EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- The Texas Attorney General's Office on Friday sent a letter to Canutillo Independent School District's director of communications demanding he comply with the state's Public Information Act. This, after failure to respond to open records requests –and even the attorney general’s own investigators, according to the letter. 

“Due to the district’s pattern of non-response, this office has determined the district failed to comply with the requirements of the Act in relation to the requests at issue,” the document stated.

In the letter, dated August 16, Open Records Division Chief Tamara Smith told Canutillo ISD's communications director Gustavo Reveles her office received four complaints the school district isn't responding to open record requests.

"The Office of the Attorney General received complaints from multiple requestors alleging Canutillo Independent School District (the “district”) has failed to respond appropriately to various requests for information under the Public Information Act (the “Act”), chapter 552 of the Government Code," Smith wrote.

The letter lists four case numbers for complaints, including one filed by ABC-7. 

That complaint was filed with the Texas Attorney General's Office over a year ago after the district ignored our April 5, 2023 request for videos of a suspected security incident at Canutillo High School. It was determined to be a senior prank involving water guns students used in the school’s gym. School officials said the incident happened on March 28, 2023, just one day after a school shooting in Nashville that left six dead. It triggered a security response.

Some students who witnessed the incident told ABC-7, at the time, they were afraid. The district said the prank violated school codes of conduct.

Another complaint was filed by government watchdog Max Grossman who requested the salaries of Canutillo ISD employees, and an accounting of planned expenditures related to the $387 million bond the district was proposing at the time, in April of 2024.

Grossman told ABC-7 the records were finally produced on May 10, 2024, far beyond the timeline dictated by Texas law, so he filed the complaint.

On Friday, he shared with reporters the same letter ABC-7 received from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's office.

In it, Open Records Division Chief Tamara Smith told Reveles her office has "sent letters to the district by mail and/or electronic mail informing the district of the complaints and requesting a response to assist us in resolving these matters." 

Smith also wrote to Reveles her office had reached out to the district by phone and "as of the date of this letter" hadn't "received a response stating the district will comply with the requests at issue."

Under the Texas Public Information Act, a governmental body has 10 days to release the information, however, public information is supposed to be released promptly. If a governmental body believes the information is not public under the law, it can ask the Texas Attorney General's Office for an opinion.

ABC-7 reached out to the school district Friday and received the following written statement, "The District will work with the Attorney General’s Office for an appropriate response to these issues. The District continues to assert that it responded to media requests appropriately and that the records requests filed following the incident were non-responsive based on the open investigation at that time. Canutillo ISD prides itself on being open and available to media. We will continue our work to partner with journalists to help them fairly and accurately do their job."

Reveles had told ABC-7 in 2023 the investigation was closed and the videos of the prank in the school gym existed, as he had watched them.

Smith gave Reveles 60 days to take an “approved open records training course” and asked he send a certificate to her office upon completion. 

In the letter, Smith said if the district does not comply it will consider other options, including filing a court request to compel the district to turn over the records.

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Editor's note: This story has been updated to include Rep. Chris Canales' response to ABC-7.

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- El Paso City Representative Brian Kennedy is looking to transfer tens of thousands of dollars from his discretionary fund back to the city's general fund.

Kennedy, who is also running for mayor, is asking council to approve the transfer of a little over $52,000, according to next week's August 13 agenda.

At the beginning of every fiscal year, city councilors get $10,000 in discretionary funds that come from the city's general fund, according to city officials. Any of the unspent tax dollars carry over to the next fiscal year.

In an interview with ABC-7, Nicole Cote, the city's managing director of management and budget, said city council passed a resolution in 1994 that she says restricts council's use of discretionary funds. Cote says the tax dollars can be used for "a municipal purpose" and anything over $1,000 requires council approval. 

"The mayor's office does not receive discretionary funds," Cote noted. "This $10,000 can be used for their district, but it must meet, of course, a municipal purpose."

Cote says, "It has to be something that's going to be a benefit to the city."

Typically, Cote says council members use the funds to help make improvements to neighborhoods.

Currently, Rep. Brian Kennedy says he has over $62,000 in his discretionary fund. He tells ABC-7 his office, to date, has spent $1,000 since he was first elected into office in December of 2022. He said he used the money to help neighborhood organizations in his district pay for registrations for the Neighborhood USA Conference over the summer.

Kennedy told ABC-7, in part, "I personally think any funds should be used within the year issued or returned. I will use my $10,000 allocation and I'm returning the rest. As someone who watched the financial team fight very hard and make sacrifices to get to no new tax increase I really feel it's the responsible thing to do."

ABC-7 asked Kennedy what he thought about some people viewing this as a political move since he's running for mayor. "I don’t think it is ever the wrong time to act on good fiscal policies and help save the taxpayers money," Kennedy said. 

ABC-7 reached out to other council members to see what their respective discretionary fund balances are, if they will support Kennedy's request, and if they agree with transferring back their unspent tax-dollars to the general fund. 

"Oh, I believe discretionary funds are needed. there can be used for various things that we, as city representatives come across from our constituents that, hey, we need to take care of business," Representative Joe Molinar said in an interview with ABC-7.

Molinar, who is the representative for District 4, says when he first took office in January of 2021 he had approximately $110,000 in his discretionary fund, but could not recall what his current balance is.

At the July 2 council meeting, Molinar asked council if he could use up to $75,000 of his discretionary funds for pickleball courts. Council decided to bring the item back at a later date.

"We're trying to get pickleball here in El Paso. There is a need; there is a want. People can play outside, they can play inside, but we're lacking courts," Molinar said.

Molinar said he will not be returning the district's discretionary funds because he believes the taxpayers benefit from the funding source.

"I also allocated up to $60,000 for a park, Arlington Park at the 10300 block of Pasadena for new playground equipment, which serves a municipal purpose," Molinar said.

District 6 Representative Art Fierro told ABC-7 he currently has over $171,000 in his discretionary fund.

When he first took office in January of 2023, Fierro said there was a balance of over $182,000. 

Fierro said he believes it's Important the dollars stay in the district. 

"Because it's not my money - it's taxpayers' first and foremost, but it's also the district's money," Fierro said in a phone call to ABC-7 Thursday.

Fierro said his office has spent discretionary funds on various projects and events that he says help his district. He said his office plans to purchase portable traffic data machines that he says will help the El Paso Police Department track speeders on Montwood Drive.

"If he believes he doesn't need the funds then that's his call and I'll support him doing it, Fierro said to ABC-7 when asked if he supports Rep. Kennedy's agenda item. "But I would not support it for council as a whole."

Rep. Chris Canales says in the past few weeks, his office gave $50,000 to the Opportunity Center for the Homeless "to close out a restroom renovation project that they had initiated during my predecessor Rep. Lizarraga’s term."

Canales said when he first took office, his balance was $132,897, "including the $50,000 already committed to the Opportunity Center’s ongoing project."

Canales listed various projects he said his office has used his district's discretionary funds for, including a block party in Segundo Barrio, clean-up events and summer camps for kids.

"I think discretionary funds allow a City Councilmember to address these kinds of low-dollar-amount needs within their district, to help neighborhoods and community organizations with small-scale programming, and to supplement funding for City projects or programs within the district," Canales said to ABC-7 in a written response.

Canales said he doesn't object to Kennedy transferring his funds back to the general fund.

Canales said, in part, "They are called discretionary funds for a reason, and he can rightfully do so at his discretion. I plan to continue to use the District 8 discretionary funds in support of the neighborhoods and community organizations in my district and addressing their needs."

ABC-7 has not heard back from Reps. Josh Acevedo, Cassandra Hernandez, Isabel Salcido, or Henry Rivera.

The post El Paso city councilor seeks to transfer unspent discretionary funds back to general fund appeared first on KVIA.

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- Brian Kennedy, El Paso city representative for District 1, announced he is officially running for El Paso mayor in 2024.

"I don't want a ringside seat at a train wreck. I want to make sure the train keeps rolling in the right direction," Kennedy wrote on his campaign website that went live Thursday morning.

Kennedy joins councilmember Cassandra Hernandez, Renard Johnson, Marco Contreras, Steven Winters, Ryan Houle, and Jacob Chavira in the race.

In a press release, Kennedy named Iliana Holguin, current El Paso County commissioner for Precinct 3, as his campaign treasurer.

"I’m honored to go into this with Iliana at my side as Treasurer, a public servant whom I deeply respect," Kennedy said in a written statement.

Kennedy's announcement does create a vacancy for District 1 under the state's resign to run provision, which falls under the Texas Constitution.

The resign to run provision creates, depending on the time of the announcement, an automatic resignation for certain elected officials, like councilmembers, who announce they are running for another office.

Under the state’s current law, if you’re in the last 13 months of your tenure as an office holder -- you don’t have to resign. However, if you have more time than that, the city has 120 days (about 4 months) to hold an election for your seat.

Because Kennedy's announcement is in the 120 days the city will not hold a special election. Voters will, however, head to the polls on November 5 and decide on a new District 1 representative.  

Rep. Brian Kennedy is in his first term as a council member. His term expires December 2026.

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EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- A change for those who are running for city office.

El Paso's City Council has approved making candidates report political contributions during public meetings, just like they do. 

Under the prior local ordinance, only city council members were required to report campaign contributions of $500 or more within a month of receiving them. That information, along with whoever the donor is, then gets placed on the council agenda for the public to see.

Now, local officials are leveling the playing field—adding local candidates and their donors to the reporting requirement.

Candidates also have a state requirement to report contributions every 6 months, and also closer to Election Day.

Council approved this change in a 5-1 vote last month, according to city records.

Records show Representatives Brian Kennedy, Art Fierro, Henry Rivera, Chris Canales and Josh Acevedo voted yes, while Rep. Joe Molinar voted no.

Representative Cassandra Hernandez, who is currently running for mayor, abstained from voting, while Rep. Isabel Salcido was not present. 

According to El Paso City spokeswoman Laura Cruz-Acosta, this change took effect immediately after it passed council. 

ABC-7 asked Cruz-Acosta if there is an enforcement component to the law. She pointed us to the local ethics law that shows a city resident can file a complaint with the Ethics Review Commission if they feel a violation has happened.

ABC-7 did a quick check, and found El Paso County already requires candidates for Commissioners Court to report contributions of $2,500 or more. That information, along with the donor, also gets placed on the Commissioner's Court agendas for taxpayers to see. 

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EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- El Paso city taxpayers paid thousands of dollars to find out whether City Rep. Brian Kennedy officially announced his run for mayor by saying he “was seriously considering” a run for the top seat.  

Earlier this week, members of the El Paso City Council came out of executive session and voted 6-0 to move the private discussion to the regular session – meaning, in front of the public, and not behind closed doors. 

Representatives Cassandra Hernandez and Isabel Salcido were not present for the vote.  

Hernandez, who announced in February she is running for mayor, was the one who asked City Attorney Karla Nieman for a legal opinion on the matter, according to Nieman. At issue was whether Kennedy must resign his city representative position immediately or maintain it if he did announce he was entering the mayoral race.

The item up for discussion? The resign to run provision in the Texas Constitution. It creates, depending on the time of the announcement, an automatic resignation for certain elected officials, like councilmembers, who announce they are running for another office.  

Under the state’s current law, if you’re in the last 13 months of your tenure as an office holder –as Hernandez is-- you don’t have to resign. However, if you have more time than that, the city has 120 days (about 4 months) to hold an election for your seat. Kennedy’s term expires December 2026.

During city council’s work session on Monday, San Antonio-based attorney Frank Garza, who contracts with the city, said City Attorney Karla Nieman reached out to him requesting a legal opinion following a request from City Representative Cassandra Hernandez. 

“Ms. Nieman forwarded an email from Representative Hernandez asking the question, citing the article from the El Paso Inc. as to whether or not his statement ‘seriously considering to run for mayor’ was an announcement that he was running for mayor,” Garza said.  

"The statement 'seriously considering a run' is very easy to address because there is an Attorney General opinion specifically on this point,” Garza explained to council during his presentation. “The Attorney General opinion specifically states that seriously considering to running for office is not a statement without qualification and therefore is not an announcement to run and therefore the resign to run provision is not applicable." 

ABC-7 did a quick fact check on the Attorney General opinion. You can find it here. 

Rep. Brian Kennedy is in his first term as a council member.

Kennedy has not made any formal announcements about his political aspirations beyond his current seat – but when asked by ABC-7 over the phone if he plans to run for mayor, he said he is seriously considering running for mayor. Kennedy said he has not yet made a decision, but he will make a decision one way or another before the first date you can file for a spot on the ballot, which is July 20.  

Paid polling

During Monday’s meeting, Garza also told the council he was asked to investigate another campaign issue. 

"The second issue I was asked to look at was whether conducting polling was an announcement as well and whether or not a campaign treasurer needed to be filed for those purposes," Garza said.   

According to Garza, there is no clear opinion on this issue, however, he said the Texas Attorney General's Office has ruled that having an exploratory committee is not an announcement for office. Garza said he considers an exploratory committee, paid & free polling to be similar in nature and his “opinion that forming a polling committee does not announce running for mayor because what if the polling is not favorable the person might not announce to run.” 

ABC-7 asked Rep. Kennedy if he paid for polling and he responded by saying, "I intend to consider every important piece of information available between now and making my decision by July 20."

Garza told council paid polling is considered a campaign expenditure and there are reporting requirements that come in July.  

“I had a chance to speak to the General Counsel of the Texas Ethics Commission on this issue when it came to my attention on polling,” said Rep. Brian Kennedy during Monday’s council meeting. “And his questions were - Is the poll advocating, saying ‘vote for me’ or ‘support me’ and if the answer is No, then that agreement was exactly with your opinion, which is if there was an exploratory expense it would have to be reported under my current financial reporting, which would be July 15 for the end of June and he said very honestly, ‘Everybody is allowed to look without having committed because it would be a nightmare at the state level if everybody that was looking to run for another office had to resign to even think about it’,”  he said.

What’s next? Policy change

On Monday, some council members took issue with tax dollars being spent to hire outside counsel following the request by a single councilmember. That brought about a change that will now require City Attorney Karla Nieman to notify the entire council if she gets requests from members for legal opinions involving each other.  

