DONNA — Plans to reinstate Gilbert Guerrero as the Donna police chief failed to materialize here after the majority of the city council failed to show up for a specially called meeting Thursday evening.
Only Mayor Rick Morales and Place 1 Councilman Richie Moreno showed up to the standing-room-only meeting where the ousted police chief’s fate topped the agenda. Missing were Councilmen David Moreno, Oscar Gonzales and Joey Garza Jr.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I’m sorry. No quorum, no meeting,” the mayor said after waiting several minutes for the rest of the council to show up.
“Wow,” said one of the dozens of residents who had come to city hall to show their support for Guerrero.
“Que lastima, shame! It’s a shame. … It’s pitiful,” another woman said.
Interim City Manager Frank Perez fired Guerrero last week after he said the former chief failed to act on a school shooting threat that was made just after the Uvalde school massacre on May 24 during which 19 children and two teachers were murdered.
Perez claims that Guerrero not only failed to act, but that he actively prohibited his officers from looking into the anonymous tip.
Investigators would later go on to substantiate the threat, and — with the help of the FBI — would track down the four suspects who had been planning to carry out a mass shooting at Donna High School on June 3, the last day of classes.
Law enforcement later recovered an AK-47 and body armor while executing search warrants of the suspects’ homes.
But since Monday, when Perez released a statement detailing why he had fired Guerrero, the ousted chief has vociferously disputed the dereliction of duty allegations against him.
The same day Perez released his statement, the city also posted notice of Thursday’s special meeting, where the first item on the agenda involved considering Guerrero’s reinstatement.
On Thursday, Perez declined to further elaborate on Guerrero’s firing even as media and residents surrounded him seeking answers.
“At this time, I’ve been advised by attorneys — by legal advice — that I not comment. That that’s personnel issues,” Perez said.
But in the days between Monday’s memo and Thursday’s failed meeting, Perez and Guerrero have lobbed a series of allegations against each other.
Each has claimed that the other is playing politics while using the threat to Donna students and the Uvalde school massacre as their backdrop.
Guerrero claims the entire fiasco — from his suspension in March, to his termination last week — are because he refused to play along when Place 3 Councilman David Moreno began pushing for the hiring of a man named Frank Limon as assistant police chief.
Moreno and Limon worked together at Donna ISD — Moreno currently serves as an administrator, while Limon was part of the school district police force.
“That doesn’t surprise me that he would say something like that,” David Moreno told The Monitor on Monday.
Meanwhile, Perez claims that Place 4 Councilman Oscar Gonzales was behind Thursday’s agenda item to reinstate Guerrero.
But neither councilman was present Thursday.
Their absences came despite an invitation David Moreno — who opposes Guerrero’s reinstatement — extended to residents earlier in the week.
“I invite the community of Donna to come over Thursday at 5 p.m. to come over and listen to these councilmen and see… why they are willing to take the chance and risk the lives of kids and community members,” David Moreno said Monday.
The sole councilman to attend Thursday — Richie Moreno — spoke after much of the crowd had dispersed.
“The chief, in my view, he didn’t do anything wrong,” Richie Moreno said.
“(Guerrero) let them investigate. From the information I’ve seen, he told them to investigate,” he added, contradicting the interim city manager’s claims that the former chief had not acted on the mass shooting threat.
The councilman also shed new light on what had prompted Guerrero’s suspension earlier this year — details that appear to corroborate Guerrero’s assertions.
“I do know he was suspended for being kind of hard on Limon during the interview process. That was the reason for the suspension,” Richie Moreno said.
What happens now remains unclear.
The city council is expected to hold a regular meeting next Tuesday. But residents will have to wait until late Friday afternoon — when the city typically posts notice a public meeting — to find out if Guerrero will again be on the agenda.
Meanwhile, despite being hired as assistant chief, Frank Limon is not currently leading the Donna Police Department in Guerrero’s absence. Instead, Capt. Juan Garcia, a longtime veteran of the force, is serving as interim chief, Perez confirmed.
