HARLINGEN — Two Valley International Airport board members strongly deny former airport Police Chief David Osborne’s claims of ties between the city, airport and Texas Regional Bank.
In a lawsuit filed in 445 th state District Court, Osborne claims he was fired in November for conducting an investigation that included probing any ties between the city, airport and bank.
The lawsuit filed against the city and airport does not name the bank as a defendant.
On Monday, Nick Consiglio, an airport board member who works as the bank’s marketing director and is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit, denied Osborne’s claims, describing them as “baseless and frivolous.”
In part, the lawsuit claims Osborne’s investigation stemmed from an airport contract it describes as “illegal.”
But Bobby Farris, an airport board member who serves as Texas Regional Bank’s vice president, denied airport tenant Sun Valley Aviation’s lease contract is illegal, describing it as based on the 40-year lease contract the board unanimously approved in 2012.
“There’s nothing illegal about the lease,” Farris, who is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit, said. “That lease has been in place for years. If anybody on the board thought that was an illegal contract, they wouldn’t vote on it. The airport has had many audits by the (Federal Aviation Administration), and it’s never found any problems (regarding the lease contract), to my knowledge.”
No conflict of interest
The lawsuit also claims Michael Scaief, the bank’s chairman who is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit, was “most likely directing his two employees to push the contract in its favor.”
Farris and Consiglio strongly deny the claim. Scaief did not respond to a request for comment.
“My record in all of my volunteer boards is one of honor,” Consiglio stated. “I have been a board member since 2014, and it is just now, within the past few months, that I am being attacked for my volunteer service to our community. As a Valley International Airport board member, we have greatly improved VIA with continued airline service and improvements to the terminal and runaway in the goal to be the best airport in the RGV. Anything that doesn’t focus on that goal is just noise and needless distractions.”
For months, members of the new city commission have questioned the city’s ties to Texas Regional Bank, proposing to remove Farris and Consiglio from the airport board.
In September, former Assistant City Attorney Allison Bastion, working with former City Attorney Ricardo Navarro’s law firm, told city commissioners Farris’ and Consiglio’s roles as airport board members and bank employees didn’t constitute conflicts of interest, City Commissioner Frank Puente said at the time.
Irma Garza, the city’s spokeswoman, declined comment on the lawsuit. Marv Esterly, the airport’s aviation director, also declined comment.
Private investigations firm hired
Last month, Puente and Commissioners Richard Uribe and Frank Morales voted to hire a McAllen private investigations firm for $80,000 to conduct a compliance review of the city’s investment policy and investments.
During a meeting, Uribe questioned finance Director Robert Rodriguez’s decision to move $5 million into a certificate of deposit at Texas Regional Bank, arguing the city wasn’t getting the best return on the money that could have funded drainage projects.
Uribe also said the Harlingen WaterWorks System moved $9 million into a CD at the bank.
In response, Rodriguez presented commissioners with a five-year summary of the city’s cash and investments while explaining he invested $5 million into a certificate of deposit at Texas Regional Bank because the bank offered a rate of 0.46 percent, far higher than other banks he contacted in 2020.
While Texas Regional Bank offered its rate of 0.46, Frost National Bank offered 0.0001, TexPool offered 0.147, BBVA offered 0.20, Lone Star National Bank offered 0.3 percent and the U.S. Treasury offered 0.12 percent.
Amid discussions, Morales said he wanted to review any connection between the city and Texas Regional Bank.
While Uribe said Hilltop Securities, the national financial advisory firm that has served the city for years, had limited its latest review of the city’s investment policy, Mayor Chris Boswell said the company found the investment policy, which commissioners had approved in April 2021, in compliance with Texas law.
During the meeting, Boswell and Commissioner Michael Mezmar argued Safe Track didn’t have the experience or staff of certified public accountants and attorneys to conduct a financial review.
Perez, who stood by the majority’s call for a compliance review of the investment policy, joined Mezmar in voting against Fast Track, arguing the firm didn’t have the experience and staff to perform the review, while suggesting commissioners give the job to Ernst and Young, an international auditing firm hired at $60,000 to conduct a performance audit of the public works department.