“Now, Ms. Nieman, we’ve (we) had a conversation and I think that you’re asking for direction from this council that if you’re directed by a council member to investigate another council member that you bring it out to all of the council members for approval before we go out and spend taxpayers’ money, is that correct?,” Mayor Oscar Leeser asked City Attorney Karla Nieman on Monday.  

“Yes sir, that’s correct. So, historically, we don’t, I don’t get requests like this, but in the past if we do, or I get a request about another member of councils' behavior or actions, my office does not issue legal advice on those matters; I always refer them to outside counsel,” Nieman responded.  

“Regarding prior processes, this scenario was a first for us, so there was no prior process,” City spokeswoman Laura Cruz-Acosta told ABC-7 when asked about precedents for this situation. Now, there will be a procedure. “If a council member makes a complaint or asks for a legal opinion regarding another Council member, moving forward staff will get direction from Council as a whole to determine if we need to get an opinion from outside counsel,” she said.

City Rep. Joe Molinar asked Attorney Frank Garza how much time he spent on this request, and he responded by saying approximately 10 hours.  

“I have a problem with a certain city representative that chooses to do certain things certain ways and uses our city attorney for possible gain,” Rep. Joe Molinar said during the meeting. “It’s just... you heard the gentleman from San Antonio 10, approximately 10 hours. What is that going to cost us the tax, or them the taxpayers? It’s a lot.”  

Molinar said he didn’t know what the city pays Garza an hour, but said it is tax dollars, council is fiduciary and he didn't think it was “being spent correctly.”  

ABC-7 reached out to City spokeswoman Laura Cruz-Acosta to see how much the city spends paid Garza an hour. She provided a contract from 2023 where council approved a rate of $290 per hour for his services.

So, at $290 amount an hour, taxpayers spent around $2,900 to look into Rep. Hernandez’s request.  

ABC-7 reached out to Rep. Hernandez via email asking to chat about this week’s discussion. She told ABC-7 she was traveling this week but sent the following statement:  

“This was a discussion held under attorney-client privilege,” Hernandez wrote.  “It is important to note that the decision to seek an outside attorney was made solely by City Attorney Karla Nieman. I was not present at the work session meeting due to a pressing family matter and was unaware of the agenda item concerning this issue. Additionally, I did not request that Mrs. Neiman hire Mr. Garza or bring this matter before the City Council and never received any briefing on the matter.  For a comprehensive explanation of the decisions made, including the engagement of an outside attorney, I recommend contacting Mrs. Neiman directly.”

The post Did El Paso city representative announce he’s running for mayor? What taxpayers spent to get the answer. appeared first on KVIA.

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- The City of El Paso is getting ready to close out its contract with the El Paso Zoological Society and questions remain about how much money was raised from the Society selling zoo memberships.  

According to the agreement between the City and Zoo Society, the non-profit got 75% of the membership sales, while the city got 25%. The Society has said it helped raise over $10 million in the last seven years for the El Paso Zoo.

For several days, ABC-7 has been trying to get information from the City and Zoo Society about how much money is in the bank from membership sales, who has access to it, and whether the sum includes both the 75% and 25%.  

The El Paso Zoological Society maintains it doesn’t have to turn over its remaining funds to the City.

“The agreement states that all the funds must be 'spent/used by the Society' for the purposes for which they were raised,” Zoo Society Board President Pam Agullo said in an email Saturday after ABC-7 repeatedly asked questions about the membership money. “There is nothing in the agreement that says that any of the funds must be transferred to the City. Neither 25 nor 75%. The City is ignoring the language of the agreement. Even when the agreement was in place, the Society never gave/transferred funds to the City to be used without any checks or balances. Instead, the Zoo director submitted reimbursement requests and the Society reviewed those and approved or disapproved them. The amount of funds is really not the issue.”  

After reviewing the agreement, ABC-7 could not find any language that required the City to submit reimbursement requests to the Zoological Society for its use of its 25% share.

The Zoo Society insists the City lacks legal basis to request both the money and financial information after their agreement expired March 17, and that has “reignited challenges,” according to a news release the Society issued Friday evening following our inquiries.

ABC-7 also reached out to El Paso City spokeswoman Laura-Cruz Acosta last week about the membership money. The City declined to comment at the time but sent out a written statement late Friday which said, in part: “Since before the expiration of the agreement, the City has repeatedly asked the society to account for all the funds. The City has repeatedly urged society to consider allowing for a full accounting of funds and expenditures by a mutually agreed upon third party CPA. They have declined to do so.” The City's statement also expressed concerns over what it called a lack of transparency and financial accountability of the donations made, and memberships sold by the Zoo Society. 

What did the agreement say? 

Under the agreement reviewed by ABC-7, the Zoological Society was tasked with promoting and supporting the Zoo and its programs in conservation, education and recreation. The agreement also required the Zoo Society to fundraise and help manage volunteers for the zoo.  

At least 25% of membership sales had to be spent on the development, marketing, operation, education, conservation and promotion of the zoo, the agreement showed. All the remaining money had to be spent on the betterment of the zoo, or society-sponsored projects that had to be agreed on.  The agreement, however, is not clear about what happens to the money if the contract is terminated. 

The Society was required, according to the agreement, to give the city a copy of its annual financial statements, along with “reports through the Director to the City Manager, or designee, with respect to amounts collected and expended by the Society on a quarterly basis.”

That’s something a recent city audit said was not happening.  

“In the past the Zoo Society has provided the quarterly reports solely to the Zoo Director. Moving forward, the Society will provide the quarterly and annual reports directly to the Comptroller’s office and provide a copy to the Zoo Director,” the Zoo Society wrote in its response to the audit.  

The Audit also said the Society was raising and discounting membership prices without getting approval from the zoo director, which was required under the agreement. The Zoo Society said going forward, it would go to the director before making any changes.

While non-profits like the El Paso Zoological Society are not subject to open records laws, they need to provide a 990 form to the public for inspection, which needs to be filed with the IRS each year. 

According to the Society’s 990 form from 2022 reviewed by ABC-7, the organization raised just over $400,000 in membership sales, and had $1.3 million in cash and other assets in the bank as of August 31 that year.  

The January 10 audit showed the Zoo Society has funded several projects, including the digital x-ray equipment in the veterinary clinic, the McKee Giraffe Shade Structure and Viewing Hut, the Hunt Family Splash Pad, and the Foster Tree House Playground, to name a few. 

“And the battle begins”

“DO not poke the bear….because you may get bit. I killed a 63 year old non profit, put 9 people out of work and made 1.6m for the zoo in one move,” wrote El Paso Zoo Director Joe Montisano in an email to Ted Molter, a consultant for zoos, dated February 27, 2024. It was a day after the El Paso City Council voted to not renew the original 2012 license agreement with the Zoo Society that was set to expire March 17.

ABC-7 spent several days looking through email correspondence between city officials and Zoo Society members that date back to 2022. We obtained these after filing an open records request with the City under the Texas Public Information Act. 

The city initially declined to comment on the emails. We had also reached out to Montisano on Sunday for an opportunity to respond.

City spokeswoman Laura Cruz-Acosta sent us a statement on Monday on behalf of Zoo Director Joe Montisano that said he "would like to sincerely apologize" for what he called a lapse in judgement. " 

"I sent out two inappropriate emails from my work account that I deeply regret," Montisano said in his his written statement to ABC-7. "Not to justify them, but they are both out of context. I received emails from two intimate friends and attempted to make an inappropriate joke about the end of a 60-year relationship. In a very callous, tongue in cheek manner, I responded with an unfortunate attempt at humor and bravado without thinking about the impact to my organization and my personal reputation. Again, this is not a justification, but I wanted to put it into the context it was intended."

Montisano went on to apologize to city officials, the council and the mayor, along with the community in what he described as a "lapse in judgement and complete lack of professionalism."

In an interview with ABC-7 on Monday, El Paso City Mayor Oscar Leeser said the council does not condone that type of behavior or talk, but, according to him, it's up to Interim City Manager Cary Westin to handle it.

Just hours before he sent the email, Deputy City Manager Dionne Mack alerted staff, including Montisano, and Zoological Society members, that the City Council directed Interim City Manager Col. Cary Westin to close out its current contract with the non-profit, a partnership that had been in place, according to city officials, for 60 years.  

“The El Paso Zoological Society has been our valued partner for many years. Transitioning at this time will enable the El Paso Zoo and Botanical Gardens to directly oversee mission-critical aspects of their work and sustain the financial health of the organization. Expenses continue to climb, and City departments continue to adjust to post pandemic conditions. This has had continued financial impacts which required a reassessment of the longstanding practices and relationship,” Mack wrote in an email the evening of February 26.

“We fully understand our agreement expires March 17th, at that time, we will remit any remaining portion of the 25% of membership revenue to the City. Disposition of any remaining funds will be determined by the Board of Directors,” Zoological Society Board President Pam Agullo wrote to Deputy City Manager Dionne Mack the next day.  

On February 28, Zoo Director Montisano emailed Michelle Thatcher, CEO of the US Green Chamber of Commerce, “And the battle begins.”  

The road to a contract dead-end

While contract discussions have been very public in recent months due to the fallout between the City and Zoo Society, there was a lot going on behind the scenes, sometimes tense, all the way back to 2022, according to emails reviewed by ABC-7. 

Records show the City and Zoological Society were working on a contract extension that would carry the partnership from December 2022 to March of 2023. 

“Hi Renee, last we spoke you mentioned the Society has hired a consultant to help you with contract modifications or a suggested new contract as we move forward. Do you have an approximate timeline as to when we will see the first draft or any results of his work,” Zoo Director Joe Montisano wrote in an email dated April 21, 2022, to El Paso Zoological Society Executive Director Renee Neuert. 

“Joe, we are finishing up our ‘Partnership Agreement’ with a few more edits. Then it goes to the Executive Committee for review. That will be the first week of May with final review and approval by the Board of Directors,” Neuert responded.  

In July 2022, Montisano followed up with Neuert. “Hi Renee, any word on when the city will get the Society version of the new contract?? Legal is getting nervous as is goes bad 12/18 working backwards I need 30 days to get it through city council, legal will need 60 days to review and adjust and get you back an amended copy, you will need 30 days to meet with the board to review, etc... Time is basically running out."

“Hi Joe, the final revision goes to Executive Board this month, with approval from the full Board in August,” Neuert responded.  

By mid-August, the Society was still working on the agreement.

“Good afternoon Board Members: The Executive Committee has been working diligently on our License Agreement with the City of El Paso. There is much to consider. We meet this week, but found we needed more time. Now we are meeting on Wednesday, August 17 at 4:00pm at the Zoo. Therefore the August 18 Board of Directors is cancelled. If you are interested in attending the meeting on Wednesday and want to assist us on the License Agreement PLEASE JOIN US. Once we have a final draft, the License Agreement will be sent to the full board for review and vote,” Zoological Society Executive Director Renee Neuert wrote in an email dated August 12, 2022.  

By December 2022, the City proposed additional meetings for oversight as emails suggest friction between the parties.

"Good afternoon: I will forward a copy of the executed document once signed and stamped by the City Clerk. I would (sic) to set a recurring series of 1.5 hour meetings in January and February for negotiations. Please let me know the negotiation teams availability Thursdays and Fridays,” Deputy City Manager Dionne Mack wrote to Zoological Society members on December 9, 2022.  

“We appreciate scheduling information. I will forward your email to our Board of Directors,” Zoological Society member Renee Neuert replied to Mack. “We would appreciate if you send us the City’s first draft of the agreement. To clarify- at the zoo management meeting on December 7, 2022 I shared exactly what you presented to Pam Agullo-President, Frank Nugent-Treasurer and myself on Monday October 31, 2022. It was not an interpretation. It was the slide you showed us in response to the License (Partnership) Agreement we submitted to the City. Nothing more. Moreover, I gave only the information you presented on 10/31/22 due to widespread gossip, misinterpretations, and rumors on Zoo grounds.”  

A few days later, Neuert requested Montisano send her his revisions to their agreement.

“Good morning Joe, In the previous email you indicated that you made a few minor comments to the MOU and sent it to City Legal. Would you please send us a copy of your edits and the document you sent to City Legal? This way we are all on the same page."

“Hi Renee, No, I will not be doing that,” Montisano responded. “Some of my suggestions and comments I made may not be valid or fit in with the legal departments review of the document. Legal may toss everything I added and I am sure they will add some items of their own. In order to keep us on the same page you will get back a single copy that incorporates my suggestions, the legal department suggestions or issue if they have any and then of course any questions they may have about the document or parts that still need defined.” 

“Good morning Joe, the objective to share our MOU with you prior to sending it to the City was to ideally have an open discussion and communication with you directly on the details in order to come to a mutual agreement on this 1-million-dollar sponsorship,” Zoo Society Board President Pamela Agullo wrote on December 22, 2022. We are confident that this, like other additions to the zoo we have funded, will be a tremendous attendance driver to the zoo over the next 3 years. In exchange for this, as outlined in our MOU what we ask the zoo commits to is to having a clean and ready Amphitheater space and a technician to operate the sound for presentations. Hard to understand how this collaboration could possibly generate any inconvenience or strain to the zoo and would therefore require the MOU be significantly modified. With that in mind, we are extremely disappointed that you would not only disregard our request and intention to discuss this openly and productively, but that you would neglect the fact that the draft we shared with you was still open to revisions as well as subject to approval by the Board of Directors.” 

Deputy City Manager Dionne Mack stepped in.

“Good morning- I’m not sure if there was some miscommunications off-line. Mr. Montisano has express excitement and unwavering support for this venture in writing to leadership and our legal team. All agreements are reviewed by our legal team. There is a clearly defined process for all operations staff to include the City Manager. The team will likely have the reviewed document back early in the new year,” Mack wrote.

On December 29, 2022, Zoo Society President Pamela Agullo sent an email to city leaders, including former City Manager Tommy Gonzalez, requesting a meeting with him over what she called an “uncomfortable situation that has recently developed, gained momentum and is a serious cause for concern to our organization.”  

