San Juan commissioner defends ousted city manager

San Juan City Manager Benjamin Arjona (Courtesy: City of San Juan)

A San Juan city commissioner is speaking out in defense of former City Manager Ben Arjona, who was fired Tuesday.

Commissioners were in executive session for nearly an hour-and-a-half Tuesday evening as they discussed three items on the agenda, one of which was Arjona’s employment.

After reconvening, they voted 3-2 in favor of terminating Arjona’s contract.

Commissioner Ernesto “Neto” Guajardo was one of the two commissioners who voted against Arjona’s termination. Speaking after the meeting, Guajardo said that he felt that Arjona was doing a good job in his nearly 10 years working for the city.

“I know that Arjona may have done some things that were bad, but those were things that can be fixed there in city hall,” he said. “Some of the decisions he was making were best for the city.”

Guajardo clarified those comments Friday morning, saying that it was a miscommunication when he said that Arjona has done some things that were bad.

“I just wanted to clear out the air,” Guajardo said. “It wasn’t that he had done bad things. It’s that he has done things because he was being given directives by other people, and he felt that he had no choice but to do it. And that’s wrong. He should have not been pressured in any way.”

When asked who was pressuring Arjona, Guajardo said that he couldn’t comment further.

“There were directions given by certain people,” he said.

Mayor Mario Garza spoke after Tuesday’s meeting, and he said that Arjona was terminated with cause. When asked to clarify those comments, he said that he could not comment any further because it was a personnel matter.

Guajardo said that he couldn’t talk about what was discussed during executive session, but he added that he wishes that Arjona had been given an opportunity to defend himself. Arjona was seen exiting the conference room Tuesday while the commissioners continued their discussions in executive session.

“It ​​would have been better if they would have given him a chance to — OK, if it was the probably cause, give him a chance to defend himself,” Guajardo said.

Arjona had previously been placed on unpaid leave in September for one week before returning to work. His contract would’ve been up for renewal.

San Juan Fire Chief Tirso Garza will serve as the interim city manager while the city looks to find Arjona’s replacement.

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