2 Kyle City Council members trade violation accusations
Two Kyle City Council members have accused each other of ethics violations, setting the stage for a contentious council meeting on Tuesday evening.
At issue is an agenda item brought by Council Member Travis Mitchell regarding possible ethics violations by Council Member Daphne Tenorio.
The agenda item does not provide more detail on the alleged violations. However, a letter from Chevo Pastrano, an attorney representing Tenorio, suggests the accusations may relate to her pending purchase of the American Basketball Association’s Kyle Stallions, a semi-professional basketball team.
Pastrano’s letter, addressed to the city attorney and dated Tuesday, asserts that Tenorio was doing due diligence before finalizing the purchase of the team by requesting an advisory opinion from the city ethics commission and filing a petition for a declaratory ruling from the body. The letter calls Mitchell “reckless” for bringing the item before the council without speaking with Tenorio about whether she had done due diligence.
Pastrano also fired back at Mitchell and alleged that the council member is mired in a separate conflict of interest and therefore “throwing stones when (he lives) in a glass house.”
“It is notable that Council Member Travis Mitchell would wrongfully allege criminal and ethical violations of another council member while, simultaneously, lining his pockets and/ or his family business’s bank account with a few extra dollars directly from the City of Kyle,” Pastrano writes.
The letter alleges that a conflict of interest exists because Mitchell is a partner in a company, Mitchell Family Motor Trikes, which sold equipment and services totaling about $1,900 to the city, and Mitchell approved the city budget.
Pastrano’s letter, copied to the Hays County District Attorney Wes Mau, invites a criminal investigation into the prospective sale of the basketball team as well as Mitchell’s business’ involvement with the city.
Mitchell told the American-Statesman on Tuesday that after he was elected last year, he asked the city attorney and city manager whether his company could do business with the city and was told there was no conflict.
“I am 100 percent confident that I have committed no ethics violation and that Council Member Tenorio’s accusation against me is frivolous and retaliatory,” Mitchell said.
The letter from Tenorio’s attorney asserts that the council meeting is “not the proper forum to conduct a criminal investigation and criminal prosecution” and would be a violation of Tenorio’s right to due process. It also asserts the council meeting is not the proper forum to bring up a possible city ethics code violation, but rather a complaint should be filed.
The letter calls for city attorney Frank Garza to advise the council to withdraw the item.
Mitchell said Tuesday afternoon that he still planned to bring the item forward but was consulting an attorney with the Texas Municipal League to make sure he is within his right to do so.
Mayor Todd Webster declinedtocommentonMitchell’s item regarding Tenorio, saying city code barred him from speaking about a request before the ethic commission.
Webster defended Mitchell, though, saying there was no conflict because he never voted on any line item relating to business with his company. Webster said the purchases described in the letter were made by city staff and did not reach the threshold dollar amount required to trigger council action.
Authorities have arrested a man and are looking for another one on charges related to the theft of more than 500 gallons of diesel fuel from gas stations in Travis and Williamson counties.
Arnel Garcia Fernandez, 27, was in Travis County Jail Tuesday afternoon in lieu of bail set at $120,000. Authorities have also issued an arrest warrant for Juan Gelsi Corrales, 37. Both men face charges of violating motor fuel tax requirements in at least two bulk gas heists in February.
An affidavit filed on Tuesday said the men would drive
Arson investigators are looking into a fire that erupted in the laundry room of an apartment complex in North Austin on Tuesday morning.
Firefighters were called out to the apartment in the 800 block of Tirado Street to gas stations in the area in two vehicles.
A man in one vehicle would park directly above underground fuel drop locations and siphon gas through a hose while the other man served as a lookout.
Investigators spied on the pair after identifying the vehicles used in the thefts and began tailing them.
According to the document, police watched as the men stole more than 500 gallons of fuel at two Valero stations in one day.
The document says the same vehicles the men used in those robberies were used in another series of fuel thefts from several other gas stations in January as well. just after 6 a.m. after getting reports of heavy fire coming from a building.
When they arrived, they saw flames shooting out of a laundry room on the first floor.
Firefighters got the fire under control quickly, and no injuries were reported. Battalion Chief Matt Cox said the cause is still undetermined.
“It is unusual for a fire to
A man was discovered shot and injured in his crashed car in Bastrop on Monday evening, Bastrop police said.
The incident occurred around 6 p.m. Monday. Officials said they received a call of shots fired, followed by a single-vehicle crash on Texas 71 and Texas 95. When police arrived, they said they found the driver, who was alone in the vehicle, with a possible gunshot wound.
The man was taken to University Medical Center Brackenridge in Austin with injuries that were not expected to be life-threatening, police said. start in a laundry room at six in the morning,” Cox said.
The fire caused significant damage to the laundry room and to portions of the second floor of the building immediately surrounding the room.
Three residents were displaced, but everyone else was allowed to return to their apartments, Cox said.