“As soon as the contract negotiation process began, Zoo Society staff began experiencing an increasingly hostile environment at the Zoo. It has gotten worse over the course of the last 3 weeks. Namely, Zoo Society staff has been made to feel the Society is going to be kicked out and pushed aside, which is being proposed by the City, even before negotiations on the ongoing partnership formally begin. To name a few examples of the hostile environment we are experiencing, our volunteer staff is no longer being asked or required in advance to secure volunteers for events, emails concerning ongoing activities as well as upcoming donations by the Society are not being answered in a timely manner, Zoo staff are being told we will no longer be an ongoing partner for the Zoo, the Society’s very successful winter zoo camp was not offered due to unanswered emails and miscommunication, our current volunteer office was recently measured to apparently make way for volunteer staff independently secured by zoo administration, and starting in January 2023, our organization will be excluded from attending zoo management meetings,” Agullo wrote in her email.  

What’s next? 

As of right now, the El Paso City Council is scheduled to discuss closing out its contract with the Zoological Society on Monday.  That conversation will be behind closed doors, in the executive session.

The Society has rejected the City’s request to have a certified public accountant review the non-profit’s finances, and instead called for mediation.

Meanwhile, the City has maintained it’s confident the zoo, a City department with a $10.1 million budget, will be able to absorb the Society’s responsibilities.

In an interview with ABC-7 on March 13, Deputy City Manager Dionne Mack told ABC-7 “We now have 147 (employees) out at the zoo, and we know that across the organization we’re selling memberships, we’re managing our volunteers, we know that those things can be managed with our existing staff,” Mack explained. 

“All of the operation is in the cost and expenses they need on a daily basis or actually included in their adopted budget,” Mack said. 

This story was updated on Monday, May 20, 2024, to include a statement from El Paso Zoo Director Joe Montisano and El Paso City Mayor Oscar Leeser.

The post “And the battle begins”: Inside the City, El Paso Zoo Society’s dispute over membership funds  appeared first on KVIA.

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) —The FBI in El Paso has confirmed to ABC-7 that it investigated allegations of excessive use amongst city representatives’ taxpayer-funded gasoline cards, and the case is now in the hands of federal prosecutors.

"The El Paso Field Office conducted a thorough investigation into the allegations and subsequently presented the comprehensive results and investigative findings to the United States Attorney Office, Western District of Texas for their careful review," according to Jeanette Harper, head of the Office of Public Affairs of the FBI's El Paso division.

Last year, the FBI told ABC-7 it could not confirm nor deny the existence of any open FBI investigations.    

ABC-7 contacted federal prosecutors seeking information about the case's status.   

Mike Lahrman, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, declined to comment citing U.S. Department of Justice policy.    

The audit that prompted law enforcement investigations     

The investigation stems from a gasoline card audit that was done by the city’s Chief Internal Auditor Edmundo Calderon.   

It was for the 2022 calendar year and presented in May of 2023. It included gasoline expenses by former and current council members, and the mayor.  

According to the audit, two city council members, former District 6 Representative Claudia Rodriguez and current District 3 Representative Cassandra Hernandez, purchased thousands of dollars more in gasoline compared to their peers in 2022.    

The audit also pointed out what it called “deficiencies” in the city’s commercial fuel card policy.      

“The policy is specific on use of the Commercial Fuel Card by City Employees on City owned vehicles while conducting City Business,” the report stated. “The Policy does not address the use of Commercial Fuel Cards by Members of the City Council. Also, the policy does not provide guidance on the use of the Commercial Fuel Card on Privately Owned Vehicles (POV) used by Members of the City Council.”       

The 2022 report was also forwarded to the El Paso Police Department. Documents obtained by ABC-7 showed El Paso police investigators said they were unable to find anything criminal in their review as there was no policy to violate.   

The city’s Ethics Review commission reprimanded both Rodriguez and Hernandez for what the audit described as “excessive” use of the privilege.  

Further review of gasoline usage

In May of 2023, the El Paso City Council directed Chief Internal Auditor Edmundo Calderon to do a further analysis of gasoline card usage following the release of the 2022 audit.

ABC-7 filed an open records request on February 13 seeking information on that extended review.     

The City Attorney’s Office is now seeking an opinion from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on whether to withhold the information.    

In a letter sent to Paxton on Tuesday, El Paso Senior Assistant City Attorney Juan Gonzalez cited, “the City of El Paso has not affirmatively received notice that the records attached as Exhibits B-1 through B-3 are no longer the subject of an on-going investigation. As such, we believe that the provisions of Section 552.108(a)(1) and (b)(1) of the Government Code apply.”    

On Monday, ABC-7 reached out to the El Paso Police Department to see if it had any open investigations regarding the gasoline card reviews done by the city's Internal Audit Office.   

El Paso Police Department spokesman Adrian Cisneros told ABC-7, “The El Paso Department has no open investigations regarding the city's internal audit.”  

ABC-7 has also reached out to the Texas Department of Public Safety to see if it has any current investigations related to the matter.   

At last check, DPS spokesman Sgt. Eliot Torres told ABC-7 the agency did not. 

The post FBI El Paso is done investigating city representatives’ use of taxpayer-funded gas cards appeared first on KVIA.

Editor’s Note: The story has been updated to include a response from Judge Marlene Gonzalez to ABC-7’s inquiry regarding redaction vs. sealing of records.

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- The divorce case of current City Representative and mayoral candidate Cassandra Hernandez may be closed, but it raised questions of transparency and resulted in her endorsement of the judge’s challenger.

In less than a month, the case filed by Hernandez’s husband, Jeremy Jordan, went from being public, to disappearing completely from the public court system, with questions being bounced through at least three departments at the courthouse, to being public again, and finally, withdrawn.   

Presiding judge Marlene Gonzalez, who is running for re-election in the 388th District Court race, told ABC-7 in a statement, “the case drew an exorbitant amount of public interest and inquiry, so the record was unsealed.”   

That move led to Hernandez’s rebuke of Judge Gonzalez as someone who “has demonstrated to my family that her politics are more important than the privacy of her constituents,” according to a post on Hernandez’s mayoral campaign Facebook page.   

ABC-7 has reached out repeatedly to Hernandez for comment, but so far, we have not heard back.    

What happened   

ABC-7 received a tip on February 7 that City Representative Cassandra Hernandez’s husband, Jeremy Jordan, filed for divorce on January 19, and the case that was once visible to the public as displayed on a screenshot taken days before, had disappeared from the court’s online records system.    

Following the tip, ABC-7 confirmed the case was not available through the online records search, and it was unclear why the public could no longer access the docket information.    

Most Texas counties, including El Paso, have web-based platforms that allow the public to search for court cases online.    

ABC-7 learned the records –not just documents but the entire docket-- were put under seal, meaning they were no longer available to the public, by Judge Marlene Gonzalez of the 388th Judicial District.      

On February 8, ABC-7 reached out to Judge Gonzalez’s office asking for the sealing request, along with the sealing order, which should be available to the public for inspection, according to Joe Larsen, a Houston-based attorney and board member of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas.    

388th Judicial District Court coordinator Al Alderete referred ABC-7's request to the District Clerks’ office as they “receive all records requests,” he wrote in an email.    

After several exchanges, the District Clerk’s office passed ABC-7’s request for information to the County Attorney’s office, their legal counsel, on February 13.     

The next day, the divorce case involving City Representative Cassandra Hernandez was available to the public on El Paso’s court portal.   

The docket showed that while the case had been filed on January 19, and Rep. Hernandez officially entered the mayoral race on January 31st by filing for a campaign treasurer, it wasn’t until a day later that Jeremy Jordan filed the motion to seal the court records and remove everyone’s full names from the case to display only their initials.

In a statement to ABC-7, Judge Gonzalez added more detail, explaining Jordan’s attorney “inadvertently included the full name of their minor child. Divorce petitions are generally ‘open record’ documents. Therefore, the practice for decades in El Paso County has been to file petitions identifying minor children by initials only.”  

First Amendment Attorney Joe Larsen pointed out there are other ways to protect a child’s identity.  

“It’s not an easy question to answer except Yes, you can redact the names of children, and No, that’s not a basis for sealing the entire docket,” Larsen told ABC-7.    

“Unfortunately, there is no provision granting me authorization as a judge to redact documents that have already been filed,” Judge Gonzalez told ABC-7 in a statement. “Texas Rules of Civil Procedure 21c provides for the redaction of qualified information from documents but that is the duty of the filer to redact all sensitive information prior to filing the documents.”

Both Jordan’s request and Judge Gonzalez’s order include language suggesting a legal threshold for sealing records, asserting “The general public health or safety will not be adversely affected by sealing the court’s record in this suit.”  

Court records also show, on January 24, Judge Gonzalez referred the case to Associate Judge James Lucas, however, records show she took back the case on February 2 at 11:45 a.m. and granted the order to seal the records at 11:46 a.m. that same day.    

The order stated, in part, “that all the court's records, with the exception of any court orders, opinions, or other records that may not be sealed under law” shall be sealed.   

In addition to that, Gonzalez issued another order on February 13 just before 2 p.m. sealing all “records and orders” in the case, according to court records obtained by ABC-7.    

But just less than 24 hours later, Judge Gonzalez filed the order to unseal the case at 3:33 p.m., court records show.

On the morning of February 15, Jeremy Jordan dismissed his divorce case without prejudice, meaning, it can always be refiled, court records show.   

Hernandez took to her mayoral campaign page on Facebook that morning, posting, “Want to make sure your judges are not influenced by external influences? I am proud to endorse @vote_for_joy Joy Kelly Degenhart For district judge in the 388th District court. @judgemarlenegonzalez Has demonstrated to my family that her politics are more important than the privacy of her constituents. Dm me for details.” Hernadez tagged her husband, Jordan, in the post.    

Degenhart is running against Judge Gonzalez in the March 5 Democratic Primary Election.    

ABC-7 reached out to Hernandez and Gonzalez about the post on Facebook. So far, we have not heard back.   

In a statement to ABC-7, Judge Gonzalez did address why she said she sealed the case.  

“Upon realizing that the child's entire name was included in the case in question, the law office, after obtaining an agreement to seal the record signed by both interested parties, requested that the court, seal the record,” Judge Gonzalez wrote in the prepared statement. She added the Family Code did not require any notices or hearings prior to sealing the records. 

As for her reversal, she wrote, “The case drew an exorbitant amount of public interest and inquiry, so the record was unsealed,” but didn’t explain further.  

Attorney Joe Larsen confirmed in family court cases, such as this one, a judge does have discretion to seal files, which he said is a bit different than most civil cases. Larsen said the orders or opinions, however, may not be sealed.   

“Now that’s highly irregular, you know? There are in fact a lot of reports all around the country of ‘secret dockets,’ they’re called, where nobody even knows the case exists and for a few minutes or an hour or two, I don’t know how long the situation was there in El Paso, you had a secret docket,” Larsen said. “If somebody were to try and find that case, you couldn’t do it and that allows all kinds of abuse when you’ve got a court system that nobody even knows the cases are there and so that’s received a lot of criticism and usually when they are discovered, they end.”     

When ABC-7 asked why not even the motion to seal and the order were made available, Chief Deputy Sylvia Duarte at the El Paso County District Clerk’s Office said, “When an order to seal is filed in any case, we change the security field to ‘secure’ and is therefore, no longer available to the public.  The case does not disappear it is just not available to view in the public portal,” Duarte explained in an email response to ABC-7.     

Rebuilding trust   

In a recent interview with El Paso Matters, City Representative Cassandra Hernandez said she intends to regain the community’s trust as she campaigns for mayor.   

Hernandez was recently named in a lawsuit filed by El Paso Chief Internal Auditor Edmundo Calderon where he claimed the city, and some of its former and current staff members harassed and intimidated him following the gasoline card audit done by his office.      

The audit, along with video obtained by ABC-7 showing Hernandez’s husband filling up his truck, were used by the city’s Ethics Commission to reprimand the city representative for misuse of the card.  

Hernandez paid back the $6,700 in gas expenditures the audit deemed “excessive,” and maintained she used the gas to transport her –and sometimes her family—to multiple city functions.  

Before the commission, she also argued the number of hours she dedicates to her work as city representative more than make up for the gasoline overage. 

While Commission Chairman Casey Williams commended her for dedicating countless hours to public service, he said that didn’t justify the misuse of the gas card.    

Hernandez maintains she’s the best choice to lead the city.  

“I just have to be honest and genuine about my intentions,” she told El Paso Matters. “I know I have to rebuild that trust with the voters and I will. I’m going to earn it.”   

The post Divorce case cloaked: Case touches two political campaigns appeared first on KVIA.

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- El Paso Chief Internal Auditor Edmundo Calderon has filed a lawsuit against the city, claiming it and some of its former and current staff members harassed and intimidated him following a gasoline card audit done by his office. That audit found “excessive” use of two city representatives’ taxpayer-funded gasoline cards.

Calderon is seeking between $250,000 and $1 million dollars in damages, according to the lawsuit obtained by ABC-7.

The suit, which is demanding a jury trial, names several people, including former El Paso City Manager Tommy Gonzalez, El Paso City Attorney Karla Nieman, El Paso Assistant City Attorney Juan Gonzalez, El Paso City Representative Cassandra Hernandez and Hernandez’s husband Jeremy Jordan, and El Paso resident Deborah Paz.

According to the lawsuit, Tommy Gonzalez and City Attorney Karla Nieman tried to discredit Chief Internal Auditor Edmundo Calderon's work following a gasoline card audit that his office did earlier this year.

The gasoline card report was for the 2022 calendar year and it included gasoline usage by former and current council members, and the mayor.

According to the lawsuit, Calderon says he faced retaliation as a result of his findings.

"The comments and attempts to discredit Calderon by Tommy Gonzalez and City Attorney Nieman were in retaliation for Calderon choosing to conduct the audit and not telling them sooner, so they could notify their allies who were stealing gas from the citizens of El Paso," Calderon's lawsuit read. "Tommy Gonzalez and City Attorney Karla Nieman were upset that Calderon did not tell them sooner and involved the police department in the investigation. This is because Cassandra Hernandez was their ally and the person that had been chosen to run for Mayor. Tommy Gonzalez hoped that if the votes on the El Paso City Council changed, he would be able to get his job back. City Attorney Karla Nieman also wanted Cassandra Hernandez to not have this stain, so she could keep the votes and not worry about losing her job."

ABC-7 reached out to the city for comment and it declined.

The taxpayer-funded gasoline cards were issued to members of council and the mayor.   

According to the audit, two city council members, including former District 6 Representative Claudia Rodriguez and current District 3 Representative Cassandra Hernandez, purchased thousands of dollars more in gasoline compared to their peers in 2022. 

