By the time the Housing Authority of the City of El Paso board voted Friday (Dec. 23) to approve a contract for CEO candidate Pablo Salcido, the room was empty except for three board members, three reporters and a television cameraman, Salcido’s lawyer, and some Housing Authority staff members.
It felt anticlimactic, after a series of meetings that featured accusations of misconduct, name-calling and absolutely vicious politics, that what for the moment appears to be the last word took place in a nearly empty room at almost 8 p.m. the night before Christmas Eve, with the participants and bystanders worn out from the battles and one side of the fight gone.
“For the moment,” because it might be premature to call it an end to the open warfare between board factions and drew in city and county politicians and their allies, and it might not even end up being the last word on the HACEP CEO.
But for Christmas weekend, a decision was reached, a contract (terms are discussed later in this article) offered and apparently accepted, and the rest will have to come.
Chairman Joe Oliva and the two commissioners who supported him, Flora Garcia Villalva and Sonia Espino, voted in favor of hiring Salcido. Commissioners Larry Medina and David Escobar, who opposed the hire, left while the contract still was being negotiated in executive session.
“Y’all can give away the store without me,” Escobar said as he was leaving at about 7:15 p.m. Outside, he said that he was leaving because “I’ve got a family that I have to attend to ... this is a very inappropriate time to do this (offer a contract),” and not as a protest against the pending hire.
Medina had similar sentiments. A few minutes before Escobar left, Medina came out of executive session, read a statement in which he called the proceedings evidence of “cronyism,” and then left with family members who had been waiting in the audience for him.
Oliva said the timing was entirely appropriate. “This should have taken place Nov. 30, and would have if all these shenanigans had not taken place,” he said. Medina and Escobar, he said, should have stayed and participated.
The “shenanigans” may not be over. Mayor John Cook had removed Garcia Villalva as commissioner, then reinstated her. Before reinstating her, however, he had named a new commissioner, Tony Lewis.
Before he left, Medina asked that a letter from Lewis be made part of the record. Medina handed it to the board secretary, and it is unclear whether that constituted an official action that made the letter part of the record.
“I refuse to acknowledge this as a proper meeting. My status is undetermined, and I am not relinquishing my position,” the letter states.
When asked whether this was laying the groundwork for a legal challenge to the board’s action Dec. 23 to offer a contract to Salcido, Medina said, “I have never given up on anything in my life ... and I’m not going to give up on this issue. This is not right what happened.”
Medina said he is convinced that Garcia Villalva, accused of impropriety for owning housing leased to residents under the Section 8 government housing program while she was a HACEP employee, should not be on the board. Garcia Villalva has denied any wrongdoing, and Cook, who initially used that as a reason to remove her from the board, said in reinstating her that he believed she had not committed any crimes.
The Nov. 30 meeting to which Oliva referred was the meeting in which the board was to consider a contract for Salcido, who was picked as the leading candidate Nov. 16. In the days before the Nov. 30 meeting, Cook, who previously had taken a position that the board should be conservative in its contract offering, which many took to be opposition to hiring Salcido, asked Garcia Villalva to resign, which she refused to do.
However, Cook had asked each commissioner to sign a resignation letter when he appointed them during the summer, and he invoked that “hip pocket” resignation -- as Oliva derisively called it -- to remove Garcia Villalva.
The validity of that resignation was in doubt, however, both because of questions whether such a thing is legal, and because Garcia Villalva sent a letter Nov. 29 formally rescinding her resignation, a day before Cook sent a letter Nov. 30 accepting the “hip pocket” resignation.
The use of the pre-signed resignation was a bit ironic, as most observers figured the paper was meant as a check against Escobar, a controversial and divisive figure when he was reappointed to the board in the summer.
Nevertheless, Cook appointed Lewis, setting the stage for several chaotic meetings and a December season of political turmoil.
The following is a chronology of the events, starting with the summer when Cook appointed a new board. When possible, links to source documents or news archives are provided, including the proposed contract for Salcido. Following that is a bit of historical context -- traditionally, the board, then the CEO, has changed with mayoral administrations, going back at least to the Carlos Ramirez administration of the 1990s.
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Housing Authority Turmoil, Starting This Summer, and the Events So Far, Including the Salcido Contract
-- In July, Mayor Cook appointed a new board, despite confusion over whether commissioners’ terms were up and positions were open. [el paso times article] Cook appointed Joe Oliva, Larry Medina, Flora Garcia Villalva, Sonia Espino, and reappointed David Escobar.
-- Behind the scenes, the issue of hiring a CEO began to fire up. At the same time, Escobar was the subject of a resident’s complaint, in November, prompting city Rep. Susie Byrd to write a letter to Mayor Cook. The letter read, in part, “in July of this year I asked you to reconsider your position on re-appointing David Escobar to the Board of the El Paso Housing Authority of El Paso. I was not alone in asking you to reconsider this action. ... At that time, you indicated that you would take Abraham Lincoln’s lead and “hold your enemies close.” You further indicated that you would appoint four other individuals who would defend the interests of the housing authority residents so that Mr. Escobar could not undermine their interests. As a failsafe to this political accommodation, you indicated that you had obtained a letter of resignation from Mr. Escobar and that if at any time he conducted himself in a manner that was unethical you would remove him from the board.”
