KVIA’s Erik Elken has aired so many outstanding reports on the abuse of financial privileges by certain City leaders that it is hard to keep up with them.
ROSA MARIA MONSIVAIS, SECRETARY TO GONZALEZ, SPENT $98,158 ON P-CARDS!
Yesterday at 10:00pm, Elken aired a report revealing that the office of Tommy Gonzalez spent over $100,000 on P-cards in 2022 and the first four months of 2023.
Gonzalez used his P-card for 50 purchases totaling $6,801, mostly for dinners costing under $100.
But his Secretary, Rosa Maria Monsivais, used her P-card more than 150 times and rang up $98,158 in charges!
How is that even possible?
This included $17,424 for work lunches for City officials.
But it also included $58,131 worth of Cielo Vista Mall gift cards that were awarded to employees as part of an employee “recognition program.” Some employees received shopping cards worth $250.
What on earth did Monsivais think she was doing?
Notably, Elken identified 21 transactions that violate the City’s travel policy: early-bird check-in fees for 21 Southwest Airlines flights.
REP. HERNANDEZ AND TURKEYGATE
In the same report, Elken stated that Rep. Cassandra Hernandez provided KVIA with a receipt for the $3,400 she spent at Food City using her P-card.
Apparently she bought 100 turkeys and then gifted them to constituents.
As we showed previously, Article III, Sect. 52 of the Texas Constitution mandates that any expenditure of public funds must serve a public purpose and may not benefit private individuals.
Public funds may not be used for gifts.
So why were Gonzalez and Hernandez using taxpayer funds for gifts to individuals?
CLAUDIA LIZETTE RODRIGUEZ TO APPEAR ON ABC-7 XTRA
Apparently former City Rep. Claudia Lizette Rodriguez has not yet hired an attorney, otherwise she would have been told not to make any further statements to the media, since she is accused of actions that could potentially rise to a “state jail felony” under Section 39.02 of the Texas Penal Code.
Yesterday Rodriguez was interviewed by Saul Saenz, host of ABC-7 XTRA.
She defended her use of her City-issued P-card, with which she made eight purchases on one day, October 13, totaling $7,557.
Rodriguez insisted she submitted all her receipts, but that remains to be seen.
Evidently she did talk about her gas-card use, which has gotten her in a world of trouble.
Saenz’s report airs Sunday on Channel 7 at 10:35pm and should not be missed!
Kudos to KVIA for their exceptional reporting on these City financial scandals. It is curious that the El Paso Times and El Paso Matters have so far remained silent.