By Karen Gleason
830 Times
A divided commissioners court has voted to award COVID relief cash to two families who meet program guidelines, but who live on pricey properties.
The court made its decision after hearing a presentation from Robb Stevenson, executive director of Equity Community Development Corporation/Val Verde County Colonia Self-Help Center, during its June regular term meeting Tuesday.
“Our emergency self-help center program, the one for financial relief for people affected by the coronavirus pandemic – and thanks largely to Commissioner (Gus) Flores’ help and the help of his staff – was able to get together enough applicants to fully expend the $250,000 in program funds we were awarded,” Stevenson told the court.
“The only slightly bad news is that we weren’t able to expend the additional $25,000 the state also gave us,” he added.
He said the additional $25,000 would be transferred to Maverick County, as he’d informed the court during a previous meeting.
“The original $250,000 will all be staying here in Val Verde County,” Stevenson said.
He told the court the program would be completed on June 15 and said the Self-Help Program would be making one more round of awards at the end of the week.
Stevenson said he wanted to ask the court to make a policy directive or to allow him to do so, regarding the last two applicants.
“We had two applicants in our last group of people to finish off the money that were slightly unusual. They are folks that are not in a colonia area. They are outside the city limits, they’re unincorporated,” Stevenson said.
“What’s unusual about them is, their properties are valued fairly highly on the tax rolls. One of the properties is (valued at) $230,000, and the other is (valued at) $250,000. One of them has a swimming pool. One of the families, with the $230,000 property with the swimming pool, lost her job. It’s a legitimate issue with coronavirus. Her current income is within the parameters of the program, and we can help them,” Stevenson said.
The owner of the other property, Stevenson told the court, has a low-income job and is currently going through a divorce.
Stevenson said the state guidelines inform him not to assist anyone who is not in a “colonia-like situation,” but added the state does not define what “colonia-like” means.
“That’s why I’m coming to you for some direction, if you want me to help these two applicants or not,” Stevenson said.
“The homes are a little expensive, and I know that there are people out there in ‘colonia-like’ areas that have not applied because they thought they needed to be in a colonia and are in more humble (homes) than these individuals. I’d rather use the money for individuals who are struggling more,” County Judge Lewis G. Owens Jr. remarked.
Stevenson agreed that was his inclination as well.
“If we don’t serve them, it will be a Maverick County family that gets the money,” Stevenson said.
Owens said he would much rather try and find other families here, and Stevenson said he has gone to great lengths to try and publicize the program.
He noted the average assistance award was about $1,300 per family.
“We’re talking hundreds of families that we’ve assisted, so the program has been a success here,” Stevenson added.
County Commissioner Pct. 3 Beau Nettleton said he did not have a problem awarding the money to the two applicants.
“I know there are people who are struggling, even if they’re perceived as being in better financial shape than others. From what you’ve told us about these individuals, I don’t have a problem helping them out, and I think the struggle exists even beyond the colonias, and I believe they deserve to be helped, same as everybody else,” Nettleton said.
“I understand the perception, but at the end of the day, they’re still struggling,” the commissioner added.
Stevenson said the maximum that could be awarded was $2,000 per household.
“They meet all the program requirements except the ‘colonia-like,’ the gray area that the state provided us with,” Stevenson said.
“I think if we have the opportunity to help some of our local people here, instead of the money going somewhere else, I think we need to help them,” County Commissioner Pct. 4 Gustavo “Gus” Flores said.
Nettleton then made a motion to allow Stevenson to assist the two families, with County Commissioner Pct. 1 Martin Wardlaw giving the second.
Owens said he would vote against the motion, adding, “We should go out for individuals who aren’t living in a quarter of a million dollar home, that are having more problems.”
Nettleton, Wardlaw and Flores voted in favor of the motion, with Owens and County Commissioner Pct. 2 Juan Carlos Vazquez voting against.
—
Contact the author at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com