-- Pablo Salcido was picked as the top choice on a 4-1 vote Nov. 16, setting into motion the next step, to negotiate a contract. The second choice was Jorge Salazar, whom Medina favored and voted for. Escobar said he favored the third choice, but because there were no votes for him, went with the majority. At the time, Medina said he was concerned because of Salcido’s potential salary requirements, since the job posting was for $135,000 and Salcido was asking for more. Oliva said that Salcido’s resume was easily the most impressive, and also gave the fact that he received a call from former HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros in favor of Salcido. Related links: [salcido resume] [salazar application] [nov. 28 npt story]
-- However, the allegations against Garcia Villalva were brought forth anonymously, first to Escobar, who said he then passed them to Cook. That led to a meeting Nov. 30, in which Garcia Villalva refused to relinquish her seat, and then to a contentious Dec. 8 meeting, which ended in confusion after Tony Lewis, who was seated as a commissioner, voted on several items. In the interim, Judge Bonnie Rangel, on the request of Medina, Escobar, and their lawyer Martie Jobe, issued an order which appeared to add to the confusion. The order called for a maintenance of the status quo until the issues could be fully addressed, and appeared to allow for the seating of Lewis. However, the day she was scheduled to clarify her order, Dec. 7, she recused herself, leading to the confusion Dec. 8. Related links: [garcia villalva resignation] [garcia villalva resignation revocation] [garcia villalva lawyer’s letter] [hud letter addressing garcia-villalva possible conflict] [rangel order] [rangel recusal] [dec. 9 el paso times article]
-- On Monday, Dec. 12, the City Council met to discuss removing Cook’s appointment powers. Instead, they approved what appeared to be a compromise in which the HACEP board would resign en masse, promise not to meet, and allow Cook to appoint a new board in February with City Council input. However, what that meant was not clear, and the shaky truce did not hold. Commissioner Larry Medina was the only person to tender a resignation, although since Cook did not name a replacement Medina remained on the board. Related links: [medina resignation letter] [npt story] [el paso times story dec. 13] [el paso times story dec. 15]
-- On Monday, Dec. 19, Mayor Cook reinstated Garcia Villalva. The board then called a special meeting for Friday (Dec. 23) to discuss offering Salcido a contract. [el paso times story on reinstatement] [el paso times story previewing meeting]
-- On Friday, Dec. 23, the board voted 3-0 to offer Salcido a contract. The contract is for three years, with a base salary of $160,000 per year. The board can fire him for cause; if that happens, Salcido will get six months severance pay. The board is to consider raises each year, within 90 days of the anniversary of his hiring date. He gets the same cost of living raise that employees get annually. He is eligible for annual incentive pay of 5 to 15 percent of his base salary based on meeting goals set by the board. He also gets a vehicle allowance of up to $900 per month, or use of a fleet vehicle. He also gets up to $24,000 in moving expenses. Related links: [contract] [medina statement] [lewis letter of objection]
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Historical Context
The following information was provided by the Housing Authority:
-- In January 2000, Mayor Carlos Ramirez appointed Margarita Giron-Sanchez to replace Robert Navarro as a Housing Authority Commissioner. Navarro had been appointed by Ramirez’s predecessor, Larry Francis. Robert Alvarado was executive director of HACEP, and had been since 1993. On Feb. 23, 2000, Alvarado was fired by the board, which included Ramirez appointees Cesar Viramontes, Gerardo Camacho and Sylvia Martinez.
-- Next up was Gustavo Martinez, who was hired as executive director Feb. 1, 2001. Previously, Theresa Cullen-Garney served as acting executive director following Alvarado’s departure. The board members were Ramirez appointees Viramontes, Camacho, Giron-Sanchez, and Gerardo Licon and Maria Lourdes Lozano.
-- In June 2001, Raymond Caballero took office as El Paso mayor. In August 2001, Mayor Caballero appointed two new Commissioners – Charles E. “Charlie” Garcia and Linda Raya – to replace Gerardo Licon and Maria Lourdes Lozano.
-- On Oct. 4, 2001, the board voted to “buy out” Martinez’s contract, at the cost of six months salary. Rudolf “Rudy” Montiel was appointed as interim president and CEO, and then hired to the position.
-- In June 2003, Joe Wardy took office as El Paso mayor.
-- Wardy appointed several commissioners in the summer of 2003, but none of these appointments were seated as Commissioners due to pending litigation between the Housing Authority and the City of El Paso. In February 2005, two of the Commissioners previously appointed by Mayor Wardy were seated to commence their role as Commissioners. These two Commissioners were David Escobar and Jerry Romero.
-- Montiel resigned Nov. 12, 2004, to accept a position as executive director of the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (“HACLA”). Vincent L. Dodds took over as interim president and CEO of the Housing Authority and remained until the contract offering to Pablo Salcido on Dec. 23, 2005.
-- The members of the board when Montiel left were Steve Yellen (appointed by Mayor Caballero), Maria Esperanza Vilchis (appointed by Mayor Caballero), Mary Stillinger (appointed by Mayor Caballero), Jerry Romero (appointed by Mayor Wardy), and David Escobar (appointed by Mayor Wardy).
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