Riverside, California 2022-05-26 18:11:22 –
Judge Barbara Canales of Nueces County postponed the meeting early Thursday morning after the two members left the court and broke the quorum. This means that the court was unable to continue the county’s business.
The abrupt end of the meeting came after a fierce debate between the county judge and District 4 Commissioner Brent Chesney. It culminated in a chessnee moving to move the court from the workshop to the court agenda to call for a vote.
Thursday’s meeting could be the most common example of an increasingly divided Commissioner of Baseball court. That’s when Democrat Canales is running for reelection against former Texas Congressman Republican challenger Connie Scott. The two will face each other over the position elected in the county’s highest elections in November.
County Judge rejects Chesney’s motion because the court was listening to a presentation as part of a workshop specially convened to discuss funds allocated to Nuesses County through the U.S. Rescue Planning Act. Did. Judges and commissioners had multiple disagreements at the meeting before the meeting culminated at the exit of Chesnee.
Before he left, Chesnee, the only Republican in court, threatened to demand a “vote to dismiss the chair” before Canales tried to proceed with the presentation. After that, Chesnee stood up and left the room.
At least three court members must be present to form a quorum. When Chesnee left the courtroom, only Canales and District 2 Commissioner Joe A. Gonzalez remained in court. Presinkto 3 Commissioner John Mares was effectively attending the meeting via Zoom.
When Chesnee left the courtroom, District 1 Commissioner Robert Hernandez was not in court. He later told Caller-Times that he had gone out for a restroom break.
“By the governor’s order, there must be three in the room,” Canales discussed with court officials whether to continue. After that, she moved to postpone the meeting that started at 8:30 am more than two hours ago.
“Then, (Chessnee and Hernandez) left the room to show that the government wasn’t working. They lost their quorum,” she added.
Why did the committee meet?
The Commissioner Court met in a special session to discuss the allocation of the American Rescue Program Fund to dozens of projects in the county. Residents of some counties and local government leaders were present to claim some of these funds. Many of them didn’t get the chance to talk about their project.
Before postponing the meeting, Canales told the audience who were waiting to tell them, “Your committee has left the room and can’t do business.”
Canales initially refused to comment on the situation. Later, in an interview with the Caller Times, she condemned her decision to leave Chesnee and his court without warning. She called it “shameful,” given that the residents and stakeholders who attended the court couldn’t speak.
“They came to be heard, and (the committee member) stood up and left. It’s shameful. It’s just shameful,” she said. “They are in the way. It’s very obvious to anyone but themselves. They have a story they’re trying to make into reality.”
Canales said the meeting started well, but eventually collapsed when the topic of funding the county’s drainage issues and related projects was addressed. Disagreements rose to the level of Canales at some point when Chesnee was “abuseful,” and Chesnee replied that her comments were inappropriate.
Chesnee said in a text message to the Caller Times that he left the courtroom, took a break and then returned. He accused the county judge of not waiting to see where he and Hernandez were to reestablish the quorum. She said her actions ended the meeting.
“In response to continued dishonest and negative comments by Judge Canales, Judge Canales will not repeatedly allow the majority of courts to vote for dislikes. Called the names of several members and yelled at us. (And) always insulted and teased us, “he wrote. “I left the room with the intention of taking a short break, summarizing my thoughts and returning to business. Judge Canales unexpectedly wondered where I was, rather than re-establishing the quorum required by Commissioner Hernandez. The meeting was postponed. The county’s business. “
Disagreements came to mind when Chesnee motioned the court to move from workshop to agenda. This means that the court may take action on the allocation of funds.
Canales said Chesney was off the line because he had never taken the court off the workshop as the presiding judge responsible for overseeing how the court operates. His allegations also arose when the court made a presentation during a presentation from Hagerty Consulting, a county-held company to ensure that ARPA funds were used in accordance with federal regulations.
Gonzales upheld Chesnee’s motion. This is the process that the court takes before voting on an item. Gonzales said he sent Chesnee because he wanted to vote for an item and then return to the presentation.
Canales said the Federal Regulations on ARPA funding endorsed the workshop because it was special about where the funds could be allocated. She said the workshop was intended for members to work with experts to ensure that they did not violate these rules and could have a significant impact on the county.
There is disagreement between Canales and the Commissioner as to whether Chesnee’s motion is in line with state rules governing how County Commission courts operate.
It was not clear on Thursday who acted according to those rules.
Hernandez said he was “disappointed” that Canales postponed the meeting. He declined to comment further.
In response to Hernandez, Gonzales said the fierce disagreement and consequent postponement was a sign of “bad control” on behalf of the county judge.
Gonzales said the sudden adjournment was the first time he had seen him since he became a commissioner 13 years ago.
Canales, who encouraged residents to watch the video for their own eyes, claimed that Chesnee had stopped working in court. She said his decision to break away from the quorum was politically motivated to question her leadership.
“I have never left my chair. They have left,” Canales said. “But let’s agree that Brent only really gets angry and confused at the meeting during the election season.”
Canales admitted that the court was further divided. She told her that it was the result of some of the “teamed” commissioners, specifically Chesnee and Gonzales.
“It’s like the football season when commentators said,’Boy, it wasn’t pretty, but it’s a win,’” Canales said. “I operate a good ship. A tight ship that respects our members … Today we have important information for our members and we needed to put it out there as chairman (committee member). ) Wants to abandon the ship, I can’t let any other elected (official) do. “
“But,” she continued. “I can show my determination that they will not bully their way to having it as they wish.”
Canales said she was eager to run for the elections in her record. She said this is full of significant achievements in improving the county’s infrastructure in a pandemic and multiple natural disasters.
“There are a lot of projects currently underway in all areas,” she said. “Looking at what we were able to accomplish in this court and this county judge, I think the evidence is in Pudding.”
Canales said further discussions on ARPA funding will take place again in court in the coming weeks.
Chase Rogers covers local governments and industries in South Texas.Contact him at chase.rogers@caller.com Or on Twitter @chasedrogers..You can support local journalism Subscription to Caller-Times..
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