Palmview orders new election after councilman and La Joya admin steps down

Jose Luis Perez (Coutesy: City of Palmview)

The city of Palmview is calling for a special election to be held at the end of next month after a councilman submitted his resignation in the middle of his second term.

Place 2 Councilman Jose Luis Perez’s last day on the Palmview City Council will be June 30, according to a news release issued by the city on Wednesday.

The city council formally accepted Perez’s resignation during a specially called meeting Wednesday.

The special election to fill Perez’s unexpired term will be held on July 30, the news release states.

“Serving on the Commission has been a profound honor and privilege,” Perez stated in the news release.

“I am incredibly grateful to the citizens of Palmview for entrusting me with the responsibility of representing their interests,” he said.

Perez, who was first elected in 2018, and was reelected to his second term in May 2022, is resigning as a result of a new policy implemented by a state-appointed board of managers that oversees the La Joya school district.

That policy prohibits La Joya ISD administrators from serving in elected office.

Perez currently works as an assistant principal at the district’s Juarez-Lincoln High School, according to a biography posted on the city of Palmview’s website.

State regulators took over the school district in February after a number of former leaders were implicated in federal public corruption charges.

“The appointment of the Board of Managers and Superintendent is the result of a comprehensive TEA investigation that substantiated allegations of fraud and conflicts of interest executed by members of the elected LJISD Board of Trustees,” the Texas Education Agency stated in a Feb. 1 news release.

TEA investigators initially recommended that the agency take over the district in 2023; however, district officials fought back, lobbing criticisms at both the TEA and its investigation.

After months of appeals, which included contentious court hearings, the state moved forward with ousting La Joya ISD’s board of trustees and its superintendent.

The move garnered praise from local officials, including state Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, who lauded the action as a “bold move.”

“This action is key in dismantling the persistent culture of corruption that has tainted the integrity of our institutions,” Hinojosa stated in an op-ed this April.

“The recent string of federal indictments involving public officials from La Joya ISD, Agua Special Utility District… and the City of Peñitas emphasizes the urgency of addressing this issue at its core,” he further stated.

Since the board of managers implemented the policy prohibiting district admins from serving in an elected office, a wave of officials have stepped down from their seats in order to keep their jobs.

In addition to Perez, the following people have resigned their elected positions:

>> Leonardo “Lenny” Sanchez resigned from his Place 4 seat on the San Juan City Commission. Sanchez serves as the La Joya ISD chief of police.

>> Jose Roel “J.R.” Flores resigned his Place 2 seat on the Peñitas City Council. He serves as the district’s director of federal programs.

>> Laura Patricia Solis resigned as mayor of La Grulla. She currently serves as the principal of Patricio Perez Elementary School.

A fifth administrator claims the district terminated him from his position as a result of the new policy.

Isidro Casanova, mayor of the city of La Joya, said state-appointed Superintendent Marcey Sorenson fired him on May 17, according to an email sent to The Monitor by his attorney.

Casanova is appealing the termination.

Back in Palmview, Mayor Ricardo “Rick” Villarreal will not be resigning his post as the city’s top leader.

Formerly an assistant superintendent at La Joya ISD, the Palmview mayor most recently served as a curriculum facilitator at Memorial Middle School.

However, Palmview city officials say the district did not renew Villarreal’s contract.

Palmview will hold the special election to fill Perez’s newly vacated Place 4 seat for the remaining one year and 10 months of his unexpired term on July 30.

Candidates may submit their applications until 5 p.m. on June 20.

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