San Benito, developer dispute erupts into assault, water theft claims

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SAN BENITO — While city officials are accusing VARCO’s OrigoWorks of stealing water, a company attorney is calling the claim a “smoke-screen” aimed at diverting attention from Mayor Rick Guerra’s brother’s alleged assault on the owner of an investigative firm officials believe is tied to the company.

At 6:41 p.m. Wednesday, the city issued a news release accusing OrigoWorks, part of VARCO, the Brownsville-based real estate company developing Resaca Village, of stealing city water at the project site.

Meanwhile, Paul Serafy, an attorney representing VARCO, said OrigoWorks’ subcontractor had mistakenly tapped into the city’s water supply.

Then early Tuesday night outside City Hall, Ramiro Guerra, the San Benito Housing Authority’s vice chairman, hit Wayne Dolcefino, owner of Houston-based Dolcefino Consulting, during an interview with City Manager Fred Sandoval as the mayor and police Chief Mario Perea stood by.

In his video, Dolcefino appears to push Ramiro Guerra’s hand away as he’s holding a cellphone.

Then Ramiro Guerra is seen using his hand to hit Dolcefino’s back while he’s interviewing Sandoval.

“He touched me first,” Ramiro Guerra calls to Perea, before Dolcefino tells the chief, “I want to charge him with assault.”

Later, Perea filed a citation of “assault, offensive contact” against Ramiro Guerra.

“Being in this job, you see a whole lot of things,” Perea said Thursday, referring to the incident.

On Thursday, Rick Guerra did not respond to calls and a message requesting comment, while Ramiro Guerra did not respond to a message left at the housing authority.

“My biggest concern is for the citizens of San Benito,” City Commissioner Tom Goodman said in an interview. “We don’t need the drama. We need to put our heads down and move forward.”

Now, Dolcefino says he’s considering taking legal action.

“I’m considering potential legal action against the city, not just for hiding public records but for the unprovoked assault in front of the mayor and the city manager, neither of whom did a thing to tell him to shut up while he was verbally harassing me while engaging in a legitimate interview with an elected public official,” Dolcefino said in an interview.

“If the mayor can’t control his family and stop saying stupid things, he should do the citizens a favor and resign,” he said. “Tell Ramiro, ‘I’m coming back’ and put his big-boy pants on, and I’m really trembling in fear from the Guerra family. I’ve spent about 50 years dealing with corrupt, incompetent and stupid public officials. The people in San Benito should be embarrassed and outraged by the conduct of the people they’ve entrusted.”

The next day, city officials issued a news release, accusing VARCO’s OrigoWorks of stealing city water at the Resaca Village project site.

“Police officers reported that a coupling was installed to the city’s existing back-flow pipes without approval,” the news release states. “The attachment allowed access to the city’s water supply. The back-flow did not have a water meter. The construction site supervisor admitted that they had used the city’s back-flow previously.”

On Thursday, Serafy noted Cameron County Justice of the Peace David Garza on Tuesday had dismissed the city’s citation against OrigoWorks because the city had issued its citation to the wrong party.

The city had issued the citation on Aug. 16, he said.

“A subcontractor hired by OrigoWorks had mistakenly connected his hose to the wrong water supply,” Serafy said in an interview. “It was an inadvertent error but, in any event, we would be more than happy to pay for the water that was used by mistake.”

So far this year, VARCO has paid the city $4,372 to use its water, he said.

“It is disappointing that the city leadership continues to prioritize politics over community progress,” Serafy said. “The city leadership is standing in the way of progress and VARCO will continue to fulfill it’s commitment to San Benito.”

Serafy described the last two days as “crazy.”

“The city deserves much better,” he said. “This is not how public officials should be acting and this is not how to get things done.”

In June, Dolcefino released his first video surrounding what he describes as an investigation into the city’s Economic Development Corporation along with claims including public officials’ nepotism.

On Dolcefino Consulting’s website, Dolcefino describes himself as a former award-winning investigative reporter with ABC 13 in Houston.

“Dolcefino Consulting is an investigative media consulting firm, hired by companies, law firms, private citizens and taxpayers to expose injustice, fraud, and abuse of power,” the website states.

Since June, city officials have said they believe VARCO is behind the investigation, while Serafy has said the company did not hire Dolcefino.

Meanwhile, Dolcefino has adamantly denied VARCO hired him.

In April, VARCO filed a lawsuit against the city, claiming the EDC breached the parties’ contracts surrounding the development of Resaca Village, failing to “honor its obligations” under an agreement extending its construction timeline while claiming its amendments “void” because city commissioners had not approved them.

In response, the city filed a counter suit, claiming VARCO breached its contract when the company failed to comply with the city’s agreements granting extensions on the project’s completion, originally set for 2022.