Laredo City Manager Jesus “Chuy” Olivares Retires During City Council Meeting

By: Miguel Munoz, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2017

The City of Laredo, Texas City Manager Jesus “Chuy” Olivares announced his retirement effective immediately on Monday, May 15, 2017, during a City Council Meeting after Mayor Pete Saenz had placed an agenda item calling for the placement of Olivares on administrative leave with pay because he had been named one of 17 “target suspects” by the FBI in last month’s search warrants against the City of Laredo in a pending investigation regarding the awarding of public construction contracts to Dannenbaum Engineering of Houston, Texas.

Olivares has publicly denied any involvement or unlawful conduct concerning the City of Laredo’s City Council awarding of public contracts to Dannenbaum Engineering since the beginning of the FBI search warrants being executed upon Laredo City Buildings or Departments.

Laredo Mayor Pete Saenz has previously confirmed that he called the FBI to investigate the City of Laredo after a $1 Million public construction contract was awarded to Dannenbaum Engineering without requesting proposals from other competing firms and his attempt to have the contract reversed or rescinded was denied by the City Council at his first public City Council meeting as Mayor.

Both Mayor Saenz and Olivares, who had just been named Acting City Manager, were serving their first public City Council meeting together as Mayor and Acting City Manager, respectively, when Laredo’s City Council denied Mayor Saenz’s agenda item to reverse or rescind the $1 Million public construction contract to Dannenbaum Engineering.  The City of Laredo City Council had previously awarded Dannenbaum Engineering the $1 Million public construction contract before Olivares was named Acting City Manager while under a previous City Manager.

Mayor Saenz placed on Monday’s May 15th City Council Agenda an action item calling for the placement of City Manager Olivares on administrative leave with pay until the FBI investigation is completed since he is one of 17 individuals named as “target suspects” in the FBI search warrants against the City of Laredo.  The Laredo City Council went into Executive Session on May 15th to discuss City Manager Olivares’ placement under administrative leave with pay for an hour or so and when the City Council returned into Open Session, Olivares made the public announcement that he had retired effective immediately and walked out of the City Council meeting.

City Manager Olivares’ sudden retirement at the May 15th Laredo City Council meeting caused the City Council to return into Executive Session to discuss the naming of an Acting City Manager in lieu of Olivares’ retirement.  Upon returning into Open Session, the Laredo City Council approved naming Assistant City Manager Horacio De Leon as the new Acting City Manager.

Olivares has not been charged with any violations of federal laws by the FBI as of press time.

Four Laredo City Council members are also listed as “target subjects” among 17 individuals in the FBI search warrants against the City of Laredo, including Councilmen Alex Perez, Alberto Torres, Roberto Balli, and Rudy Gonzalez.

The FBI investigation is ongoing and may take several months before it is completed.  Any person listed as a “target subject” does not necessarily mean that that individual has violated any laws.  No person has been charged in the FBI’s investigation of the City of Laredo as of press time.