Hello City Rep. Kennedy:
I am writing to ask you some questions about two current reports by El Paso Matters on your and Renard Johnson’s campaigns for Mayor:
1. The title of the first report is “PAC ads intensify attacks between Renard Johnson, Brian Kennedy in El Paso mayoral race.” My understanding is that no PACs have deployed mailers on your behalf. Can you confirm?
KENNEDY: Correct.
2. El Paso Matters reports that Project Red TX contributed “about $90,000” to the Protect and Serve PAC but the total figure is $152,000 because $62,000 were omitted from a campaign finance report. Can you confirm?
KENNEDY: In checking the reports of both Project Red TX PAC and Protect and Serve PAC there is $62,000 that wasn’t reported in the initial report. There is an amended report that I was not able to view yet.
3. Johnson accuses you of bringing race into the mayoral campaign because you claim that the U.S. Small Business Administration 8(a) Business Development program provided Johnson’s firm METI with no-bid contracts. The reporter, Elida S Perez, put the onus on you to provide her with examples of no-bid contracts that METI was awarded. Would you care to comment?
KENNEDY: In my conversation with El Paso Matters, my frame of reference for the phrase “no bid” was never discussed. THE FACT IS a single source contract has no competitive bid process, i.e. no bid. Depending on the circumstances it is my understanding that a set-aside may also have no fully competitive bid process i.e. no bid. My comments were about the bid process. El Paso Matters chose to focus on an issue that I had not raised. My statement referenced the irony of someone who has been fortunate to benefit from an 8a program (designed to benefit minorities or disadvantaged) showing such little regard for a complaint about discrimination in his own company.
4. Perez reports that you used an expletive during a hot-mic moment at a City Council recess and concludes that you were speaking to Police Union President Patrick Natividad. Would you care to comment?
KENNEDY: I told El Paso Matters at the time of the interview that the ‘hot mic’ moment which occurred in response to a questionable unethical threat by a representative an organization after a delay of an agenda item who suggested “I would be sorry the next time I needed an endorsement” to which I responded they could “shove it up their a**”. I reiterated to El Paso Matters, that NO ONE from the El Paso Police Department was involved in that exchange. In spite of that information being provided to El Paso Matters they basically made something up with no supporting facts. You may draw your own conclusions as to why. It should be noted I have received the endorsement of the El Paso Firefighters and El Paso Sheriffs.
5. Perez challenges your claim that you voluntarily reduced your salary by 30% when you worked for the Sports Commission during the Covid crisis. She claims your salary “was $294,615 from the October 2019 through September 2020 fiscal year and returned to $310,000 the following fiscal year.” Would you care to comment?
KENNEDY: When El Paso Matters asked me which year I was talking about they were directed to the 2021 990 report from the El Paso Sports Commission. They chose not to report THE FACT that I voluntarily took no salary the last three months of 2021 to ensure staff remained fully paid and insured during the period following COVID when the entertainment and event business had still not recovered. Instead El Paso Matters chose to report on three different years that were not even referenced in the answer to their questions. [NOTE: Kennedy provided his 990 showing compensation of $219,231 for 2021.]
6. The second report is by “El Paso Matters Staff” and focuses on “discrimination lawsuits” filed against both you and Renard Johnson. El Paso Matters claims that “In 2004, a former county employee filed a discrimination lawsuit against the county, alleging Kennedy, who then oversaw County Coliseum operations, retaliated against her by eliminating her position during a reduction in force and was not rehired due to her gender.” What are the differences between the lawsuit against METI and the lawsuit against the County?
KENNEDY: The County downsized the staff of the entire County at that time and the position was never filled so there was no preferential hiring. This was a county wide reduction in force not a targeted action. The claim of any retaliation was dismissed by an appellate court before there was any further legal action. THE FACT IS there was no trial on this or any other actions I have taken as a supervisor. The lawsuit against METI was for an action directly taken by Renard Johnson. Renard signed the termination letter within one day after receiving a claim of discriminatory treatment. A jury trial found METI liable for Renard Johnson’s retaliatory actions.
7. Renard Johnson fired a Hispanic employee in 2015 after he complained about racial discrimination and he filed suit, and a jury awarded him $277,000 in 2018. El Paso Matters reports that the plaintiff was ordered “to pay thousands in damages, back pay and attorney fees. The case was ultimately dismissed.” The report fails to cite the actual figure, which is $277,000. Do you care to comment?
KENNEDY: THE FACT IS this discrimination matter went all the way to trial and hundreds of thousands was awarded by a jury. There was a settlement behind closed doors only after METI’s request for a new trial was denied. This happens many times after being found liable to try to obscure the final payment made. This is usually joined with a non-disclosure agreement so that the employee can’t tell anyone what the final settlement was. The dismissal and vacated action also disguises the reason for the liability from the jury and stops any requirement to report the finding of discrimination to any federal agencies.
8. Do you feel that El Paso Matters behaved ethically in its publication of these two reports?
KENNEDY: I think that factual information being skewed, ignored or omitted from stories is unacceptable and should always be a concern.
9. Do you feel that El Paso Matters has shown bias in its reporting about you in general, starting when you began campaigning for City District 1 in 2022?
KENNEDY: I informed El Paso Matters directly about any concerns I have.
Thank you for your attention to my questions.
With regards,
Max Grossman, El Paso Taxpayer Revolt