Judge delays decision on San Juan restraining order

SAN JUAN -- A temporary restraining order against the mayor will remain in place until at least next week, an Hidalgo County judge decided Thursday.

County Court-at-Law No. 1 Judge Rudy Gonzalez opted to wait until Wednesday to make a decision on the order, which restrains Mayor Pedro Contreras and City Commissioners Bob Garza and Lupe Rodriguez -- the majority bloc on the five-member commission. Ignacio Almaguer, president of the San Juan Economic Development Corp. board, secured the order Monday to stop the commission from removing him during a special meeting.

City attorney Jerry Muñoz fired back later that day, describing Almaguer's petition as "groundless and frivolous litigation" and saying that he violated the Texas Open Meetings Act. The act holds that every regular, special or called meeting of a government body must be open to the public.

The dispute stems from the rift between former mayor San Juanita Sanchez's supporters and those of Contreras, who beat Sanchez in a runoff election June 7.

Contreras' winning slate now holds a majority on the City Commission.

Sanchez's supporters allege Contreras wants to remove city officials who supported the former mayor, despite their qualifications and willingness to work with his administration. Contreras has said he wants to take the city in a different direction.

At a series of special meetings earlier this month, Contreras replaced the city attorney and city manager. Almaguer, fearing he would also lose his job in a special meeting regarding the EDC board, obtained a temporary restraining order against the City Commission barring it from discussing his removal.

Almaguer v. San Juan

Almaguer argues in his petition that the city charter, which bars political discrimination, prevents political retaliation by the City Commission.

Contreras and Commissioners Garza and Rodriguez seek to remove Almaguer because he didn't support them in the election, according to the petition. Almaguer ran against Rodriguez for the commissioner post and lost.

"It appears to us that we have a very good case," said Almaguer's attorney, Orlando Jimenez. The city charter, Jimenez said, should trump all other city regulations.

Muñoz, the city attorney, sees things differently. His reply to Almaguer's petition says the EDC board positions are controlled by the commissioners, who can remove board members at their discretion. Muñoz cites the corporation's own bylaws and articles of incorporation to support his argument.

In addition to his rebuttal, he levels a string of allegations against Almaguer: misleading the court, filing frivolous litigation, conspiring to violate the Texas Open Meetings Act and breaking corporation rules. He also asks for $7,500 in attorney fees to cover the city's costs.

Muñoz's charge that Almaguer misled the court by failing to mention his own alleged attempts to fire two corporation employees further complicates the case: Muñoz, who also represents the corporation, was one of the two employees.

Conflict, libel and conspiracy

Almaguer and his attorney also argue that Muñoz cannot represent both the city and the corporation.

But neither has filed paperwork seeking to remove Muñoz from the case, said Thomas Rayfield, an attorney who stood in for Muñoz in court Monday because Muñoz was out of town.

Muñoz's court response to the restraining order also alleges EDC Vice President Gregorio Treviño approached a judge outside a formal court proceeding to secure Almaguer's restraining order.

"Mr. Muñoz's allegations are erroneous," Treviño said. "He has breached his fiduciary duties to the San Juan EDC and the San Juan EDC board of directors.

"Along the way, he has slandered my name by mentioning me in the civil lawsuit against Mr. Almaguer."

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Dave Hendricks covers general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4454