Edinburg councilman holds on to his elected seat

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By G. Romero Wendorf

The Edinburg City Council chamber was packed Tuesday night as allegations of official misconduct on the part of Councilman Homero Jasso Jr. were discussed.

Should he be removed from office for some alleged violation of the city charter?

The item posted on the March 21^st agenda carried some serious weight:

“Discussion and Possible Action to Conduct an Inquiry into the Conduct of Councilmember Homer Jasso Jr. as it Relates to the Willful Violation of (the city charter).”

That item paragraph was followed by this bit of verbiage:

“Discussion and Possible Action Regarding Forfeiture of Office by Councilmember Jasso Jr. for Violation of (the city charter).”

The first part of the item failed on a 2-2 vote (Mayor Richard Garcia and Councilman J.R. Betancourt opposed the inquiry; while Councilmembers Richard Molina and David Torres voted in its favor). As such, there was no point in proceeding to the second part – possible action regarding forfeiture of (Homero Jasso Jr.’s office).

As has been previously reported by The Advance, Jasso Jr. had some business interest in a company, Santa Anita Recycling LLC, which did tire-recycling work for the city between approximately April 2016 and January of this year.

According to papers the Edinburg councilman filed with the state April 2, 2016, which formed the Limited Liability Company (LLC), Santa Anita Recycling, management of the company included Jasso Jr., his step-brother and former banker Edward Johnson, and Pharr resident Bernice Vega Pinera.

On the state form – Certificate of Formation Limited Liability Corporation – it reads: “The limited liability company will not have managers. Management of the company is reserved to the members. The names and addresses of the governing persons are set forth below.”

As indicated, those names included Jasso Jr., Johnson, and Pinera.

How much money the city paid to Santa Anita between the April 2, 2016 formation of Santa Anita Recycling and the date (Sept. 22, 2016) that Jasso Jr. admitted in writing to the city that he had an interest in the company still isn’t clear.

The Advance has filed a public information request (PIR) with the city, asking for copies of those invoices, but hasn’t yet received them (the city still has approximately eight business days left to comply with the PIR).

In the end, Jasso Jr. retained his elected seat. But questions about his conduct still remain. So far, he’s refused to speak to the media. Instead, he issued a public statement during Tuesday night’s meeting that read:

“It’s imperative to note that before I acquired a legal interest in the company, and before the company accepted any compensation from the city, I disclosed that information to both the city manager and the city attorney. And (I) was advised by legal counsel and the city manager that I wasn’t in any violation of any ordinance or city charter, and thus, I fulfilled my obligation as a city councilman.”

According to public documents, however, that comment leaves behind some lingering questions:

• When exactly did Jasso Jr. disclose to the city manager and city attorney that he was tied to Santa Anita? The first Conflict of Interest Questionnaire he signed with the city disclosing his interest in the company is dated Sept. 22, 2016, approximately five months after he assumed an interest in the tire-recycler, and approximately five months after the city had been doing work with Santa Anita Recycling.
• After learning of Jasso’s ties to Santa Anita either on Sept. 22, 2016 or some date prior, why didn’t the city manager and city attorney inform the mayor and city council of this potential conflict of interest? According to both Mayor Richard Garcia and Councilman Richard Molina, the first time the city council learned of the Jasso Jr./Santa Anita business connection was in early February 2017.
• Besides the fact that Jasso Jr. signed the Conflict of Interest Questionnaire last September, after Santa Anita had already profited from recycling the city’s tires, does his vote to approve this year’s fiscal budget, which included tire recycling, constitute a violation of the city charter? Edinburg’s city charter clearly states that if an elected official has an interest in a company doing business with the city, he or she must declare said interest: “…in any matter in which he/she acts for the city. Any willful violation of this section shall constitute malfeasance in office, and any officer or employee of the city found guilty thereof shall thereby forfeit his/her office position.”
• In his public statement given Tuesday night, Jasso Jr. said that he disclosed his financial interest in Santa Anita before the company accepted any compensation from the city. And yet, there exists a copy of an Edinburg City check in the amount of $7,808.05 made out to Santa Anita Recycling LLC, which is dated July 28, 2016. That check was endorsed by Homer Jasso Jr. and deposited into the Santa Anita bank account.
• The city charter doesn’t say that an elected official cannot profit from doing business with the city; only that they must first declare it.
• In the sister story published in this week’s printed version of The Advance, it was mentioned that City Manager Richard Hinojosa told the city council last September that Jasso Jr. had ties with Santa Anita. Apparently that was incorrect. The only one he told, according to Mayor Richard Garcia, was City Attorney Rick Palacios. The three – Jasso Jr., Hinojosa, and Palacios – then met behind closed doors to discuss the matter. What exactly was discussed isn’t known, because neither Hinojosa or Palacios have returned phone calls made by this newspaper seeking comment. We apologize for any confusion that mention in the printed version of The Advance may have caused.

In the end, the city’s inquiry into Jasso Jr.’s alleged violation of the city charter went nowhere. He will retain his seat.

When Mayor Richard Garcia was asked earlier this week if he would prefer that the city manager and city attorney not wait approximately five months before next informing the city council that one of its members had a financial interest in a company doing business with the city, and that a possible conflict of interest might exist, the mayor said, “Yes.”