After investigating complaints against each, the Ethics Review Commission issued letters of reprimand to Hernandez and Rodriguez.    

Rodriguez denied wrongdoing and refused to participate in the commission’s investigation. Hernandez paid back the money and argued the number of hours she dedicates to her work as city representative more than make up for the gasoline overage.

The audit

Chief Internal Auditor Calderon said he received an anonymous tip in November 2022 from someone who said former El Paso City District 6 Representative Claudia Rodriguez was using her gasoline card for campaign-related purposes. She lost her re-election bid in November.   

The audit further pointed out what it called ‘deficiencies’ in the city’s commercial fuel card policy.   

“The policy is specific on use of the Commercial Fuel Card by City Employees on City owned vehicles while conducting City Business,” the report stated. “The Policy does not address the use of Commercial Fuel Cards by Members of the City Council. Also, the policy does not provide guidance on the use of the Commercial Fuel Card on Privately Owned Vehicles (POV) used by Members of the City Council.”    
   
The 2022 report was also forwarded to the El Paso Police Department. Documents obtained by ABC-7 showed El Paso police investigators said they were unable to find anything criminal in their investigation of the matter.      

Calderon said he initially reached out to the police department to obtain video from gas stations where the cards were used. 

One of the videos, obtained by ABC-7, showed Hernandez’s husband filling up two different family vehicles which members of the Ethics Review Commission ruled was an inappropriate use of the taxpayer-funded gas benefit.  

At a May 4 meeting, Chief Internal Auditor Edmundo Calderon confirmed to current Financial Oversight and Audit Committee (FOAC) members, including District 1 City Representative Brian Kennedy, District 2 City Rep. Alexsandra Annello, District 6 Rep. Art Fierro and District 4 City Rep. Joe Molinar, the audit was approved in October 2022 by past committee members.  They included Representative Cassandra Hernandez, plus District 5 Rep. Isabel Salcido, District 7's  Henry Rivera, and former District 8 Rep. Cissy Lizarraga.  

Alleged intimidation

Calderon said shortly after that the harassment began.    

On July 21, he filed a whistleblower grievance with the city, which is required under Texas law before a lawsuit can be filed.

Calderon's attorney, Laura Enriquez, sent a three-page letter to El Paso City Attorney Karla Nieman and El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser that day.

Enriquez claimed her client was the victim of harassment and retaliation by then-city manager Tommy Gonzalez and his staff.   

"Gonzalez was intimidating my client, trying to influence his work and impede his independence as the City Chief Internal Auditor making references to a request for a raise," the July 21 letter stated, referencing a May 18 meeting.  

Calderon's attorney also said that on June 9 he (Calderon) was denied a budget request for cybersecurity work for $250,000 and was only approved for $100,000.   

Enriquez declined to comment to KVIA about the lawsuit.

On September 13, the El Paso City Council voted to approve the hiring of outside counsel regarding the whistleblower complaint.    

ABC-7 reached out to El Paso City spokesperson Laura Cruz-Acosta by email on December 14 to check the status of the grievance. In her email response, she said there is no update because the city council has not taken any public action on the complaint.  

"Until the Council takes action there are no next steps that would be discussed publicly on this executive session item," Cruz-Acosta said in her email response to KVIA. 

Structural changes

During the turbulent time described in the lawsuit, both before and after Calderon issued his final audit report on May 11, several major changes took place at city hall.

• Voters approved a change to the city’s charter that effectively changed the reporting structure for the chief auditor. The position used to report to the city manager and the Financial Oversight and Audit Committee (FOAC) made up of members of council. After May 6, the chief auditor reported to FOAC alone. When asked whether that assuaged fears of intimidation and retaliation as Gonzalez was no longer his supervisor, Calderon told ABC-7 he still feared Gonzalez’s influence.
• Council terminated City Manager Gonzalez’s contract on February 28. Interim City Manager Cary Westin took over duties on June 1.
• After the election, the audit charter was also amended to more clearly delineate the chief internal auditor must report any potential criminal audit findings first to the city manager, city attorney and the FOAC, then the pertinent authorities. The prior version, which would’ve been in effect when Calderon says he was being pressed by Gonzalez and Nieman on why he didn’t inform them sooner, does not prioritize the order of notifications, though it does say the city manager and the FOAC must be notified.

ABC-7 has reached out to all the parties involved in the lawsuit.

Deborah Paz declined to comment.

We will update you as more information becomes available.

To read the lawsuit, click here.

The post City of El Paso’s chief auditor files suit, claims intimidation appeared first on KVIA.

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- Texas’ capital murder trial against accused El Paso Walmart mass shooter Patrick Crusius is inching forward and it doesn’t come without a hefty price-tag for state taxpayers.

Crusius, 25, of Allen, Texas, has already been convicted in federal court of killing 23 people and injuring 22 more inside the Cielo Vista Walmart on August 3, 2019. It’s been described as the deadliest attack on Latinos in modern American history.

Before being sentenced to life in prison in federal court, Crusius admitted he drove 11 hours from his hometown to El Paso with the sole intent of killing immigrants and Mexicans.    

Meanwhile, state prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Crusius.

They have charged him with one count of capital murder involving multiple victims, and 22 counts for aggravated assault. Crusius has pleaded not guilty to the state charges.    

Four years after the shootings and with no trial date set, it’s hard to put a final dollar estimate on how much, overall, it will end up costing Texas taxpayers.    

El Paso Defense Attorney Omar Carmona, who has experience with capital murder cases, told ABC-7 the case is complex, and hard to compare to other criminal cases in the state.    

“Every time we talk about the Walmart case, we have to keep in mind that this is unprecedented in the State of Texas,” Carmona explained.  “There hasn't been a mass shooting at this level that is going to be tried to a jury where the death penalty is on the table. We don't have a blueprint; there's no other case in Texas to compare this to. Bearing that in mind, it is going to be an expensive case, for both sides, the defense, actually three sides, the defense, for the prosecution, and for the court. It’s going to be very costly,” Carmona said.    

ABC-7 obtained records under the Texas Public Information Act showing Patrick Crusius’ case has cost Texas taxpayers close to $2 million, to date.     

The state’s capital murder trial has faced significant delays, including a change of leadership and staff within the El Paso District Attorney’s Office.    

According to financial records obtained by ABC-7, the El Paso District Attorney’s Office has applied for and received two state grants for fiscal years 2022 & 2023 for trial expenses through the Texas governor’s office – totaling almost $4 million in taxpayer money.     

Inspection of public records by KVIA show the El Paso District Attorney’s Office has spent over $738,000 in taxpayer money on trial expenses as of October 2.   

In a follow-up interview with ABC-7, El Paso District Attorney Bill Hicks said his office has set aside $1.2 million for salaries that include 2 trial chiefs, 1 principal attorney, 1 appellate lawyer, 6 data clerks, 2 paralegals, 2 legal secretaries, and 1 investigator. Many of the 15 are behind the scenes.   

Hicks said money is also set aside for expert witnesses, data management systems & software programs, travel for investigators and witnesses, cell phones, desktop computer systems, office supplies, courtroom exhibit preparation, and office furniture.    

Texas Governor Greg Abbott appointed Bill Hicks district attorney for the 34th Judicial District, which includes El Paso, in December 2022 when Yvonne Rosales resigned the month before after facing possible removal for alleged incompetence.    

Hicks told ABC-7 he personally plans to help try the case and is campaigning to keep the seat after the 2024 election.    

“I’m not convinced or satisfied that we’re going to be done with the Walmart case before the end of 2024. If we’re not, I certainly want to see that case through,” Hick said.    

Factor in a possible change of venue, Carmona says that would also increase the cost of the trial because attorneys, witnesses, experts and staff would have to travel.  

District Attorney Bill Hicks told ABC-7 he believes the case will remain in El Paso, and the defense will not ask for a change of venue.  

At this time, the defense has not asked the court to move the trial.   

Taxpayers are also covering funds for the defense since Patrick Crusius told the court he can’t afford one.

In comparison, public records obtained by ABC-7 show the defense has spent $1.2 million in taxpayer money to date.    

Public records show the money is used for, “attorney(s), expert(s), investigator(s), miscellaneous/other.” 

ABC-7 reached out to Patrick Crusius’ lead defense attorney, Joe Spencer, asking if his team has in fact spent $1.2 million in tax dollars, and if he plans to request more money.    
   
We also asked Spencer how many full-time staff he has working on the case, along with job titles, but he said he believes that information can be withheld.    

In a written response to ABC-7, Spencer said: “The members of the defense team are confidential and privileged."  

"We expect the state trial to be set by the Judge when the state has complied with their mandate to turn over ALL discovery, which over 4 years later the State still has not done,” the statement read. “This is the biggest capital murder case in the history of Texas and one of the largest in the nation and it is unprecedented in the turnover of 3 DA administrations and 9 different prosecutors quitting or being removed from this case.  The harm and cost caused by the Rosales administration is a case of first impression and is attributed to the political agenda the prosecutors have on this case at the expense of the victims. This community will not have judicial finality as long as the prosecution does what they think is politically correct as opposed to what is judicially correct.”   

While there is some public data of the state trial’s cost so far, taxpayer expenses in the federal case have not been made available to the public. 

ABC-7 asked Senior U.S. District Judge David C. Guaderrama on July 27, twenty days after Crusius’ sentencing, to release the financial records related to the federal case on behalf of our viewers to see how much the federal trial cost taxpayers.

A law clerk replied saying the court would not disclose information until it got input from the parties, and the case against Patrick Crusius had ended.

Last month, the federal prosecution filed a motion to unseal certain records in the case. Crusius’ defense – led by the same attorneys who are defending him on the state case-- is objecting to the release of the sealed documents, including the financial information ABC-7 is seeking.

As of December 4, Judge Guaderrama has not made a decision.

The post Public records obtained by ABC-7 show the state trial for El Paso Walmart shooter costs Texas taxpayers close to $2 million so far appeared first on KVIA.

Editor’s note: Following the publication of this article, El Paso City Representative Cassandra Hernandez reached out to ABC-7 to say that Deborah Paz’s complaint against Kennedy and Annello has no connection to her or her campaign. Hernandez says Paz took a minimal role in her campaign after being hired by her campaign manager. While ABC-7 has confirmed that Paz’s PAC lists the same address as RallyPoint Public Affairs, where Hernandez’s husband Jeremy Jordan is a managing partner, there are other businesses at the listed address: 522 San Francisco Avenue.

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- The City of El Paso’s Ethics Review Commission will soon review complaints filed against El Paso City representatives Alexsandra Annello and Brian Kennedy related to the taxpayer-funded gasoline cards.

ABC-7 has obtained their official responses and both are seeking to have the complaints dismissed.

Both complaints were filed by El Pasoan Deborah Paz, treasurer for Women’s Voice for Political Reform, according to the Texas Ethics Commission’s online records. City campaign finance records, reviewed by ABC-7, also show Paz was a paid campaign volunteer in the past for City Representative Cassandra Hernandez.

Paz alleges Representative Annello used her gas card “16 times since 2020 while in an active city council meeting(s),” allowing someone else to use her city-issued card.

ABC-7 reached out to Annello for a copy of her response. It says, in part: “These allegations are demonstrably incorrect, such as duplicating the same allegations five times, referring to another official’s use of the fuel card, and claiming Rep. Annello was present at a meeting when the video record of that meeting shows otherwise.”

Annello admits in her response that her husband, on occasion, fueled up her car for her to conduct city business, which she said is not against policy.

Annello further pointed out the city’s review of the gas cards did not determine her usage was excessive like other council members’.

The internal auditor found Rep. Cassandra Hernandez and former Rep. Claudia Rodriguez outspent their peers by far. The city’s Ethics Review Commission found Hernandez abused the gas privilege by using the card to fuel up two vehicles, and allowing her husband Jeremy Jordan to use it.

As for Kennedy, Paz accuses him of participating in, and advancing, the now-closed police investigation that looked into Reps. Hernandez and Rodriguez’s fuel expenditures.

Kennedy provided ABC-7 with a copy of his response where he denies wrongdoing.

The complaint centers around his presence during a meeting on April 6 between Chief Internal Auditor Edmundo Calderon and police detectives. Kennedy says Calderon asked him to witness the meeting as he feared pressure to change the findings of his gasoline audit.

Later that day, Calderon was told by interim El Paso Police Chief Peter Pacillas his department was going to open an investigation into Rep. Hernandez. Kennedy says he was not at the meeting, nor any meetings afterward.

Paz also complained that Kennedy told Calderon during a meeting of the Financial Oversight Advisory Committee in June, “You got a lot of work to do, so get busy. Get to work,” with the intent to press Calderon into pursuing investigations against other members of council.

In his response, Kennedy says, “This was not a direction to do anything but have Mr. Calderon continue to perform his job,” having 13 audits that had finished, were ongoing or about to begin.

Representative Annello is scheduled to go before the Ethics Review Commission at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, August 29.

Representative Kennedy’s complaint will go before the commission in September.

The post El Paso city representatives Kennedy, Annello respond to ethics complaints appeared first on KVIA.

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- The City of El Paso's Chief Internal Auditor Edmundo Calderon said his office has recently completed an additional gasoline card purchase analysis for council members. It includes prior years 2020 and 2021.

But it is unclear if Calderon has shared the report with local law enforcement, or if he plans to provide them a copy.  

Disclosure of the new report came to light at a Financial Audit and Overnight Committee (FOAC) meeting held on Thursday, July 20.   

El Paso City Representative Art Fierro, who is a member of FOAC, questioned Chief Internal Auditor Edmundo Calderon about why the recently completed gasoline card analysis was not on the July 20 agenda.   

Rep. Art Fierro: “Aren’t we pending another audit for the years 2020, and 2021?”  

Chief Internal Auditor Edmundo Calderon: "Yes, sir. Those, uh, have been completed, uh, as you recall I did brief the entire FOAC committee on that."  
 
Rep. Art Fierro interrupted - “But, I didn’t see it on the agenda.”  

Chief Internal Auditor Edmundo Calderon: “Yes, sir, I have not released that report, yet.”  

Rep. Art Fierro: “Oh, okay.”  

Chief Internal Auditor Edmundo Calderon: “We’ve had a limited distribution on that thing; it’s been referred.”  

