A Town of Pecos City council member has been indicted on a felony charge alleging he used his public office to obtain a financial benefit through a consulting arrangement tied to a city-backed housing project.
Councilman Conrado Saldana turned himself in Friday and was booked into the Reeves County Jail before posting a $5,000 bond, according to the Reeves County Sheriff’s Office. The charge stems from an indictment accusing Saldana of abuse of official capacity in connection with a $3,000 consulting job with Kleinman Consultants, according to reporting by NewsWest 9.
The engineering firm is involved in the Hidden Heroes housing development, a project that receives partial funding from the City of Pecos. During an April 23 city council meeting, Saldana made the motion that led to a unanimous vote approving the firm’s participation in the project.
The consulting arrangement later became the subject of a contentious special city council meeting on June 9, where fellow Councilman Hector Carrasco criticized Saldana for not disclosing his relationship with the company.
“Your actions have dishonored this position, and … I challenge you to do what’s morally right and resign your position on the City Council,” Carrasco said during the meeting, according to NewsWest 9.
The indictment alleges Saldana knowingly violated a provision of the Town of Pecos municipal code that prohibits city council members from having a direct or indirect interest in work, contracts or business conducted with the city.
Saldana has denied wrongdoing. During the June 9 meeting, he said he accepted the consulting position because he was living on a fixed income and maintained that he sought guidance from city administration before taking the job.
“I’m just one vote,” Saldana said during the meeting. “I say yay or nay if I like it or I don’t like it. But it takes a team to do this, and if I was going to do something unethical, I wouldn’t have ever done it.”
Questions remain about whether city officials were aware of the municipal code provision before allegedly advising Saldana that the arrangement was permissible. City officials had not publicly commented on the indictment as of Friday.
Under Texas law, a person convicted of a felony is generally prohibited from holding elected public office. If convicted, Saldana would likely be removed from his council seat.
