Eagle Pass City Manager Arturo B. Rodriguez Resigns at Special City Council Meeting Held on December 28, 2017

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

City of Eagle Pass, Texas City Manager Arturo B. Rodriguez tendered his resignation at a Special City Council Meeting held on Thursday, December 28, 2017 after a lengthy evaluation of him conducted by the City Council in consultation with Legal Counsel, Heriberto Morales of Langley & Banack, in Executive Session.

The Eagle Pass City Council had previously evaluated City Manager Arturo B. Rodriguez in 2017 and had awarded him a three month probation period extension to complete their evaluation.

The City Council went into Executive Session at 11:30 A.M. to consult with Legal Counsel regarding the evaluation of City Manager Rodriguez.  The City Council took three hours in a lengthy Executive Session, returning into Open Session at 2:32 P.M.  As the City Council returned into Open Session, some of the City Council members faces and body language were gloomy and slumped.

Although City taxpayers will never know what happened during the Executive Session evaluation as that is privileged and confidential according to State law, the expression on the City Council faces showed that there was a long and exhaustive evaluation.

Upon returning into Open Session, Mayor Ramsey English Cantu thanked Rodriguez for his work and dedication to the City of Eagle Pass and the advancements made during his tenure as City Manager, and announced that it saddened the City of Eagle Pass that he had tendered his letter of resignation as City Manager.

Rodriguez announced that he was resigning and that his last date of employment with the City of Eagle Pass as its City Manager will be January 28, 2018.  Rodriguez was hired on January 3, 2017 and his first date on the job as the City of Eagle Pass’s City Manager was on February 1, 2017.  Rodriguez’s tenure as City Manager with the City of Eagle Pass lasted one year.

Rodriguez added that it had been an honor for him to serve the citizens of Eagle Pass as their City Manager and wished the City of Eagle Pass continued success and prosperity in the future.  Rodriguez noted that he had made many friends while serving the City of Eagle Pass and wished that God Bless Eagle Pass.

City Council Member Luis E. Sifuentes thanked Rodriguez for his dedicated services and the revitalization of the City of Eagle Pass during his tenure as City Manager.  Sifuentes thanked Rodriguez for initiating many progressive programs and leadership within the City of Eagle Pass, adding new and fresh ideas to the economic development and growth of Eagle Pass.  Sifuentes noted that although it saddened him to see Rodriguez resign, that he was grateful for Rodriguez charting new initiatives to take the City of Eagle Pass to the next level.

No public comments regarding Rodriguez’s resignation were made by Mayor Pro-Tem Yolanda P. Ramon and City Council Members Rudy Villalpando and William “Billy” Davis at the meeting.

The City Council approved Rodriguez’s resignation and Mayor Ramsey English Cantu moved that Assistant City Manager Ivan Morua be named Acting City Manager subject to being ratified by the City Council in a future meeting.  The City Council approved the naming of Ivan Morua as Acting City Manager subject to ratification in the future.

The citizens and taxpayers of the City of Eagle Pass will once again have to endure a new search for a City Manager in the beginning of the new year in 2018.

At a City Council regular meeting held on Tuesday, January 2, 2018, the City Council unanimously approved the ratification of Assistant City Manager Ivan Morua as Acting City Manager for the City of Eagle Pass.