Joel Ortega was first introduced to the City of Sandy Oaks in a public way on July 8, 2014, at a “Meet the Candidates” meeting set up by the Sandy Oaks Political Action Committee (SOPAC) where Ortega was presented as one of the candidates running for an alderman (city council) position. He was known to have announced his intention to run as early as May 27, 2014, where he attended a private SOPAC meeting in the Waterwood Park clubhouse.
At the “Meet the Candidates” meeting Joel Ortega said he had lived in the Waterwood community for 4 years. He said he was running to represent the Hispanic community.
Of the three town-hall meetings that the Community of Sandy Oaks/Waterwood held before the first election, Joel Ortega only showed up to the first. The second was held on July 14, 2014, where some residents expressed outrage at incorporation. At the third Town-Hall on July 22, 2014, where candidates stood behind tables with their names displayed for the public, Joel Ortega’s spot was empty.
On August 9, 2014 Joel Ortega won the first election for 1 of the 5 aldermen positions on the city council. Later, when aldermen were randomly assigned places and terms, he was assigned Alderman Place 3 with a 1 year term.
Notable Actions as Alderman
August 16, 2014 – Joel Ortega voted to approve the hiring of Art Martinez de Vara as city attorney. Martinez de Vara, at the time, was also mayor of Von Ormy, and the legal adviser to CISO, SOPAC, and the WPPOA.
Ortega approved a vote for the November 2014 election for an illegal amount of sales taxes.
September 11, 2014 – Against protests from the community, Joel Ortega voted to thank the Committee to Incorporate Sandy Oaks
September 18, 2014 – During the first city budget hearing, Ortega approved the budget Mayor Clement presented without doing a line by line analysis or asking where the proposed cost of items came from. Joel Ortega accidentally voted in favor of a retroactive 30 cent tax thinking it was for the next year and not the current. The vote was redone moments later. When Mayor Clement admitted that the budget was created by the city attorney, Art Martinez de Vara, and that the attorney had budgeted $36,000 for himself, Joel Ortega did nothing.
December 11, 2014 – Joel Ortega was told during the City Council meeting on December 11, 2014 that members of the community received letters from the owner of the property in which the council met, stating that they were legally banned from accessing the property. Ortega continued to participate in council meetings anyway, in violation of the Texas Open Meetings Act.
2015
January 2015 -In late December 2015/early January 2014, Jim Clement, as WPPOA president, mailed out letters to property owners in the Waterwood subdivision. The letters announced a vote for an amendment to the WPPOA By-Laws. The original and current By-Laws were 7 pages long and the “amendment” was 32 pages long. The letter included an illegal ballot that was missing a paragraph required by Texas law and also had the date for people’s signature listed as 2014 instead of 2015. If people did not participate in the vote, the letter stated that their absence would be counted as a “Yes” vote. Mail-in ballots were to be sent to Clement’s home.
As an alderman and member of the city council, Joel Ortega did nothing to protect citizens from Clement’s illegal vote.
February 12, 2015 – Joel Ortega was informed during the “Citizens to be heard” segment of a City Council meeting that the council had created an illegal amount of sales taxes and that someone had illegally changed one of the taxes from a 1/2 to a 1/4. In response, Ortega did nothing about the illegal change.
At the same meeting, Joel Ortega received an official Open Records Request asking for details on how much the city owed, how far the city was in debt, and what expenses the city had. Ortega ignored the request, in violation of the Public Information Act, a state law that promotes honest and open government.
March 21, 2015 – Joel Ortega violated the Texas Open Meetings Act by participating in an illegal closed/executive session with the city council in which no reason for the closed session was given.
May 14, 2015 – Joel Ortega violated the Texas Open Meeting Act again by participating in a city council meeting in which the council heard from, and discussed with, a person and topic that was not on the official agenda.
To see articles that involve Joel Ortega click here.
Last updated 5/26/2015
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