Rep. Brian Kennedy: “Mr. Gonzalez?”  

Juan Gonzalez with the El Paso City Attorney’s Office: ”If I, if I, could chime in, uh, it was, uh, provided to the FOAC members in your capacity as the FOAC before it was forwarded, um, you know, to other entities, who, you know, maybe, um, undertaking a ongoing investigations so until that, uh, investigations are completed the information will remain limited to the FOAC members and of course, Mr. Calderon.”  

Rep. Art Fierro: "And my question was, just, um, I know we had been briefed, and then I didn't see it on the agenda, and, um, I hadn't gotten a response on what happened or why so thank you for the answer."  
 
In an interview on July 20 with Chief Internal Auditor Edmundo Calderon, ABC-7 asked Calderon about the 2020 and 2021 gasoline card analysis, and what the next steps are.    

Calderon told ABC-7 the reports that have been finalized have been forwarded to the appropriate parties.  

When asked if law enforcement will get copies of the finalized report Calderon said, “At this point in time I'm not at liberty to say."  

The further gasoline card analysis comes after the City of El Paso’s Internal Audit Office completed a gasoline card report for the 2022 calendar year, which included gasoline usage by former and current council members, and the mayor.   

In early May, El Paso City Mayor Oscar Leeser told ABC-7 the 2022 audit found inconsistencies in the usage of taxpayer-funded gasoline credit cards that are provided to city council members for city-related business. 

According to the 2022 audit, two city council members, including former District 6 Representative Claudia Rodriguez and current District 3 Representative Cassandra Hernandez, purchased the most gasoline compared to their peers in 2022.   

The 2022 report was forwarded to the El Paso Police Department. El Paso police investigators said they were unable to find anything criminal in their investigation of the matter.  

ABC-7 reached out to the FBI's El Paso Field Office asking if it is investigating the El Paso Police Department’s handling of the gasoline case, along with current council members’ gasoline usage.   
 
In a May 31 email, FBI Special Agent Jeanette Harper responded with, “Per DOJ Policy, the FBI cannot confirm or deny the existence of FBI investigations.”  

The taxpayer-funded gasoline cards are issued to members of council and the mayor.  The council and mayor were given the cards for city-related business, not personal use.  

Interim El Paso City Manager Cary Westin recently terminated the use of the gas cards by all elected officials, according to El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser.

Leeser said the free gasoline given to city officials ended because of the recent 2022 audit that he says showed inconsistences in gasoline card usage.  

The post El Paso auditor does further analysis of council members’ use of gasoline cards; information being withheld for now   appeared first on KVIA.

Lesley Engle is the content manager for ABC-7, the most watched station in the El Paso area. She has spent the majority of her 19-year career in New England, overseeing the news operations for ABC22 & FOX44, which covers Vermont, New Hampshire and Northern New York.

Engle has covered a wide variety of news and feature stories, including the 3-week manhunt after an infamous prison escape by two convicted killers from an upstate New York high-maximum security prison. That 2015 escape, according to public records obtained by Engle at the time, cost state taxpayers millions in overtime.

Engle has coordinated coverage for countless local, state and national elections during her time as a news manager, including New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation presidential primary several times. She also spent over a decade coordinating coverage for the Vermont Legislature.

Engle was selected as one of 25 journalists nominated across media outlets in six states to participate in the New England First Amendment Coalition Institute freedom of information law and investigative reporting techniques.

Engle has been recognized for her investigative work – that often comes from filing public records requests. She was taught that some of the best stories are often kept in the file cabinets at City Hall.

Engle’s work has helped her stations garner multiple regional Edward R. Murrow Awards, and Emmys.

Engle received a Bachelor of Science in Broadcast Journalism in 2005 from Northern Vermont University- Lyndon.

The post Lesley Engle, content manager appeared first on KVIA.

In a special meeting scheduled for Thursday morning, members of the El Paso City Council will be discussing a newly released audit that revealed two city representatives may have used their taxpayer-funded gas cards to fuel two or more vehicles.  

The meeting comes on the heels of the city's Financial Audit and Oversight Committee (FOAC) meeting held on May 4 when Chief Internal Auditor Edmundo Calderon went over the audit report that included gasoline usage by former and current council members, and the mayor.  

According to the audit, two city council members, including former District 6 Representative Claudia Rodriguez and current District 3 Representative Cassandra Hernandez, purchased the most gasoline compared to their peers in 2022.  

Calderon told members of FOAC he received an anonymous tip in November 2022 from someone who said former El Paso City District 6 Representative Claudia Rodriguez was using her gasoline card for campaign-related purposes. She lost her re-election bid in November.

Hernandez, according to the audit, accounted for 35% of all fuel purchased in 2022. The audit shows Hernandez purchased a little over 1,943 gallons of gasoline costing taxpayers $6,691.

Former District 6 Representative Claudia Rodriguez accounted for over 27% of all fuel purchased among council members and the mayor in 2022, according to the audit. The audit shows she purchased little over 1,458 gallons of gasoline costing taxpayers $5,293.

“Based on the amount of fuel being purchased, and frequency of fuel purchased, on consecutive days in Calendar Year 2022, the data indicates that two or more vehicles are being fueled,” Calderon told FOAC members on May 4 during a review of the audit. “The amount of fuel purchased by District 3 for Calendar Year 2022 appears excessive.” 

Representative Cassandra Hernandez repelled the allegations.

On a statement on May 3 that said, in part, “As your elected representative, I am deeply concerned about recent actions taken by the Financial Oversight and Audit Committee. It has come to my attention that the committee is allegedly utilizing the internal auditor department to attack minority members of city council by cherry-picking gas card expenses.” Of the 8-member council, three are women.

At the May 4 meeting, Chief Internal Auditor Edmundo Calderon confirmed to current FOAC members, including District 1 City Representative Brian Kennedy, District 2 City Rep. Alexsandra Annello, District 6 Rep. Art Fierro and District 4 City Rep. Joe Molinar, the audit was approved in October 2022 by past committee members. 

They included Representative Hernandez herself, plus District 5 Rep. Isabel Salcido, District 7's  Henry Rivera, and former District 8 Rep. Cissy Lizarraga.  

ABC-7 caught up with Representative Hernandez at City Hall on Tuesday, May 9. Hernandez said she has not been afforded the opportunity to look at the report in advance, nor, according to her, has she been given the opportunity to digest what she said the auditor considers to be observations. 

“So, no due process has been afforded to me,” Hernandez told ABC-7 outside City Hall on Tuesday. "But, based on the observations from the internal auditor, he had found that the, what he considers to be excessive, but I want to reiterate  that the police department has conducted an unbiased and thorough Investigaton; they have closed the matter without any findings or violations so we’re very confident and we stand by our record that, you know, all of the expenditures were due to business-related expenses, but I do use my personal vehicles, you know, I just mentioned earlier I do have five children and we spend a lot of our time working very hard, and I take it very seriously the work that we do. I’m a full-time representative, this is all that I do, I don’t have a side business, I don’t do any other work, I dedicate 100% of my time to city council. In fact, I probably work 50 to 60 hours a week, including evenings and weekends,” Hernandez said. 

The police investigation Hernandez is referring to was also discussed at the May 4 FOAC meeting. The internal auditor said police investigated the matter after he had reached out inquiring how his office could obtain gas station surveillance video. According to Calderon, he was told by El Paso police it did not find anything criminal in its investigation of the matter.  

ABC-7 has reached out to the El Paso Police Department twice seeking comment. We have not heard back.

ABC-7 asked Hernandez, "Has anyone in your family or any friends used your gas card, can you say today if just you are the only one?"

"Yes, I can confidently say I'm the only one who uses it, in fact I have thousands of dollars of personal expenses that we used for our family, for fuel expenses, but if the auditor or if council ever gave us an opportunity to present (that) those facts then we’d be happy to share that, but again, they haven’t afforded that opportunity to me," Hernandez answered. 

Former City Representative Claudia Rodriguez released a statement on May 3 saying she was the only person to use her gasoline card. She also said the city does not have a fuel card policy, but it should.  

Hernandez said her family would pay the city $6,700 from personal funds, "an amount that covers a year of authorized gas expenses," she wrote in a statement. "I hope this action effectively resolves any distraction caused by politically motivated attacks."

She also launched a $50 gas card giveaway for ten El Paso residents if they Liked or Followed her official Facebook page. "That's it! We strive to keep the public informed on important city issues. (No City funds used to purchase fuel cards)," read the post.

"Deficient" policies

According to the audit, there were a number of what it called ‘deficiencies’ found in the city’s current commercial fuel card policy. 

“The policy is specific on use of the Commercial Fuel Card by City Employees on City owned vehicles while conducting City Business,” the report stated. “The Policy does not address the use of Commercial Fuel Cards by Members of the City Council. Also, the policy does not provide guidance on the use of the Commercial Fuel Card on Privately Owned Vehicles (POV) used by Members of the City Council.”  

The audit also said the current policy does not require the use of the Department Record of Fuel Purchasing Log. It is only "encouraged." 

The auditor made a recommendation to get rid of the fuel cards, and replace them with a vehicle allowance. 

Gasoline usage was first brought up at an El Paso City Council meeting on April 25. During that meeting, the El Paso City Council approved two items that dealt with council's usage of taxpayer-funded gas cards: 1) it wants to put a spending cap on the now unlimited gasoline cards and 2) directing the city manager to give each representative a monthly report on expenditures, including gasoline card usage. 

City Representative Art Fierro said he placed the items on the agenda because there's no checks and balances system or policies in place to hold council members accountable for the taxpayer funded credit cards. 
ABC-7 has filed a public records request on April 19 with the city on behalf of our viewers under the Texas Public Information Act. Those requested public records included receipts for gas and purchasing cards. 

The city initially sent a letter to ABC-7 saying it would take 32 hours to produce the records and would cost $576. We’ve asked as an alternative to inspect the records. 

To date, we have not heard back.  

The post El Paso City Council discusses “excessive” use of city representatives’ taxpayer-funded gas cards  appeared first on KVIA.

Update: The city of El Paso's Financial Oversight and Audit Committee will meet Thursday, May 4 to discuss the internal audit.

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- El Paso City Mayor Oscar Leeser says an audit found inconsistencies in the usage of taxpayer-funded gasoline credit cards that are provided to city council members for city-related business.

Read our initial article.

In a phone interview with ABC-7, Mayor Leeser said those inconsistencies in usage lead to bumping the findings up to members of the Financial Oversight and Audit Committee (FOAC).

ABC-7 also asked the mayor if any preliminary findings in the audit had risen to the level of a criminal investigation with the El Paso Police Department. Leeser said it's not something he's been briefed on or is aware of at this point.

On Tuesday, the El Paso City Council approved two items that dealt with council's usage of taxpayer-funded gas cards: 1) it wants to put a spending cap on the now unlimited gasoline cards and 2) directing the city manager to give each representative a monthly report on expenditures, including gasoline card usage.

City Representative Art Fierro said he placed the items on the agenda because there’s no checks and balances system or policies in place to hold council members accountable for the taxpayer funded credit cards.

“I had asked for some gas receipts from a previous representative, and they were unable to be produced for over 90 days, and so to me there’s an issue there,” Fierro said. 

Also at the council meeting, El Paso City Chief Financial Officer Robert Cortinas said the Streets & Maintenance Department is currently responsible for overseeing the gasoline cards, which he said includes processing, delivering the cards, and posting the expenses.

"I believe all of the members of council, and I know the FOAC know there's currently an audit going on by the internal auditor and so out of that, whatever comes out about recommendations, we've already started looking internally to see what we could do to make that a little bit easier,” Cortinas told council members.

ABC-7 asked Mayor Leeser if the internal audit includes former and current members of council. He said the audit is for 2022 to date.

Leeser also said during his former term in office, there was a $100 monthly cap on gasoline card usage, however, he said that changed and he wants to know when it changed and why.

The mayor reminded council there are certain state and local laws they have to follow.

Senior Operations manager and interim City Manager Cary Westin reiterated the position.

“It goes back again to your official capacity and if your utilizing funds, public funds for your official capacity," he said.

“It should be commensurate rather with the amount of work and travel you're doing with the funds that you're going to be using for the fuel card so it's not to utilize a fuel card, fill up your tank, use it for personal and use it for business so that's incumbent on anybody that uses that fuel card is to make that estimate based on what your official capacity is going to entail in terms of the use of that card that you're doing the right thing," Westin said.

ABC-7 asked City Representative Brian Kennedy, who is chair of the Financial Oversight and Audit Committee, if there was misuse of the gasoline cards. Kennedy said they will wait to see the final report from the internal auditor, which he says will be May 17.

ABC-7 has filed a public records request with the city on behalf of our viewers under the Texas Public Information Act. Those requested public records included receipts for gas and purchasing cards.

The city initially sent a letter to ABC-7 saying it would take 32 hours to produce the records and would cost $576. We’ve asked as an alternative to inspect the records.

The post ABC-7 Xtra: Audit finds inconsistencies in taxpayer-funded gas cards appeared first on KVIA.

EL PASO, Texas – A judge has issued a criminal arrest warrant for an El Paso businessman accused of deceptive business practices while various lawsuits of similar nature against him lay dormant in civil court.

Mark Hernandez, 43, owner of two now-defunct businesses, American Solar Group, and American Roofing Pros, is accused of breach of contract and forgery, according to court records.

In one civil court case, Hernandez is accused of using a man’s electronic signature, without his permission, to get a $100,000 loan for a work contract.

The criminal case that led to his arrest warrant accuses him of taking $30,000 for a roof replacement project, but only completing 25% of the work.

ABC-7 began looking into Mark Hernandez and his two businesses after two former customers reached out to us in late 2021 with concerns of fraud.

ABC-7 then began several months of digging into court records and conducting interviews. 

We reached out to the El Paso County Attorney’s Office in late December of 2021 to see if it was familiar with Hernandez and his companies. We were told nothing was being prosecuted at the time, but four police reports had been filed in the county.

ABC-7 obtained three of those reports earlier this year from the El Paso Police Department, and one recently from the Horizon City Police Department following requests under the Texas Public Information Act. 

Three criminal cases remain under investigation and one is inactive, according to the county attorney’s office.

After ABC-7 began asking questions about Hernandez and his businesses, the county attorney’s office filed the criminal misdemeanor charge on February 17 that prompted the arrest warrant.

