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SAN BENITO — During more than six years at City Hall’s helm, City Manager Manuel De La Rosa took on some of the biggest projects in years while stacking the city’s cash reserves to record levels.
Still, like many city manager’s before him, he hung on to his job with the support of the city commission’s three-member majority, while minority members criticized what they described as his autocratic, sometimes abrasive leadership style.
Following a bitter election campaign in which De La Rosa’s job became a major issue, voters last month swept in a new commission now buying out his contract while searching to fill the city’s top administrative position.
Based on an agreement the past commission’s majority approved two years ago, De La Rosa’s contract expires July 1, 2024.
Severance package
After a 3-1/2 hour closed-door meeting that nearly ran to midnight June 6, city commissioners voted 4-1 to buy out De La Rosa’s contract, agreeing to pay nine months’ severance pay based on his $175,000 annual salary plus a benefits package, with Commissioner Carol Lynn Sanchez casting the dissenting vote.
As part of an agreement, De La Rosa will remain in his position for up to 60 days or until commissioners hire his replacement.
“It has been an honor and a pleasure to serve the citizens of San Benito,” De La Rosa stated. “I also wish to thank all the members of the city commission that I have had the pleasure to work with during my tenure as city manager. I wish everyone the best of luck moving forward, and I will continue to work to support in the transition as the current city commission begins its search for a new city manager.”
A candidate might be waiting in the wings.
“There’s a prospective candidate that’s been approached and ready to come in,” Sanchez posted on Facebook.
During the meeting, City Attorney Mark Sossi resigned following the executive session, with commissioners waiving his offer to stay on 30 days, appointing attorney Javier Villalobos, McAllen’s mayor, to serve as interim city attorney.
‘Management method’
At City Hall, the end of De La Rosa’s reign marks the close of a long-running tenure during which he survived at least two drives to oust him from office.
“The commission decided it was in the best interest of both parties,” Commissioner Pete Galvan said, referring to the decision to buy out De La Rosa’s contract.
During an interview, newly elected Commissioner Tom Goodman said the commission’s decision was based on De La Rosa’s management style.
“We came to amicable terms,” he said. “His management has done a lot of good things. The method of management used by Mr. De La Rosa is not in line with what the commission wants.”
Meanwhile, Commissioner Deborah Morales, who handily defeated former Commissioner Rene Villafranco in the May 6 election after he had led the majority supporting De La Rosa, said the city manager didn’t “fit” within the new commission’s plans.
“We found the city manager wasn’t going to be the right fit for this position as far as moving the city forward,” she said during an interview. “We thought it was best to basically buy out his contract and move forward.”
‘Huge loss’
After winning office in 2017, Sanchez became part of the past commission’s majority that supported De La Rosa.
“I am saddened to lose Mr. De La Rosa,” she stated. “He encompassed many values I thought were vital for a strong and right-minded leader.”
Since taking office in late 2015, De La Rosa’s conservative fiscal management’s boosted the city’s cash reserves to record levels while the city’s sales tax revenues have climbed to new heights.
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, De La Rosa’s taken on 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.
“He was handed a disaster and was able to turn it around,” Sanchez stated. “He solved many large, looming issues and was making progress with business and city growth. He was able to budget our street fund to $1 million, which is why we finally were seeing progress. The staff and heads of departments he put together were strong and finally excelling. I can go on and on. The numbers are there. No one can take away his achievements. Sadly, politics and personal agendas always rear their ugly head. He will never be given the credit he deserves — huge loss.”
Salary questions
During the meeting, commissioners ratified the city’s Economic Development Corporation board’s vote cutting off the agency’s $45,000 payment made out to the city in exchange for De La Rosa’s oversight of its management and 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 said.
Despite the commission’s ratification of the EDC board’s vote, De La Rosa’s salary continues to stand at $175,000, Goodman said.
Meanwhile, on July 1, based on his contract, De La Rosa’s up for a $10,000 pay increase following the past commission’s high marks on his annual job evaluation.
Goodman said De La Rosa will receive the raise if he’s still in office at the beginning of the month.
Villalobos replaces Sossi
Last week, commissioners were also planning to discuss Sossi’s job during the closed-door meeting.
But by the end of the week, the meeting’s agenda posted, noting he was planning to resign after more than four years as the city’s attorney.
During the meeting’s close, commissioners waived Sossi’s offer to stay on for 30 days, with Morales calling on them to appoint Villalobos, who had won election as McAllen’s mayor in a 2021 runoff.
“I looked and tried to find something that would work for us for the time being,” she said during an interview. “He’s the mayor of McAllen, which is booming right now. I think that’s an asset for us.”
