SAN BENITO — Outgoing City Commissioner Carol Lynn Sanchez said Wednesday she won’t take legal action to contest city commissioners’ vote declaring her position vacant because she’s living outside the city limits.
In a heated Tuesday meeting, commissioners unanimously voted to declare Sanchez’s office vacant while citing her as “unqualified to hold office in the city of San Benito” based on a City Charter clause requiring commissioners live within the city limits.
On Wednesday, interim City Attorney Javier Villalobos said Sanchez effectively resigned her position when she recently filed to run for Texas House District 37.
Then she forfeited her office when she moved outside the city limits, he said.
“They didn’t remove her,” Villalobos said, referring to commissioners. “She forfeited her position.”
But noting Sanchez’s term expires following the May 4 election, Commissioner Tom Goodman described commissioners’ action as “completely unnecessary.”
“Last night was a good example of politics gone bad — of ego over reason,” he said. “At this point, being as close to the May election as we are, the city commission could have let it go as well. Politics is about serving the people. If your own desires get ahead, you’re not serving the people. When we delve on these kinds of issues — politics over substance — we make no progress.”
First elected to the commission in 2017, Sanchez changed her residency in December, when she launched an unsuccessful bid to run for the state House seat, moving to Harlingen to live within the district’s boundaries.
At the time, she planned to vacate her Place 4 commissioner’s seat following the city’s May 4 election.
During Tuesday’s meeting, Sanchez called the commission’s action “illegal,” arguing she was denied her due process.
“A member charged with conduct constituting grounds for forfeiture of office shall be entitled to a public hearing on demand,” the charter states.
Sanchez said she’s decided against requesting a judge grant a temporary restraining order to contest the commission’s action.
“I was illegally removed and denied my Fourth Amendment right of due process by the Constitution,” she said Wednesday in a statement.
“I actually could still sit (on the commission) if I wanted to,” she said. “I can file a TRO and an injunction to stop them from filling my seat. However, I believe my taxpayers deserve better than that. They don’t deserve to work so hard and have their money wasted on petty agendas. I will rise above and show that some elected officials out of San Benito can show dignity and professionalism.”
Sanchez described commissioners’ action declaring her office vacant as “petty” politics.
“This is why we get the reputation we have,” she said, referring to infighting that’s undermined San Benito’s politics for decades.
In a Facebook post, Sanchez argued City Manager Fred Sandoval continues to live outside the city limits while the charter calls on city managers to live in San Benito.
In response, Goodman said Sandoval is nearing the close of a six-month probationary period stemming for his hiring last October.
On Wednesday, Mayor Rick Guerra said residents requested he address Sanchez’s residency issue.
“People called me and said, ‘Mayor did you know,’” he said, referring to Sanchez’s move outside the city limits. “The citizens — the voters called me. ‘What are you going to do? You have to do something about it. It’s in the city charter.’”
Guerra said Villalobos advised commissioners consider Sanchez’s residency issue.
“The city attorney advised us to put it on the agenda,” he said in an interview. “Our city attorney looked at it. This would open the door for anyone living outside the city limits to come in (to file for political office).”
Guerra said Sanchez, an attorney, should have resigned her office when she filed to run for the House seat, moving outside the city.
“Her being an attorney, couldn’t she see her duty to say, ‘I’m stepping down,’” he said. “It wasn’t us — it was her. All she had to do was the right thing.”
Meanwhile, Goodman said he voted to declare Sanchez’s office vacant based on the charter’s residency requirement.
“I voted with the commission last night simply because of what the charter says — you have to live within the city limits,” he said. “It’s not reasonable to allow a person living in Harlingen to make policy for people living in San Benito.”
