City Rep. Romero sick, unclear when he’ll return to city hall

ABC-7 stopped by Romero’s private business on Monday morning to ask if Romero had decided to step down as alternate Mayor Pro Tempore and as the Chair of the City’s Financial Oversight and Audit Committee. The City Council last month voted to ask Romero to step down from the posts and when asked if he would comply with Council’s request, Romero told ABC-7 he’d have an answer after the holidays.

Romero was at his private office on Monday but before ABC-7 could ask him about the posts, his wife approached ABC-7 and said the City Representative was sick and recently released from the hospital. She said Romero had suffered a serious medical episode three days before Christmas and had been hospitalized until this week. ABC-7 is not releasing Romero’s specific medical condition out of respect for his medical privacy.

Rep. Romero’s wife said she was unsure when her husband would be ready to go back to work or city hall. “He has been under a lot of stress,” she said.

Romero had come under mounting pressure after reports surfaced revolving the city’s search for a new financial adviser. City Manager Tommy Gonzalez began the process at the public suggestion of Romero at a meeting but without a vote from council. The financial adviser controversy was the latest in a string of episodes that landed Romero with negative attention, including questions about his home street being slated to be repaved even though it was not on the original list of streets approved by council.

Romero has maintained he did nothing inappropriate and voted in favor of an investigation that will review the search for a new financial adviser.

“You all (media) have me as the most powerful person here at city hall. You all think that I can go to purchasing and I can say ‘hire this person.’ I can go to streets and say ‘do these streets.’ That’s not my job. The city manager runs the city. He’s the one who makes the decision. And yet you all keep coming on me like I’m the one who keeps doing everything,” Romero told the media on December 3rd.

The often quiet City Representative had been more accessible as the controversy grew before the holidays, appearing as a guest on ABC-7 Xtra and holding a news conference to answer questions about the controversies.

Council in December hired Ethics attorney Ross Fischer to review if Gonzalez acted appropriately when he authorized the search for a new financial adviser without a vote of direction from the city council. That investigation is expected to wrap up by the end of this month.