Mercedes mayor’s job offer questioned

MERCEDES - Mayor Joel Quintanilla has been offered a $62,000-a-year day job with the Mercedes school district, school board members said, but one local businessman says the mayor isn't qualified for the position.

If he accepts the job for which he applied, Quintanilla will be the district's construction and facilities manager.

School board President Danny Salinas said the board voted to offer Quintanilla the job on July 8.

"We voted to offer him the job," Salinas said. "He applied for it."

Quintanilla said Thursday he is considering taking the job, but doesn't know all the details, including the salary.

Former two-term city commissioner David Garza, who owns a garage and wrecker service, said it is a conflict of interest for the mayor to be an employee of the school district because the mayor would be in charge of obtaining building permits, variances and occupancy permits from the city.

But Quintanilla said that many city commissioners in the recent past, as well as former mayor Miguel Castillo, who was a school administrator, have been school district employees.

Garza claims the job description was changed to allow Quintanilla to qualify for the job.

The changes included reducing the education requirement from a degree or certificate to just a high school diploma, Garza said.

"Mayor Quintanilla does not have any degree so the qualification is (now) only a high school diploma," Garza said.

"I question why would you lower the standard on a job that requires the person to have knowledge of mechanical and electrical designs, knowledge of project planning, ability to read blueprints and schematics and do on-site inspection of facilities and pre-qualify, or approval process, for architects, engineers and contractors without any type of degree?"

But Quintanilla now owns a construction company and develops subdivisions.

"I have been in the construction business for 24 years," Quintanilla said Thursday.

Salinas and school board vice president Monte Churchill, who was also a former superintendent, confirmed Wednesday that the board voted last week to offer Quintanilla the school district job.

Salinas said he believes the salary for the job is about $62,000 but did not know if that sum includes fringe benefits.

"We did not take formal action with the amount," Salinas said.

Garza said there is a difference between Quintanilla being offered the job while already serving as mayor and the situation with Castillo.

"My argument there was that he worked for the school before he became mayor," Garza said of Castillo.

"Joel is mayor now, working for the school. A conflict of interest exists because he would be in both executive sessions when discussing school and city business," Garza said.

Top school administrators were not available for comment this week.