Suit accuses City Manager of seeking favors from vendors
By Ruth Ferguson, NDG Editor
The developers did not let any grass grow under their feet when they filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against the City of Irving alleging breach of contract. This was in response to the City Council allowing their contract to expire at midnight on August 7.
A special meeting was called to allow developers and the public the opportunity to provide comment to the Irving City Council on a request to extend the developer’s deadline on the entertainment center project in Irving.
After hearing from Irving residents Monday night, members of nearly a capacity crowd, the City Council voted 5-4 to allow the contract with the Las Colinas Group (LCG) to expire. LCG offered a new plan, which dramatically reduced the City’s financial contribution and offered to step aside and allow TDI to complete the project.
On Tuesday morning LCG filed a 51-page breach of contract lawsuit accusing City Manager Tommy Gonzalez of making “every effort to kill the project” including refusing “to even meet with representatives of LCG to discuss this favorable proposal,” they allege he instead hired “trial lawyers.”
The lawsuit includes allegations Gonzalez or “someone acting on his behalf” leaked confidential information during Standard and Poor’s rating review process. In the end, S&P did not issue a favorable rating on the proposed $146 million bond package.
The more personal accusations against Gonzalez include the suggestion he runs his staff “as a petty tyrant” punishing those he perceives as disloyal. The lawsuit alleges he shows favoritism when selecting vendors and hiring staff. They accuse him of coercing LCG into hiring a personal friend facing foreclosure and indicated if they submitted her payment of $6,000 on the next payment request (draw) the City would process the payment request. According to the lawsuit, these are the funds the friend needed to avoid foreclosure.
LCG alleges Gonzales’ lack of support stems from their refusal to make a donation to the private school his children attend. They even suggest this is part of a pattern, referring to alleged pressure he made on a vendor when he was the Lubbock City Manager.
The lawsuit also accuses Mayor Beth Van Duyne of attempting to sabotage the project through her hostile city council resolutions, including 20 separate resolutions on February 28, 2012 for an upcoming March Special Meeting. The lawsuit states that despite the City Council voting down the resolutions, the damage was done.
Mayor Van Duyne dismissed the lawsuit in comments to the Dallas Observer saying, “”The city has done everything they were obligated to do. It’s nothing but a smear campaign.”
this contradiction by the mayor of Irving and the 4 council members against the entertainment complex in Irving in my opinion is a slap to the residents of Irving plus a blacken eye before the business community that could be interested in Irving as a business friendly promoter.
Likely most of the speakers at the Town Hall and Special Meeting, would agree with your assessment.