We recently learned from the county attorney’s office it received a fifth case from the El Paso Police Department and it’s currently under review.

ABC-7 looked on the civil side, too. We had the El Paso District Clerk’s Office do a records search to confirm there were nine civil cases filed against Hernandez and his businesses, starting in 2018. Four of them remain active.

The latest lawsuit was filed on January 14, 2022, by Gabriel Garcia, of El Paso.

Garcia, who says he’s a former client of Mark Hernandez, gave us a tour of his property and explained a huge hole in his backyard was meant for a swimming pool. Garcia said it was dug two years ago.

“You know, you can imagine the feelings that go by. I couldn’t sleep for a couple days; well, even to this day I’m like, you know, you see the mess in the backyard and it’s just mind blowing,” Garcia said to ABC-7 in an interview.

Garcia’s lawsuit accuses Hernandez of violating the Deceptive Trade Practices Act, and breach of contract.

The lawsuit maintains Garcia entered into an agreement in June 2020 with Hernandez and his company, American Roofing Pros, for a new roof, costing roughly $40,000.

After signing the original roofing contract, the lawsuit accuses Hernandez, along with his wife and a financial group, of persuading Garcia to sign a new contract for a roof, solar panels and a swimming pool to the tune of $100,000.

Garcia says he never got a chance to look at the new contract, and that Hernandez used his electronic signature on the loan without his consent.

Garcia told ABC-7 he has to pay back that loan even though the project remains unfinished, and his life has changed.

“It’s been two years since I had the grandkids over to play in the backyard. I had beautiful sprinkler grass back there, Bermuda grass and we used to always have barbecues and stuff, but I haven’t been able to do anything of that,” Garcia said.

Garcia’s lawsuit claims four months into the pool work, he received a “notice of violation” from the City of El Paso’s Planning and Inspections Department saying his pool was being constructed without a permit and the hole must be filled. Garcia said it will cost him $10,000 to reverse the damage done to his backyard.

Jaime Gandara, Garcia’s attorney, told ABC-7 his office has been unable to find Hernandez to serve him with the lawsuit.

Efforts to locate Hernandez

ABC-7 has also been unable to reach Mark Hernandez for comment about the latest criminal charge, or lawsuits.

We’ve made attempts to call Hernandez at three separate listed numbers, but no one answered.

Both of Hernandez’s last-known office locations, one off of North Mesa Street, and the other off of George Dieter, are closed. The company’s signage is gone.

We called his wife, Jessica Hernandez, who is listed as a defendant in the Gabriel Garcia lawsuit. She told us she did not want to speak on camera about the lawsuits, but said in a phone call that she had no idea what was going on with the businesses, and is in the process of divorcing her husband. ABC-7 confirmed through court records Jessica Hernandez did file for divorce in March.

ABC-7 wants to be transparent about this story. ABC-7’s parent company, News-Press and Gazette, sued Mark Hernandez for $68,000 in unpaid advertisement fees in 2021, and prevailed. Our newsroom was not aware of this lawsuit before we started our investigation and only learned when we were searching the county’s civil case website. 

ABC-7 also reached out to Hernandez’s listed attorney, Michael Nevarez. He never returned our multiple phone calls or emails.  We even went to his office twice, but never got past a secretary. The secretary told us Nevarez does not see people without an appointment so we tried to schedule one. She then told us Mr. Nevarez said he would not being doing any interviews about his client, Mark Hernandez.

It started with a roofing job

Jorge Ybarra, of Horizon, has also accused Mark Hernandez of deceptive business practices. ABC-7 sat down with him as part of this ongoing investigation back in February.  His wife Debra, and their attorney, Brian Kennedy, were present for the interview.

The Ybarra’s say they met with Hernandez and his sales representatives last August and they signed a contract for roof replacement and solar panel installation that would cost roughly $38,000.

Ybarra says he was skeptical because workers never actually went on the roof of his home to survey it.

“They never came out to inspect it. They did everything via Google Earth. They took photos via Google Earth,” Garcia explained.

When the time came to start the job, Ybarra said the workers discovered a problem. He said more construction materials were needed and Hernandez asked for $27,000 more.

Not in agreement with the new price tag, Ybarra said Hernandez dropped the price and a second contract was drawn up for an additional $17,000. Ybarra said the loan never got approved by the bank.

Ybarra says no work has been done since, and the roof remains unfinished. Ybarra said the solar panels were installed, but never connected.

Ybarra tells ABC-7 the bank paid the initial $38,000 loan directly to Hernandez.

With the money in the hand of the contractor, Ybarra said he could never get ahold of Hernandez about finishing the job.

“He won’t return phone calls. He won’t return anything to the bank as well,” Ybarra said.

Despite the unfinished project, Ybarra said he continues to make the $139 monthly loan payment, and a materials company has placed a lien on his home because Hernandez never paid the company for the products used for the job.

In addition to filing a police report, the Ybarra’s plan to sue Mark Hernandez for damages, however, their attorney, Brian Kennedy, says his office has yet to find Hernandez to serve him with the lawsuit.

Business status

A search on the Texas Comptroller’s website shows Hernandez’s companies, American Solar, and American Roofing Pros, are no longer active. Spokesman Kevin Lyons told ABC-7 both companies lost their right to transact business in the state back in February because Hernandez did not file his 2021 franchise tax reports, but explained Hernandez can always file at a later date and get a late charge.

According to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) spokeswoman Tela Goodwin Mange, any company in Texas offering to install solar or have solar installed must be a licensed electrical contractor and they have to have a licensed electrician do the work.

Hernandez’s American Solar website has been taken down; however, we took screenshots of his page before it went offline. On his site, it claimed American Solar Group was, at the time, “licensed to install solar panels.”

Mange told ABC-7 she was unable to locate a license for American Solar Group.

Today, the website for American Roofing Pros, LLC is still active.

At this time, the arrest warrant from El Paso County remains active, and ABC-7 has still not been able to get in touch with him.

It’s unclear where he is, and if he’s still conducting business today under some business name. 

Former partner sues

At a virtual civil hearing on May 10, which ABC-7 monitored, Mark Hernandez was present. He’s being sued by a former business partner, Todd Peterson, for breach of contract.

During that hearing, Todd Peterson’s attorney, Brian Kennedy, told El Paso Judge Linda Chew he’s asked Hernandez and his attorney, Michael Nevarez, to turn over documentation since last year. Kennedy said because nothing has been sent to him he filed a motion to compel in March. The judge did grant that motion and she gave Hernandez and his attorney until June 1 at 5 p.m. to turn over all the documents Kennedy has requested on behalf of his client.

Hernandez remained silent at the hearing, but when asked by Judge Chew if he understood what was discussed he said yes.

Hernandez’s attorney, Michael Nevarez, told the judge he had not been able to get in touch with this client.

“I’ve advised Mr. Hernandez that if (if) he doesn’t cooperate in helping me fashion his sworn answers to the interrogatories that I’d have to file a motion to withdraw,” Nevarez told the judge at the May 10 virtual hearing.

A bench trial is set for this case on October 5.

Resources for clients

ABC-7 reached out to the FBI and the Texas Attorney General’s Office for comment about Mark Hernandez and his businesses.

Both said they can neither confirm nor deny investigations, but both offices said people should contact them if they feel they are a victim of fraud.

You can call the FBI’s tip line at 1-800-CALL-FBI.

To file a complaint with the Texas Attorney General’s Office, which enforces the Deceptive Trade Practices Act, click here.

To reach the El Paso County Attorney’s Office, Deceptive Business Practices division, call 915-546-2050 or click here.

The post ABC-7 Investigates: Construction, solar company accused of fraud; owner wanted appeared first on KVIA.

EL PASO, Texas – Drivers in El Paso are paying the most on average in the state for a regular gallon of unleaded gas, according to AAA Texas Weekend Gas Watch.

The average gas price in Texas is $3.21, but here in El Paso, the average sits at $3.43, which is down from two weeks ago when the average price was $3.51, according to AAA Texas.

AAA Texas says Amarillo currently has the cheapest gas at $3.06 per gallon.

AAA Texas says the conflict between Russia and Ukraine have future oil prices soaring to around $100 a barrel – the highest since 2014.

"For the first time in six weeks, the statewide gas price average for Texas did not increase week-to-week. However, Texans are paying 35% more for gas than this time last year and the highest retail gas prices across the Lone Star State in more than seven years," AAA stated in a news release.

The national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded is $3.54.

Source: http://tx-aaa.iprsoftware.com/news/aaa-texas-crude-oil-hits-100-per-barrel-gas-prices-35-higher-than-one-year-ago

The post AAA Texas: Drivers in El Paso paying most in state for gas appeared first on KVIA.

According to the Otero County Sheriff’s Office, Izrael Martinez was found and is safe.

No further details were provided.

++++++

CHAPARRAL, New Mexico- An Amber Alert has been issued for a 4-year-old boy who authorities say was abducted by his non-custodial mother.  

According to the Otero County Sheriff’s Office, Izrael Martinez was taken by Renee Garcia, 40. The child was last seen at the Dinosaurs Home Daycare located at 336 Ralph Street at 12:20 p.m. Tuesday.

Investigators say it’s unclear where they are headed.

Investigators say they are believed to be driving a white, unknown make and model, four-door work truck, with a headache rack, and red and black company lettering on the side. Authorities say the truck has an unknown black and yellow license plate.

Izrael Martinez was last seen wearing a blue shirt, blue jeans and orange sneakers.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Otero County Sheriff’s Office at 575-437-2210.

The post UPDATE: Amber Alert cancelled for 4-year-old boy taken from daycare in Chaparral appeared first on KVIA.

Update: Las Cruces Police on Wednesday identified 26-year-old Tyler Williams as the shooter who allegedly killed a man at an apartment complex Tuesday.

Investigators said Williams fatally shot Carlos Ruiz, 30. They did not reveal a motive.

Williams is described as approximately 6-feet-tall and 150-pounds with a thin build. Police say he was last seen leaving the crime scene in an older model two-tone Ford Explorer with New Mexico license plate BACK70.

Police said Williams is "armed and dangerous" and said the public should not approach him or his vehicle. They said instead, to call 911 immediately.

They ask witnesses or anyone with information on this crime to call Las Cruces Police at (575) 526-0795.

Original story:

LAS CRUCES, New Mexico- Police say a man in his early 30s was shot and killed at an apartment complex in Las Cruces Tuesday afternoon.

The Las Cruces Police Department responded to the shooting near the 200 block of Desert Rose Court at around 12 p.m.

KVIA has a crew at the scene who says police have taped off a cul-de-sac area to allow investigators to work.

A woman, who appeared to be in shock, could be seen walking away from the area with blood on her arm.

Police told ABC-7 there is a person of interest, however, no one is in custody.

No names have been released.

Investigators say there is no threat to the community.

The post ‘Armed and Dangerous:’ Police identify suspect in Las Cruces deadly shooting appeared first on KVIA.

EL PASO, Texas -- El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser and County Judge Ricardo Samaniego held a joint briefing Monday afternoon to acknowledge that the community had reached a major milestone in its efforts to end the Covid-19 pandemic.

Emergency Management Coordinator Jorge Rodriguez told Commissioners Court earlier in the day that El Paso County had reached herd immunity because 75% of residents are now fully-vaccinated.

RELATED STORY: 4 fully-vaccinated El Pasoans among 8 new Covid deaths; 5 more Delta variant cases

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, herd immunity means that enough people have immunity either from the vaccination or from a past infection, meaning it makes it harder for the virus to jump from person to person, helping protect those who are still vulnerable to catch it.

“We have reached the 75.15% fully vaccinated so that is, in terms of herd immunity, that’s something that we’ve been working on as a community,” said Rodriguez. "We want to thank everyone; you know to include the Commissioners Court, City Council, our partners with UMC, the Health Department, the Fire Department, our great Office of Emergency Management, and everyone else that has made this possible."

The news comes as the leaders said new Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations are on the decline in the area.

“We are, absolutely, the first city in Texas to receive this level of vaccines within the community and as you all recall we were way ahead of the federal goals that they were trying to reach for July 4 so we were way ahead of those, six-weeks prior, so we are very happy to communicate that to the court, but also to the rest of the community," Rodriguez said.

ABC-7 reached out to the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) about herd immunity, and what the standard is for reaching it.

DSHS spokesperson Chris Van Deusen said there isn’t enough scientific data yet to really determine the level of vaccination necessary for herd immunity.

“The estimates have been 70-85%, but with the Delta variant being so contagious, the threshold might be even higher than that,” Van Deusen said by e-mail Monday.  

El Paso City/County Health Authority Dr. Hector Ocaranza also briefed commissioners earlier Monday. He attributed the decline in Covid-19 cases to preventative measures happening within the community, including wearing masks in combination with hand washing and people staying home when sick.

The post El Paso leaders say Covid herd immunity milestone is reached appeared first on KVIA.

EL PASO, Texas -- City Manager Tommy Gonzalez says Covid-19 cases in El Paso are on the decline.

At Monday’s City Council meeting, Gonzalez briefed city representatives saying new Covid-19 cases fell by over 35% since the end of August.

This is welcoming news as health officials said cases started to trend upward in July—prompting City/County Health Authority Dr. Hector Ocaranza to issue an indoor mask mandate for El Paso.

Hospitalizations also slowed down, according to Gonzalez- who said there are currently between 117 to 127 people hospitalized with the deadly virus.

“We continue to watch the hospital capacity, noting that Covid-19 patients comprise of just over 6% of the total trauma service area,” said Gonzalez. “With respect to the characteristics of those hospitalized, only about 10% of the new cases require hospitalization, and of those, 10 to 15% are breakthrough cases.”

Gonzalez said the majority of hospitalizations are adults over the age of 45, noting the age group also makes up the largest share of breakthrough hospitalizations in El Paso. Breakthrough cases involve Covid infections found in persons who have been fully vaccinated.

Cases amongst school-aged children also dropped in the past two weeks by over 40%, according to Gonzalez. He said the vaccination rate continues to increase in the age group 12 to 15 –noting 69% in that age group are fully vaccinated, while 91% are partially vaccinated.

In El Paso, Gonzalez said 74% of people 12 and older are fully vaccinated, and 87% have received just one-dose.

