SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT

In the March 2025 city newsletter, the mayor is mischaracterizing the recent decision by the City Council regarding the the potential financing for the Hillcrest Dr. construction project. 

The City Council voted 4-1 to authorize the Finance Director to explore obtaining a Certificate of Obligation (CO) loan. The Certificate of Obligation allows the most flexibility for the city while also giving the city the best opportunity for getting the lowest interest rate. It does not require voter approval, but the City Council will not approve a CO that is not in the best interest of the city. 

Both options, the CO and General Obligation (GO) bond would have the same impact to our city's finances since both would result in the city obtaining a loan for our portion of the Hillcrest Dr expenses. 

The mayor is incorrectly implying that only the CO would possibly lead to higher taxes and placing that blame on City Council.

Again, the City Council has not approved a CO loan, and we can move to change the financing option to a GO in the future.

The mayor is leading an effort to repeal the law that allows BH to negotiate with the Police Officer’s Association (BHPOA), mistakenly believing it will save the city money. 

The mayor and his supporters have been knowingly providing false information by saying that non-contract employees are guaranteed to get the same compensation increases that are included in the BHPOA contract. This is incorrect, and the mayor has been informed of the correct city policy several times.

The current BHPOA contract is in effect until June 2027, but we have an opportunity to negotiate a more favorable compensation package in June 2025. Repealing the law would prevent the city from negotiating this June to address the compensation issues in the current contract. This would result in the city being stuck with a compensation package that it cannot afford for two more years.

In August 2024, the City Council voted to approve a contract with Frontier Waste Solutions. The previous waste disposal company, Republic, had requested a very high price increase so the City Council authorized the City Manager to request bids for other waste disposal companies,  Frontier Waste Solutions provided the bid with the lowest cost and best level of service for our residents. The bid from Frontier was lower than the initial proposed increase from Republic. 

The mayor is trying to cast blame for the change on City Council without providing context, saying he doesn't know why City Council approved the contract and that he did not vote for it.

As mayor, Johnny does not get to vote unless there is a tie. Additionally, he was present for every meeting and discussion we had regarding the waste disposal bids. He did not object or argue against City Council approving the Frontier contract.

In September 2024, the mayor got into a heated discussion with the Chief of Police, John Jahanara. During the discussion, the mayor threatened the police chief's job. The mayor told the police chief that his "time was limited" as chief.

The mayor has denied saying this, but the argument took place in a public area of the building and was witnessed by several employees. The encounter was recorded by the justice center security cameras and other witnesses.

This event led directly to the Balcones Heights Police Officers Association filing a Letter of No Confidence in the mayor. Many other employees wrote letters stating they were in fear for their jobs following this incident.

In a June 2024 City Council meeting, the mayor got into a heated discussion with a citizen. The citizen had just been nominated to continue volunteering on the Economic Development Corporation when the mayor voiced his opposition to their appointment. The mayor then proceeded to personally attack the individual from his seat on the dais. The individual got up to defend their self against the mayor's accusations and attacks. During the argument, the citizen used a curse word, which led to the mayor directing the Chief of Police to remove the citizen and arrest them for disturbing the peace.

The police chief pushed back against this, and that is one of the factors that led to the argument in September when the mayor threatened to fire the police chief.

During the special City Council meeting on January 13, I successfully led the effort to stop the unnecessary and wasteful spending for the mayor’s proposed office in the Wonderland of the Americas. 

The mayor has stated he needed to have an office at the Wonderland because the office at City Hall was "unbecoming" of the mayor. The office had been used for 20 years by the previous mayors, so it should have been sufficient for our current mayor. What the mayor fails to disclose, however, is that he is not permitted to be in the building without an escort because he refuses to get a simple background check that is required for all city employees and that City Council members have completed.

During the December City Council meeting, Mayor Rodriguez stated the office would not cost the city anything. However, upon review of the lease agreement, I found the actual cost to the city was in excess of $50,000. The lease payments were designed to be taken out of future disbursements to the city’s Economic Development Corporation. 

This is an expense that the city cannot afford and would be unjustified even if we could. 

Thanks to my leadership, with the support of Council members Juan Lecea and Miguel Valverde, the City Council was able to direct the interim City Administator to not sign the lease agreement.

During a recent discussion with a resident, I found out that the mayor is accusing City Council members of leaving meetings early, hinting that those council members are causing disruption to City Council decisions.

Again, the mayor is leaving out critical context. There are two instances where City Council members have left a meeting early, causing the meeting to end due to lack of a quorum. By law, all City Council meetings must be attended by a minimum of three Council Members (called a quorum). If there is no quorum, then there can be not decisions made. 

In the first instance, the mayor personally insulted Council Members during an executive session, where he thought those comments would be confidential. City Council members are serving voluntarily and should not be subject to verbal abuse. After those insulting comments, three members of the council left.

During the November council meeting, the mayor abruptly accused Councilman Lecea of cursing at him. There was no evidence of this, yet the mayor repeatedly used the curse words in an apparent effort to elicit an emotional response from Councilman Lecea. The citizens who were present objected to the continued use of the curse words, and the mayor threatened to have them removed from the council chambers. It was at this point that four council members left the meeting, ending the meeting due to lack of quorum.