SAN BENITO — After nearly six years, Fire Chief Raul Zuniga has been stripped of his chief’s badge, taking a $20,000 pay cut.
Yesterday, City Manager Manuel De La Rosa re-assigned Zuniga to a captain’s rank, a day after city commissioners confirmed the appointment of Capt. Boris Esparza as interim fire chief.
De La Rosa’s action comes nearly two months after he placed Zuniga on paid administrative leave pending an investigation into undisclosed “allegations” apparently stemming from his bidding at a fire department auction.
Zuniga argues age discrimination led to his demotion.
“My client alleges this was based on age discrimination because he was replaced by a substantially younger employee he believes is less qualified,” John Shergold, Zuniga’s attorney, said yesterday after meeting with De La Rosa.
“My client believes he is the de facto fire chief.”
Zuniga will remain with the department despite taking a pay cut of about $20,000, Shergold said.
Now, Shergold said, Zuniga plans to file a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission while taking his case before Civil Service commissioners.
Shergold also argued Zuniga was “improperly removed” from his position because De La Rosa did not request commissioners confirm his removal of Zuniga’s title, a move that would have allowed Zuniga to request under the Texas Open Meetings Act that his case be discussed in open, public forum, not behind closed doors.
For about a month, the city tried to strip Zuniga’s title and appoint Esparza interim chief.
“I’m just glad it’s come to fruition — whatever (De La Rosa) decided he was going to do,” City Commissioner Esteban Rodriguez said yesterday.
Rodriguez argued De La Rosa had the authority to reassign Zuniga and appoint Esparza.
“If we would have followed due process, this could have been done a long time ago,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez said Ricardo Navarro, a contracted attorney who handles the city’s Civil Service cases, recommended De La Rosa appoint an interim chief before taking any action regarding Zuniga’s rank, Rodriguez said.
“We just got to move forward,” Rodriguez said. “I hope interim Chief Esparza is up to the task and does a good job when he’s at the helm.”
How we got here
In an Aug. 29 meeting, Shergold requested city commissioners publically discuss De La Rosa’s request that they confirm his removal of Zuniga’s rank, as the Open Meetings Act allows — rather than consider it in closed session.
During the meeting, Commissioner Carol Lynn Sanchez, as mayor pro tem, said commissioners would reconsider De La Rosa’s request at their next meeting.
Before commissioners decided to postpone action on De La Rosa’s request, Shergold had demanded they discuss Zuniga’s case in open, public forum.
But since that meeting, De La Rosa stopped requesting commissioners confirm his removal of Zuniga’s rank.
Instead, De La Rosa only requested commissioners confirm his appointment of Estrada as interim chief.
As a result, Shergold argued the city violated the Open Meetings Act.
Zuniga, a 32-year veteran of the department, had served as fire chief since 2012.
Timeline
Aug. 8 — City Manager Manuel De La Rosa places Fire Chief Raul Zuniga on paid administrative leave
Aug. 29 — Commissioners postpone action on De La Rosa request to confirm his removal of Zuniga’s rank
Sept. 27 — Commissioners vote to confirm De La Rosa’s appointment of interim chief
Sept. 28 — De La Rosa reassigns Zuniga to captain
