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SAN BENITO — A month after the May 6 election’s call for change at City Hall, City Manager Manuel De La Rosa’s job might be on the line while City Attorney Mark Sossi is resigning.
On June 6, commissioners are set to meet behind closed doors to discuss “the appointment, employment, evaluation, reassignment, duties, discipline or dismissal of a public officer or employee — the city manager,” the meeting’s agenda states.
For days, commissioners were also planning to discuss Sossi’s job during the meeting.
So when the meeting’s agenda posted late June 2, Sossi’s decision to resign stunned many at City Hall.
“Things are moving a lot faster than anticipated,” Commissioner Pete Galvan said before the agenda posted.
During the meeting, commissioners are set to appoint a city attorney or interim city attorney after “acceptance of the resignation of the city attorney,” the agenda states.
As they discuss De La Rosa’s job, commissioners are considering a year remains on his contract, now paying an annual salary of $175,000.
“The city commission is still reviewing the city manager’s contract,” Galvan said during an interview. “It’s the (responsibility) of the new commission to re-evaluate contracts to see if they’re in the best interest of the city. The responsibility falls on the commission to make sure leadership is leading us in the right direction.”
The ‘right fit’?
In the May 6 election, residents in this politically charged city flipped the commission’s majority, voting out Commissioners Rene Villafranco and Rene Garcia, who had joined Commissioner Carol Lynn Sanchez in supporting De La Rosa.
Amid Mayor Rick Guerra’s landslide victory, voters swept in Deborah Morales and Tom Goodman, each calling for change at City Hall.
“We have to come together as a new commission and determine if Manny is the right fit,” Morales said during an interview. “I’m looking after the best interests of San Benito and the community. Nothing I will ever do will ever be personal. As we move the city forward, we want the right people in place.”
De La Rosa’s salary
After seven years on the job, De La Rosa’s contract, which the past commission’s majority approved two years ago, expires July 1, 2024.
Now, the city’s paying him an annual salary of $175,000.
But last month, the city’s Economic Development Corporation board agreed to scrap its $45,000 payment to the city, which officials have been are using to compensate De La Rosa for overseeing the agency’s operations.
Two years ago, the past commission’s majority approved the stipend as part of De La Rosa’s appointment to the post of EDC chief executive officer.
After the city hired Ramiro Aleman to serve as the EDC’s executive director last October, the newly staffed agency no longer requires De La Rosa’s oversight, Morales, an EDC member, said.
Next, the new commission is expected to ratify the EDC board’s decision.
Meanwhile, on July 1, based on his contract, De La Rosa’s also up for a $10,000 pay increase following the past commission’s high marks on his annual job evaluation.
De La Rosa’s tenure
Since a previous commission hired De La Rosa in December 2015, the commission’s past majorities have held off drives to oust him from office.
In 2017, former Commissioners Tony Gonzales and Steve Rodriguez voted against entering into a new contract with De La Rosa.
A year later, Gonzales and Guerra, while serving as a city commissioner, led a failed push to fire De La Rosa.
In the May 6 election, De La Rosa’s job became one of the campaign’s big issues.
While the city’s sales tax revenues have climbed to record levels, some commissioners argue San Benito continues to fall behind many other Rio Grande Valley cities in its economic development.
Since taking office, De La Rosa’s conservative fiscal management’s boosted the city’s cash reserves to record levels while he worked to reopen the city’s $17 million water plant years after a previous administration shut it down when it failed to properly operate.
As part of one of the city’s biggest projects in decades, De La Rosa’s overseen a state-mandated multi-million-dollar project aimed at overhauling the city’s sewer system years after the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality cited a previous administration for a series of sewage spills along the banks of the Arroyo Colorado.
“I definitely like his years of service and his knowledge,” Galvan said.
But for years, some commissioners have criticized De La Rosa’s leadership, describing his style as autocratic and sometimes disrespectful, while many residents have argued he’s distanced himself from the community.
Meanwhile, some commissioners have chided his weekend commutes to his Austin home.
Galvan: Sossi earning $96,000
In late 2018, the past commission hired Sossi, about a year after his nine-year tenure as Brownsville’s city attorney.
Now, Sossi, who serves as Harlingen’s city attorney, is earning about $96,000 a year here, Galvan said.
According to the city’s request for qualifications that led to his hire in 2018, Sossi proposed working at a discounted rate of $175 an hour while his law firm charged $250 an hour, Galvan said.
While reviewing the documents, he’s questioning the expense.
“I would like to save costs wherever I can for the city to use the money for infrastructure, streets, drainage and employee pay,” he said.
