City attorney emails apology to council prior to departure
ABC-7’s I-Team obtained an email sent from City Attorney Sylvia Borunda Firth apologizing to council members about not informing them of a personal issue tied to an agenda item.
In the email, Borunda Firth apologized to City Council members for not informing them that her husband was representing a company that was seeking incentives for real estate. Borunda Firth’s husband, attorney Victor Firth, and his partners were seeking incentive to renovate a vacant building on Montana Avenue.
The email said that she would excuse herself from the meeting when discussion started on the items. She alleged that she properly shielded herself from any involvement with the legal work related to the requests made by her husband and his partners.
The next day, during the meeting, City Representative Cassandra Hernandez made a motion to delete the items becasue council had not been briefed on the incentives.
It’s unclear if this was the catalyst for the city attorney’s departure, which still remains a mystery.
ABC-7’s I-team sent about a dozen questions to the city about the way the two parted, which resulted in Berunda Firth getting a quarter-million dollar package.
Some of those questions included:
– Who in the city agreed to terminate employment and negotiate terms surrounding Borunda Firth’s departure?
– Did council, if they wanted, have the power to amend the agreement the Mayor had signed with Borunda Firth?
Neither of those questions were answered and instead, the city sent this statement:
” The City Representatives and the Mayor evaluated the City Attorney and through that process it was indicated a change was necessary. The City of El Paso agreed to the terms when the Council ratified the Separation and Release Agreement on May 14, 2018. Pursuant to the City charter, City Council is comprised of eight District Representatives and the Mayor. The City Attorney is appointed by the City Council. The City Attorney reports to City Council, the Mayor is a member of Council.”
Since the city did not answer the questions, ABC-7 reached out to Open Government Attorney Joseph Larsen. Although he said it was an lot to “unpack,” he did weight-in on the issue.
“It does not appear that the mayor alone had had the authority to negotiate and execute the contract with the city attorney or there would be no reason why the city would need to attempt to ratify it at some later point,” Larsen stated in an email. He continued on to say the mayor should have placed the item on the agenda for discussion regarding severance of teh city attorney. Larsen said the matter could have been deliberated under the “personnel” exception in closed session and then final action could have been taken in open session, which was done on May 14.
” I would have to know more about the the procedure followed in the ratification to be assured it was effective,” Larsen added.
ABC-7 is working to get more information from the city.
Look for more updates.