“We’re 1% away from herd immunity; I’m thinking that number is probably going to change from the CDC," said Gonzalez. "I know there’s a push to have even more people vaccinated so just be ready for that in terms of that change that might be coming down. We’ve stayed ahead of all these different factors by really being aggressive. I think the indoor mask mandate has been helpful in terms of slowing down the spread here locally for us.”

Experts say herd immunity occurs when a large enough portion of the community becomes vaccinated, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely.

The post Covid-19 cases on decline as El Paso nears herd immunity appeared first on KVIA.

LAS CRUCES, New Mexico -- The voter information below was compiled by ABC-7 using information from the Dona Ana County website, and the New Mexico Secretary of State’s website.

Important Dates:

• October 6- Absentee voting begins, and voter registration closes online or by mail. However, a qualified elector may register to vote or update an existing certification of registration in person at the county clerk’s office, or designated alternative voting locations, immediately prior to voting through October 31.
• October 6- Early voting begins at the Dona Ana County Government Center.
• October 17- Early voting begins at alternate voting locations.
• October 20- Deadline to apply for an absentee ballot.
• October 27- The deadline for a UOCAVA (Federal/Overseas) absentee applications to be returned.
• October 31- Early voting ends.
• November 3- Day of the General Election.

How do I register to vote?

• If you have a current or expired New Mexico state I.D. or driver’s license, you can register or update your current registration by clicking here.
• You can use a paper application (English/Spanish) and mail it to your County Clerk’s Office.
• You can request a copy of the paper application be mailed to you by contacting your County Clerk’s Office.

Am I registered to vote?

• To confirm your voter registration status, click here.

Am I eligible to vote?

• You must be a resident of New Mexico and a citizen of the United States.
• A person who has not been denied the right to vote by a court of law due to reason of mental incapacity.
• Not a convicted felon or a felon who has completed all of the terms and conditions of sentencing.
• 18 years or older at the time of the next election.

Do I need an ID when I vote?

• A physical form of identification is only required for first-time New Mexico voters who registered by mail and did not include identification with their voter registration application form. Otherwise, you will be asked to provide a verbal or written statement of identification, including your name, year of birth and registered address.

Who is eligible to vote early?

• Any registered voter may vote early by personal appearance (in person).

Where can I vote early?

• Click here for early voting hours and locations.  

Ballot by mail—who qualifies?

• An absentee ballot may be cast by any eligible voter in New Mexico.
• All absentee ballot applications must be received no later than the Thursday immediately prior to the date of the election.
• Click here to view the absentee voter application.  

When do I have to return my ballot?

• All ballots must be returned in the provided envelopes by 7 p.m. on Election Day.

What will it cost to mail my ballot?

• Return postage is prepaid.

If I am unable to mail my absentee ballot, who is allowed to drop it off and where?

• Pursuant to NMSA 1978, Section 1-6-10.1, a voter, caregiver to that voter or member of that voter’s “immediate family” defined as a person’s spouse, children, parents, brothers and sisters may deliver a voter’s absentee ballot to the county clerk in person or by mail.

Where do I vote on November 3?

• Click here for a list of November 3 voting locations.
• These sites will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Election Day.

Other useful information:

• What if I need help with voting?
• What kind of ballots and voting systems are used in New Mexico?
• Provisional voting
• Military voter information

The post Voting in Las Cruces during the pandemic: Everything you need to know about the 2020 general election appeared first on KVIA.

EL PASO, Texas -- El Paso voters will soon head to the polls — from Oct. 13 to Oct. 30 for early voting and on Election Day, Nov. 3 — for the 2020 general election. Here’s an overview of everything El Pasoans need to know about casting a ballot in the election.

The information below was compiled by ABC-7 using resources from the Texas Secretary of State and the El Paso County Elections Department.

Important dates to remember!

• October 5 – Last day to register to vote
• October 13 - First day of early voting in person
• October 23 - Last day to apply for a ballot by mail
• October 30 - Last day of early voting
• November 3 - Election day

How do I register to vote?

• The El Paso County Elections Department has an application online that you can print out. You can find that information by clicking here.
• If you don’t have internet the department can send you one. Just call 915-546-2154 for help.
• Request a postage-paid voter registration form from the Texas Secretary of State.
• Fill out an online voter registration application on the Texas Secretary of State’s website.

Am I registered to vote?

• To confirm your voter registration status, click here. 

Am I eligible to vote?

• You must be a United States citizen.
• You are a resident of the county where you submit the application.
• You are at least 17 years and 10 months old, and you are 18 years of age on Election Day.
• You are not a convicted felon (you may be eligible to vote if you have completed your sentence, probation and parole); and you have not been declared by a court exercising probate jurisdiction to be either totally mentally incapacitated or partially mentally incapacitated without the right to vote.

Do I need an ID when I vote?

The short answer is yes!

The following is a list of acceptable photo IDs at the polling place:

• Texas Driver License issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS).
• Texas Election Identification Certificate issued by DPS.
• Texas Handgun License issued by DPS.
• United State Military Identification Card containing the person’s photograph.
• United States Citizenship Certificate containing a person’s photographer.
• United States Passport (book or card).

What if I don’t have any of the acceptable forms of ID?

• If you do not have any of the acceptable forms of ID listed above, click here for information about what you can do.

Who is eligible to vote early?

• Any registered voter may vote early by personal appearance (in person).

Where can I vote early?

• Again, early voting begins on October 13, 2020 and ends on October 30, 2020.
• Click here for early voting locations in El Paso County.
• *NEW* -Express curbside voting, also known as drive-thru voting, will be available at these seven locations: Arlington Park, Bassett Place, El Paso County Coliseum, Marty Robbins Recreation Center, Officer David Ortiz Recreation Center, Oz Glaze Senior Center, Sunland Park Mall. The El Paso County Elections Department says it will have extra workers, outside, ready to process voters as they come.

What if I can’t make it to early voting on the dates and times listed above?

• Saturday and Sunday early voting will be available both weekends from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m.
• *NEW* -During the last week of early voting, which is October 26 thru October 30, the following 10 locations will be open until 10 p.m.
  Arlington Park Shelter, Bassett Place, El Paso County Coliseum, El Paso County Eastside Annex, El Paso County Northwest Annex, Marty Robbins Recreation Center, Officer David Ortiz Recreation Center, Oz Glaze Senior Center, Pebble Hills High School, Sunland Park Mall.

Ballot by mail –who qualifies?

• You are eligible to vote early by mail in Texas if you are a registered voter who is:
• 65 years of age of older (Texas Election Code 82.003).
• Out of the country on Election Day and during the period of early voting by personal appearance (must provide out of county address) (Texas Election Code 82.001).
• Sick or disabled (Texas Election code 82.002).
• Confined in jail, but eligible to vote (Texas Election Code 82.004).

If voting by mail, when will I receive my ballot?

• According to the El Paso County Elections Department, ballots will be mailed beginning September 25, 2020. You should receive your ballot within 7 days of requesting it.

When do I have to return my ballot?

• The El Paso County Elections Department says to return your ballot as soon as possible! The department says the United States Post Office is anticipating a 7-10 day mailing period for ballots. Your ballot must be returned to the El Paso County Elections Department by 7 p.m. on November 3, 2020. If a ballot has a readable postmark prior to 7 p.m. on Election Day, the office said it will accept the ballot if received by close of business day on the day after Election Day.

What will it cost to mail my ballot?

• The El Paso County Elections Department recommends at least $.70 postage for the returned ballot. The City of Socorro ballot postage is $1.40.

What if I don’t have postage and would rather drop-off the ballot?

• Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued a proclamation allowing for El Paso County voters to drop off their own ballot at the El Paso County Courthouse. The voter is required to produce one of the seven acceptable forms of ID or supplemental document when dropping off the ballot. The voter also needs to return the ballot in the carrier envelope provided by their ballot by mail.

Where can I drop off the ballot?

• *NEW* - El Paso County now has a ‘drop spot’ at the El Paso County Courthouse, which is located at:  500 E. San Antonio St., First Floor, Eastside off of Campbell. The El Paso County Elections Department says there will be plenty of signage and a couple parking spots reserved for people. The Elections Department says you can go in, drop off your ballot, sign a roster, produce an ID and be on your way! Please note: you can’t drop off ballots for other people! 

How can I verify that my ballot has been received by the El Paso County Election’s Office?

• Beginning September 28, 2020, the El Paso County Elections Department says you can call its office at 915-834-8222 to confirm it has received your ballot.

What if I change my mind and want to vote in person after I request my ballot?

• If you decide you want to vote in person, you must bring the ballot to the polling place, and surrender it. If you no longer have the ballot, you will be required to vote a provisional ballot.

Where do I vote on November 3?

• *NEW* - El Paso County was picked to take part in the Vote Center Program. What does that mean? You can now vote at ANY of the Vote Center locations on Election Day! There are 150 locations to choose from!
• All Vote Centers will be open form 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
• For a Vote Center near you, click here.
• Express Curbside, also known as drive-thru voting, will be available at the same sites as early voting.

Important Covid-19 safety precautions at the polls and what you need to know!

• Social distancing: Poll workers will be maintaining a six-foot separation from each voter when possible. Poll workers will also mark each location with six-foot markings for voters to follow.
• Face masks: You are encouraged to wear one and bring your own if possible. However, a limited number of disposable masks will be available on site. Each poll worker will be provided with a disposable mask as well as a disinfected face shield.
• *NEW* - The El Paso County Elections Department says each voter will get a Vote Safe El Paso kit, which will contain hand wipes, a disposable marking utensil, a finger cot, and an “I Voted Sticker.”
• Each polling site will have hand sanitizer, however, the elections department is asking voters to use the hand wipes before voting because the sanitizer can dampen the ballots.  
• *NEW* - A ‘clean team’ at every polling location! Its sole responsibility will be sanitizing the polling sites throughout the day, after each voter passes through!

Is straight ticket voting available?

• This is NO longer available. Voters must mark each race separately. Voters will be allowed to pre-mark a sample ballot and take it to the polling site.

What other voting information is available?

• Click here for military & overseas voting information.
• Click here for services available to voters with disabilities in Texas.
• Click here for all other FAQs.

The post Voting in El Paso during the pandemic: Everything you need to know about the 2020 general election appeared first on KVIA.

EL PASO, Texas -- While the Texas Attorney General has stated statistics about the deadly Covid-19 pandemic in taxpayer facilities are public records, the City of El Paso is still holding out for more guidance.   

The Office of Attorney General Ken Paxton ruled July 6 that the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, or HHSC, should disclose most of its data on Covid-19 nursing homes to the public.

“The attorney general ruling agreed with most of these transparency arguments and only allowed certain information that is ‘highly intimate or embarrassing’ and ‘not of legitimate concern to the public’ to be withheld under common law privacy,” the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas (FOIFT) said in news release.

The Texas Health and Human Services Commission sought an opinion from the state's attorney general after it received several public records requests, including one from the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas (FOIFT), to release specific information about which nursing homes have outbreaks of Covid-19. Many other states, including New Mexico, make statistics available to their residents.  

Numerous ABC-7 viewers have reached out to express frustration by the lack of information they have to make informed decisions on whether to remove a loved one from a facility or transfer them to another since there has been little if any public information on the severity of infections within those facilities.  

In a May letter to Gen. Paxton, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission said, in part: “The Commission has been releasing aggregate statewide numbers, but the requesters generally seek facility specific Covid-19 infection numbers. The commission believes it lacks authority under state law to release the requested information.”

This week, based on the AG ruling, HHSC published the statewide data on its website—it even shows El Paso nursing home data. 

In light of this recent ruling, ABC-7 reached out to city spokeswoman Laura Cruz-Acosta asking if the City of El Paso would follow suit and release its own set of nursing home data to city taxpayers. 

Cruz-Acosta sent a statement to ABC-7 that read:

“The Health & Human Services Commission (HHSC) sought a ruling from the Attorney General (AG) regarding information related to Covid-19 cases in nursing homes, assisted living facilities under the Public Information Act. In HHSC’s letter to the AG, they relied on confidentiality provisions under state law, applicable to the HHSC. The AG determined that HHSC was incorrect in withholding information because the information was not confidential under Section 552 of the Government Code or the cited sections of the Health & Safety Code. The City in its letter to the AG did not rely on the same laws as HHSC. Instead, the City relies on the confidentiality provisions of Chapter 81 of the Health & Safety Code which are specific to a Local Health Authority. The City is still awaiting a response from the Attorney General in regards to its specific requests. As stated in the Attorney General’s letter, the HHSC letter ruling is limited to the particular information put forth by HHSC, and “must not be relied upon as a previous determination regarding any other information or any other circumstances.”” 

“The city is right and wrong,” said Joe Larsen, a Houston-based Freedom of Information attorney. 

In a phone interview with ABC-7, Larsen, who is also a member of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas, said while the provisions are different the underlying arguments are essentially the same.

“It comes down to the same thing; the Attorney General said if you de-identify the information you can release it. If the city can de-identify it under the strength of that ruling they can release it,” Larsen said Wednesday evening. 

ABC-7 has only asked for cases and deaths by numbers. KVIA has never asked for names of patients; only the location of where Covid-19 cases are located.

In May, ABC-7 filed a public records request under the Texas Public Information Act on behalf of our viewers with the El Paso Department of Public Health. The request included any reports or records that show which nursing homes or assisted living facilities have had (or have) cases of Covid-19. We also asked for records that show how many people have recovered or died.

El Paso City officials believe information can be withheld under the Texas Health and Safety Code, Chapter 81, under section 81.046.

In a June 5 letter to the Texas Attorney General, Assistant City Attorney Roberta Brito wrote, in part: “The City has made a reasonable determination not to release the medical and epidemiological information that Requester seeks; therefore the information must be withheld. Further, even if the City determined that release of information for statistical purposes would serve the purposes of Chapter 81, the City has determined that the information cannot be released in a manner that unequivocally prevents identification of any person as required by section 81.046 (c ) (1) and, therefore, must be withheld.” 

ABC-7 has sent a letter to the Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton asking that the information be released.

El Paso officials have never told the public any information about which nursing homes have cases of Covid-19, including deaths, since the pandemic began.

The city has released a "clusters report" on the website EPStrong.org showing the categories where the clusters are located.

As of July 27, elderly care facilities was the category with the highest number of infections and deaths by residents and staff. Other categories that followed were "correctional and detention facilities," "health care facilities," "general businesses" and "government" among others.

