"No Mis-appropriations" but plenty of Shenanigans

The Laredo Morning Times headline was misleading to say the least. The front page of Sunday's LMT read "No Misappropriation". It went on to report that, in the final analysis, all the money from the recent fisaco-filled mud race was "there".  However, the headline fails to convey the many detours and contortions the money took before all of it was magically accounted for.

Consider the following excerpt for instance:

Bernie Chapa, of Ciclomania, the pre-registration site, arrived at City Hall on Sept. 19 to submit the remaining balance.

He provided $650 from credit card transactions and $2,300 in wads of cash that he pulled from his pockets.

At that time, the city called LPD.

Chapa initially told the city that only $650 in credit card transactions was pending.

Rosario Camarillo Cabello, the city’s finance director, then told San Miguel that about $2,000 was still missing.

The next day, Chapa turned in the $650 as well as $2,300 in cash.

Chapa told LPD that he did not turn in the additional money the day before because he was told by Clarissa Rangel, the city’s assistant parks and leisure services director, to not give it to San Miguel.

Muddying the truth further was this conflicting report involving Parks and Leisure Director Osbaldo Guzman, San Miguel himself and Maria Perez, who works as a clerk for the city.

Parks and leisure services department employees, meanwhile, believed that the director, Guzman, was “fully aware” that San Miguel took custody of the money, the report states.

Maria Perez, a city clerk who assisted in setting up the event, told city staff that Guzman directed her to give San Miguel the money collected.

But she said she told him that she had just bought the collections box and did not want to give it to the councilman.

She also told staff that she remembered San Miguel saying that he needed to go deposit the collections received.

She added that this was the first time collections had been given to a council member. In the past, it was always deposited through the city, she said.

Guzman dismissed the claims, saying that he did not direct anyone to give the collections to San Miguel.

And he told investigators that he did not know that San Miguel took the money.

“Conflicting statements were obtained from the … personnel as to whether (Guzman) gave orders to turn over monies to (San Miguel),” the LPD report states.

In a van, by the (Mud) river!  If all of this smacks of incompetence, read how the LMT reports the money was handled at the event.

The money was placed in a van that was parked on site.

The money was left unsecured in the van for several hours, the report states.

At the end of the event, San Miguel took the money home.

He told LPD investigators that he didn’t think it was a problem and said he was not aware of a money handling policy.

And for the icing of the cake :

After conducting its investigation, LPD presented the case to District Attorney Isidro Alaniz and Assistant District Attorney Marisela Jacaman.

The report, obtained by Laredo Morning Times on Saturday, states that the district attorney’s office would not prosecute the case due to a lack of evidence.