Community wants loss of 4 million dollars investigated

A former Calexico City Council member said he’s the one who blew the whistle on the city overspending public funds.

Former City Mayor Armando Real said, “I had been blowing the whistle on this for pretty much three years of my four years on council saying money was missing and at the end of the day hearing this from the state controller really – I get no satisfaction from saying I told you so. It’s the people of Calexico that are hurt by this.”

A State Controller report said the city went from a 4-million-dollar surplus to being 4 million in the red from 2014-2016, this at a time when city employees were asked to take pay cuts.

“The city council needs to, with this report, they need to get together and launch an investigation on who is responsible and I think they need to go after him,” Real said.

Ben Horton, former economic commissioner, said he’s demanding a criminal investigation.

“The city council at the end is responsible and who they designate as their city manager also holds a certain amount of responsibility because they report to the city council on the performance of what’s taking place in the city,” Horton said.

Council Member Bill Hodge said he wants to be transparent in city activities and spending.

“I don’t know if it’s going to be a criminal investigation or what type it is, but any type of investigation that will get us closer to the truth, that will reveal our shortfalls or misdoing, is welcome,” Hodge said.

Assistant City Manager Miguel Figueroa said the city is still feeling the impact of that overspending.

“We are on the same boat as our community. There are the agencies that have the authority to address these matters that occurred. Our responsibility right now is to continue to implement best practices, continue to address everything that the state controller’s office asks of us,” Figueroa said.

Council members during that time were Maritza Hurtado, Joong Kim, John Moreno, Luis Castro and Armando Real.

You can view or download the State Controller’s report at this URL:

https://www.sco.ca.gov/Files-AUD/01_2019_calexico_internalcontrol.pdf