COMPLAINT: SPI IS BEING RUN BY BULLIES...FOR SELF-BENEFIT

Special to El Rrun-Rrun 

Dolcefino Media, a Texas-based investigative media firm, has filed formal complaints  against key public officials on South Padre Island with the Cameron County District Attorney and the town’s ethics board.

The complaints were filed Friday. 

The ethics complaint names Mayor Patrick McNulty, Councilmember Joe Ricco, and City Secretary Nikki Soto for alleged violations of the city’s Code of Ethics and the Texas Public Information Act. A separate criminal complaint details evidence of abuse of official capacity and ongoing acts of official oppression under the Texas Penal Code.

“What we have already uncovered reveals a disturbing and systematic pattern of retaliation against those who choose to compete against bars owned by the cities top two public officials”, says Wayne Dolcefino, President of Dolcefino Media.

 “Citizens should not fear their public servants, but since so many are afraid in South Padre Island to speak out, I will make sure the city';s ethics board does its job. We call on the Cameron County District Attorney Luis V. Saenz to launch a public integrity investigation.”

The complaints filed accuse Mayor McNulty and Councilmember Ricco of using their elected positions to benefit their personal business interests. Both officials have ownership stakes in Tequila Sunset and Louie’s Backyard, two bars in the heart of the island entertainment district that received direct advantages from city-funded infrastructure projects and ordinance changes.

Both McNulty and Ricco voted on items that improved the street immediately in front of Their businesses, including a drainage project and the installation of bollards to illuminate sidewalks directly in front of the entrances to their bars. Records of those official actions show a failure to recuse, violating multiple provisions of the South Padre Island

Code of Ethics.

The complaints also highlight a pattern of retaliation against other business owners. A bar owner claims his patrons were targeted with selective towing enforcement forcing him to close. The owners of Coconut Jacks in the entertainment district claim they were extorted by Councilman Ricco to make a charitable donation to a local non-profit in order to park in the entertainment districts main parking lot.

 The owners claim a recent fire inspection was requested by Councilman Ricco after the owners first spoke out about their payments.

The owners also say their plans to turn the bar into a Bubba Gump franchise have been met with an official action to jeopardize their plans by ordinance The Gump franchise had bought a lot 600 feet from the planned new restaurant in compliance with the city ordinance. In March, the South Padre Island City Council voted to reduce the parking ordinance from 1200 feet to 200 feet, jeopardizing the Gump property. 

A hotel owned by the same interests was targeted for city council action because of non-payment of two months of hotel motel taxes despite the mayor’s admission other hotels owed substantial amounts. The city has so far refused to provide the records of hotel motel tax delinquencies to Dolcefino Media.

City Secretary Nikki Soto is accused of violating the Texas Public Information Act by intentionally withholding public records, and obstructing legal requests for public records made in recent months by Dolcefino Media. In one case, the city secretary claimed it would take 384 weeks, over seven years, to provide phone records of two public officials. 

Both Mayor McNulty and Councilman Ricco have failed to provide text messages despite the ability to do so by simply screenshotting the messages.

“South Padre Island is being controlled by some bullies who use the levers of government to benefit themselves,” says Dolcefino. “It must end.”

To read more about the investigation and complaint, click on link: https://dolcefino.com/killing-the-competition/

(Dolcefino media is run by award winning journalist Wayne Dolcefino. The investigative media firm has been hired to investigate government misconduct across the Rio Grande Valley. The complaints have been submitted to both the South Padre Island Board of Ethics and the Cameron County District Attorney’s Office. Copies of the complaints are attached. For further information or media interviews, please contact Wayne Dolcefino at 713-389-0810.)