez Sr. or Javier Martinez Jr.
Owens said, “Mr. Langton, I spoke with you. You are part of The 830 Times. Mr. Javier
(Martinez), never talked to you, but you have The Texas Times. You report on us every
time we do shit and do stuff bad. This was something that should have been reported.
You all knew about it. You voted on it, and . . . so as a county judge, I believe that there
needs to be an investigation, because there were public funds used by the Hispanic
chamber to write a check to an individual who did not provide the service (paid for).”
Owens also charged the Hispanic chamber’s non-profit status “had been put on hold by
the state of Texas.”
This reporter called both Langton and Javier Martinez Jr. after the meeting and asked
them to comment.
Reached after the meeting, Langton emailed the following statement, “I have the utmost
respect for our county judge and for all of the commissioners. If they think something
inappropriate happened on our board financially, I personally would welcome any law
enforcement official to come and take a look at our books and documentation.”
The 830 Times also asked for a comment from Javier Martinez Jr., who emailed the
following: “As the owner of The Texas Times, I’m proud to say our newspaper has
faithfully served the community for 35 years. Throughout this time, we have published
articles focused on small business growth, leadership and events within the city of Del
Rio.
“We fully respect the personal finances of businesses and organizations, as those matters
are their own. We hold the commissioners and the county judge in the highest regard and
continue to cover commissioners’ events, food distributions and updates – such as the judge’s plans for the fairgrounds – because this information helps enhance the quality of
life in Val Verde County, which aligns with the mission of our county leaders,” Martinez
added.
Martinez said both he and his father would further refer to any statement released by the
Hispanic chamber.
The writer can be reached at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com .