City officials have, however, said facilities can share information with the public on their own and El Paso City Mayor Dee Margo has urged them to do so.

ABC-7 reached out to the state Attorney General’s Office to see whether the City of El Paso could or should release the names of nursing homes and assisted living facilities with Covid-19 outbreaks and deaths given the recent ruling related to HHSC. 

KVIA has not heard back. 

The post Federal gov’t, state of Texas release detailed nursing home virus data – but city of El Paso holds out appeared first on KVIA.

Editor’s note: Following an update from CMS on June 23, 2020–a nursing home that was showing 11 patient deaths in El Paso, as of May 31, pertained to deaths other than COVID-19. CMS says the data in column Q of the nursing home data (Residents Total All Deaths) is NOT related to COVID-19.  Also, this article includes a correction in the number of reported COVID-19-related deaths, based on CMS data, at Mountain View Health and Rehabilitation.

EL PASO, Texas -- While the State of Texas refuses to tell taxpayers the names of which nursing homes have positive COVID-19 cases—the federal government is naming names.

And the two sites aren’t even close on the numbers of COVID-19 cases and deaths in Texas.

Accurate information about both COVID-19 deaths and cases at each Texas nursing home is critical to families with members living in these facilities, or for families considering placing a relative in a local nursing home, according to transparency advocates.

According to the first set of data released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), over 95,500 residents in nursing homes, nationally, have tested positive for COVID-19, and 31,782 have died from it.

As of Wednesday morning, Texas Health and Human Services says 802 nursing home residents have died from COVID-19 in the state. However, CMS says its data shows just 321 deaths—a deficit of 481.

CMS, which regulates and oversees the nation’s nursing homes receiving Medicare and Medicaid funding, announced in April it would require nursing homes to report cases of COVID-19 to all residents and their families, as well as directly to the CDC.

In turn—CMS said it would publish that information on its site for the public to see.

CMS, however, is acknowledging some problems with its data.

“As with any new reporting program, some facilities will struggle with their first submissions, and therefore, some of the data from their early submissions may be inaccurate. Since facilities may correct data in future weeks, the data is subject to fluctuations as data for previously reported weeks may change when the website is updated,” CMS said.

CMS says the data submitted to the CDC was for the last two weeks of May; however, some of the data could include numbers as far back as January 1.

ABC-7 looked at three nursing homes in the El Paso area that showed markedly higher number of deaths and positive cases of COVID-19 compared to the other facilities. Not everyone in the El Paso area, however, reported to the CDC, according to the CMS data. It says those facilities could face fines.

In the first case, ABC-7 looked at Ambrosio Guillen Texas State Veterans Home in El Paso.

ABC-7 has previously reported the Ambrosio Guillen Texas State Veterans Home had a dozen residents die from COVID-19, and several others had tested positive for the deadly virus.

The CMS data, however, shows zero deaths and 14 positive cases amongst the patients at the facility on Kenworthy Street that has 160 beds.

When reached by email, Karina Erickson, communications director for the Texas General Land Office, which oversees the facility, says she wasn’t sure where CMS got its numbers for the Ambrosio Guillen Texas State Veterans Home. “If that's what they (CMS) are reporting, then they are definitely incorrect,” Erickson said in an email to ABC-7.

Erickson says as of June 15, the Ambrosio Guillen Texas State Veterans Home had 34 residents test positive for COVID-19, and 12 residents die from the virus. Additionally, she said 19 residents have recovered from the deadly disease.

In the second case, ABC-7 looked at Mountain View Health and Rehabilitation in central El Paso.

According to CMS data, Mountain View Health and Rehabilitation reported two resident deaths. It also reported 91 patients tested positive for COVID-19, and 35 employees contracted it, according to CMS.

ABC-7 reached out to Creative Solutions in Healthcare, which operates the facility, about the CMS data.

Leila Jones, director of social media at Creative Solutions in HealthCare, said, in part: “Mountain View values its residents' safety above all else. Our policy has been, and continues to be, to follow the most stringent guidelines in place.”

Jones also said the facility reports any positive cases to regulatory agencies, including CMS.

Again, the state of Texas won’t confirm the number published by the federal agency, or offer its own numbers.

The CMS website shows a third cluster at a nursing home in northeast El Paso, but even the agency's own site shows conflicting information.

The nursing home, which ABC-7 is not naming because of those discrepancies in the data, is shown as reporting 11 patient deaths as of May 31 on one part of the CMS website, while showing zero patient deaths on another part of the same site.

When ABC-7 reached out to the facility for an explanation, the licensed nursing home administrator texted back, “Greetings. We do not speak with the media." The nursing home's website says the facility "remains with no suspected or confirmed cases."

ABC-7 reached Chris Van Deusen, spokesperson for Texas’ health department, for further clarification on the numbers. He said: “We report case and death information for communicable diseases at the county level. We don't report at the heath care facility level in order to protect the privacy and confidentiality of individuals, as required by law.”

With questions about the federal data and no answers from the state, ABC-7 turned to the local health authorities.

Prior to the release of the CMS data, ABC-7 filed a public records request under the Texas Public Information Act on behalf of our viewers with the El Paso Department of Public Health. The request included any reports or records that show which nursing homes or assisted living facilities have had (or have) cases of COVID-19. We also asked for records that show how many people have recovered or died. We did not ask for patient names—only statistics.

El Paso officials have never released any information about which nursing homes have cases of COVID-19, including deaths, since the pandemic began. They often cite a health department policy, however, when ABC-7 filed a public records request to obtain that policy the city responded by saying there were no such records.

During news conferences, city officials only refer to nursing homes as “health care facilities” while describing outbreaks inside. The city has refused to publicly connect any infections at the Ambrosio Guillen Texas State Home for Veterans, for example, despite the government facility’s own acknowledgement of its death toll and infections.

City spokeswoman Laura Cruz-Acosta confirmed no written policy exists in the city as previously said, but passed along an email from “staff” saying, in part, it believed, “Information concerning communicable diseases such as COVID-19 are confidential under the Texas Health and Safety Code, Chapter 81,” under section 81.046.

Joe Larsen, a Houston-based freedom of information attorney, told ABC-7 there’s no reason for the state to withhold statistical information about COVID-19 from the public, especially if the state is not releasing personal information about an individual.

Larsen says El Paso and other governmental agencies appear to be relying on this state statute, but he noted: “There’s a specific provision of that statute that allows the information to be released as long as you don’t have the name.”

ABC-7 has only asked for cases and deaths by number. We have never asked for names of patients; only the location of where COVID-19 cases are located.

“It’s for statistical purposes; all you do is de-identify it. So what’s the argument as long as you can release it without releasing somebody’s name? The argument should be the burden is on El Paso as to why they should be able to withhold it, and I haven’t heard a very good argument from them," Larsen said.

Larsen, who is also a board member of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas, says similar arguments have gone all the way up to the Texas Court of Appeals and the information was required to be released.

Larsen said the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas sent a letter April 28 to the state Health and Human Services Commission demanding the state release to the public the names of nursing homes with reported COVID-19 cases.

He said the commission responded by saying it believes it needed to treat the letter like a public records request under the Texas Public Records Act.

Instead of responding with the information, Larsen said the Texas Health and Human Services Commission said it is seeking an opinion from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

“This is a public health emergency and the more information the public has the better they’re going to be able to deal with this public health emergency. It’s a matter of life and death, really,” Larsen said.

Larsen couldn’t speculate as to what Attorney General Ken Paxton would rule, but said it might be necessary to go all the way to the courthouse with this.

ABC-7 reached out to Attorney General Paxton and the Texas Health and Human Services Commission for comment.

Kelli Weldon, a spokesperson for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, responded via email with the following statement:

“We are working to release as much information as we are legally permitted to share publicly, in compliance with state and federal law. As part of this process, HHSC requested a ruling from the Texas Attorney General’s Office related to media requests for data on confirmed COVID-19 cases in HHSC-regulated facilities, identified by facility.”

ABC-7 has not heard back from the Attorney General.

CMS is set to release a new batch of nursing home data on Thursday, June 17.

You can access that data and specific nursing home information here.

This article was updated on June 23, 2020, to include a correction in the number of reported COVID-19-related deaths, based on CMS data, at Mountain View Health and Rehabilitation.

The post El Paso, Texas withhold Covid-19 nursing home stats; Federal data is public, but unreliable appeared first on KVIA.

EL PASO, Texas -- If Texas residents want to know more details about the El Paso mass shooting that left 22 dead and more than two dozen wounded or injured four months ago, the state attorney general says tough luck.

While Texas law gives officials the discretion to release as much information as possible about crimes, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton says only “basic” information must be released to the public about the mass shooting that happened at the Cielo Vista Walmart on Aug. 3 in El Paso.

A leading government transparency lawyer and advocate says based on the law, and without knowing all the specific documents requested, it appears the attorney general complied with the law on the release of documents, but also noting a continuing decline and usefulness in the Texas Public Information Act.

As part of an ongoing ABC-7 investigation, the station filed a number of public records requests with the El Paso Police Department under the Texas Public Information Act on behalf of our viewers. Those requested records included dispatch & radio logs, 911 phone records, police reports, body-camera video and dash-camera video.

In a recent letter to the City of El Paso, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said: “Based upon your representation and our review, we find release of the information at issue would interfere with the detection, investigation, prosecution of crime.” The letter went on to say the law does not exempt basic information.

Texas law says basic information includes information about an arrested person, an arrest or a crime.

Following the shooting, the city released what it said was the “basic” police report, with redaction, meaning parts were blacked out so the public could not read them. The police also provided the signed complaint and arrest record for Patrick Crusius.

The incident report included a brief narrative of what police say happened that day, the location and time of the incident, names of the victims, and charges against the accused shooter Patrick Crusius. The complaint contained more details about the arrest of Crusius, where and how it happened, and what police say his motivation was.

Details of the police department’s emergency response, however, are still unclear.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has said it is investigating the shooting as an act of domestic terrorism and that it might be a possible hate crime. El Paso Police Chief Greg Allen said authorities were examining what he called a “manifesto” they believe was written by Crusius and shows a possible “nexus” to a hate crime.

In early October, El Paso City Attorney Karla Nieman said the department believes it is trying to protect, what she called, “the integrity of the investigation.”

Crusius, 21, of Allen, Texas, has been indicted on a capital murder charge of multiple persons in the death of the 22 people, who ranged in age from 15 to 90. He was arraigned on October 10. He pleaded not guilty. He is currently being held in the El Paso County Detention Facility downtown.

In a phone interview with ABC-7, Joe Larsen, a Houston attorney and board member of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas, said even though it appears the attorney general complied with the law—the office has become, over many years, a captured bureaucracy.

“It’s hard to get good stuff through the legislature now, and I think it’s because the business lobby is ascendant at this point—not the transparency lobby,” said Larsen. “Then on-top of that, over many years, the Attorney General’s Office appears to become a sort of captured bureaucracy—where they don’t really challenge governmental bodies; they basically accept what governmental bodies are telling them and there are some structural issues as to why they have to do that because they can’t determine issues of fact. But they do appear to really role over for governmental bodies, fairly frequently,” Larsen said.

Larsen said as of right now—the Texas Attorney General’s Office gets 29,000 requests for letter rulings each year. In his opinion, he says government agencies take advantage of the procedural delay by going through the Attorney General’s Office for exemptions—getting rulings back with a rubber stamp.

As previously reported by ABC-7, the Texas Department of Public Safety sent ABC-7 five pages of a 28-page report, which was heavily redacted. It did include some limited details already reported, including the names of the officers involved, and the charges against Crusius—details that would also be available to the general public through the court system.

ABC-7 asked Larsen if a trial has ever been overturned in Texas by pretrial publicity. He said to his knowledge, no, but noted that would fall under constitutional law, not the Public Information Act.

“There’s nothing you’re going to learn here that’s not going to be introduced into trial,” Larsen said. “The jury is going to hear the same thing at trial as the public would hear now. The so-called gag orders, where the trial participants are, the judge forbids them from giving interviews with the public and that sort of thing. That’s gone way too far and all the courts do basically say there’s a lot of coverage about this. They don’t give any reason as to why the coverage would be necessarily prejudicial. And they should have to do that,” Larsen said.

An ABC-7 viewer captured cell phone video of Crusius as he surrendered to police on Aug. 3, not too far from the scene at the Cielo Vista Walmart. According to court documents, Crusius was stopped at an intersection off of Viscount Blvd and Sunmount Drive.

Court records show Texas DPS Rangers were responding to the shooting, in unmarked vehicles, when they noticed Crusius' vehicle. “Agents and police officers at the intersection then observed a male person (defendant) to exit out of the vehicle with his hands raised in the air and stated out loud to the agents 'I’m the shooter,'" court documents say.

ABC-7 requested any and all video of this public traffic stop on city streets. DPS responded to our request, saying “it conducted a good faith search for any and all information related to your (our) request and has not been able to locate any responsive records.”

On Monday morning, ABC-7 reached out to the Texas Attorney General’s Office for comment. On Tuesday, Kayleigh Date, a spokesperson for the attorney general, said the office didn’t have anyone available to talk on such short notice.

Date provided ABC-7 with various web links to general information & education about the Texas Public Information Act, but none of those specifically addressed our questions.

The post Texas attorney general denies public access to El Paso mass shooting records appeared first on KVIA.

EL PASO, Texas-- El Paso Police confirmed that a 62-year-old man was shot and killed by police Tuesday morning after he fatally shot a police dog outside a northeast El Paso home.

The man's name was not released by authorities.

Several law enforcement agencies, including the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), were attempting to execute a search warrant and an arrest warrant at a house in the 4500 block of Capricorn Drive.

The search and arrest warrants were related to charges of illegal possession and manufacturing of firearms.

During the execution of the arrest warrant, authorities said the man was confronted in the backyard of the home.

At that time, authorities said the man shot and killed a K9 officer and shot at the agents as well. ATF agents said they returned fire and the suspect was shot and died at the scene.

El Paso police Sgt. Robert Gomez said that two women were in the home when the shooting occurred, but they were not injured.

Police continued to investigate at the scene of the shooting late Tuesday.

The post 62-year-old man shot and killed in northeast El Paso after deadly shooting of police dog appeared first on KVIA.