A trifecta is a series of 3 ultimate achievements that are related to one another. For example, if a horse wins 3 different championships then that would constitute a trifecta because each singular event was difficult and nearly impossible. The fact the horse could win just 1 event is impressive, but a trifecta takes the horse to a supernatural status.
The City of Sandy Oaks is home to a trifecta, but it’s not a positive one. Sandy Oaks is home to a Trifecta of Corruption.
Waterwood Park Property Owner’s Association
Most people in the community are aware of the WPPOA’s illegal election it attempted to hold on January 15, 2015. The election was on a new set of bylaws and the WPPOA sent out ballots to property owners in Waterwood. These ballots stated that if a person did not choose to vote, then the person would automatically be counted as voting “Yes.”
All of the ballots were dated the wrong date and didn’t have a special paragraph required by Texas Law. But this didn’t stop the WPPOA board from trying to force the vote.
The meeting had people seated behind an official table as if they were board members. The supposed board members included Jim Clement claiming to be president, Charlotte Rabe, Pedro Orduno, and Luann Cox. How exactly are these 4 people WPPOA board members is unknown. Someone sent certified letters to Clement, Rabe, and Orduno, requesting to see all paperwork from the WPPOA showing how they are board members, when they were elected, and how many people voted for or against them. Neither Clement, Rabe, nor Orduno has responded to the letters, a requirement of state HOA law.
Clement now claims the WPPOA controls the community park and the ability to collect assessment fees with zero proof of having been elected.
Art Martinez de Vara
Art Martinez de Vara is the City Attorney for Sandy Oaks.
No wait, Art Martinez de Vara is the attorney for the WPPOA.
No wait, Art Martinez de Vara is the attorney for the Sandy Oaks Political Action Committee (SOPAC).
No wait, Art Martinez de Vara is the attorney for the Committee to Incorporate Sandy Oaks (CISO).
No wait, Art Martinez de Vara is the Mayor of the City of Von Ormy.
Actually, he’s all of these things at once, creating a tremendous conflict of interest.
Martinez de Vara stated publicly that Waterwood incorporating into a 2.4 square mile area wouldn’t be economically viable. Yet, he helped CISO do it anyway and was rewarded with a regularly paid position for it.
Martinez de Vara was given the position of City Attorney before the first City Council meeting ever took place. SOPAC/CISO members even made him an official placard for his seat next to the City Council members. This position rewarded Martinez de Vara after his newspaper, the Sandy Oaks Chronicle, ran a 2 page advertisement for SOPAC, giving bios for each SOPAC member. The paper stated all candidates had been invited to participate, yet the only 3 non-SOPAC candidates said they had never been contacted.
As City Attorney, Martinez de Vara was involved with an issue of fraud. Someone secretly changed an item the City Council voted on and Martinez de Vara submitted paperwork to county election officials that showed the secret change.
In short, Art Martinez de Vara, the man who the City Council relies on at almost every meeting, is corrupt.
City Council
There are 6 people on the Sandy Oaks City Council; 5 Aldermen and 1 Mayor. Not 1 of them has publicly spoken out against either the WPPOA or Martinez de Vara. All of them were aware of the illegal WPPOA vote, in fact, some of them attended the meeting, but none of them spoke out against it.
One reason they may not have spoken out was the fact that Jim Clement, the man who claims to be WPPOA president, is also the Mayor. As CISO chairman, Clement hand picked people he wanted to be on the City Council and invited them into being apart of SOPAC. Now SOPAC holds 3 of the 5 Aldermen positions.
But not even the non-SOPAC members, David Tremblay and Micki Ball, have spoken out publicly against the WPPOA issue. Alderman Micki Ball does, however, run an anonymous facebook page where she has spoken out against Clement. So she does know that it is wrong, she doesn’t care to use her position on the City Council to do anything about it.
With regards to Art Martinez de Vara being City Attorney, the City Council validates his position and presence at every meeting in which they not only rely on his legal advice, but ask him for advice on how to run the city. They all know that he helped secretly change what they voted on, and yet they still allow him to be City Attorney.
Which of the 5 Aldermen voted for Art Martinez de Vara to be City Attorney?
All of them.
Speaking of which, every single City Council member received an Open Records Request asking how much the city is in debt (the city went into debt at the first City Council meeting). The Texas Public Information Act requires that any records request be answered. So who answered?
None of them.
Connections
A trifecta is only possible if everything is related to one another.
Clement serves as both WPPOA president and City Mayor, without ever having to run against someone for either position.
Martinez de Vara is connected to everything because he’s been involved in almost every entity. He was even connected to the illegal WPPOA vote. The attorney for the WPPOA present at the meeting was Alex Tovar, who works for the Sanchez and Wilson Law Firm. Robert Wilson, from that firm, is the City Attorney in Von Ormy where Art Martinez de Vara is Mayor.
The City Council is allowing all of this to go on. If it happens in the city, then the city government should be addressing it. But this government wont, because it is corrupt.
A Trifecta of Corruption.
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