Padilla controversy continues in San Benito

SAN BENITO - Records show the city paid a former employee 12 weeks' salary and more than two weeks' vacation pay some two weeks after she left City Hall.

The city paid former human resources director Sylvia Padilla a total of $12,783.87 in two checks dated Oct. 16 and Oct. 18, 2007, after she left her job Oct. 5, according to records requested by the Valley Morning Star through the Texas Public Information Act.

City officials have said Padilla was only paid for vacation time and sick pay.

Last month, Padilla shocked the community when she testified former City Manager Victor Treviño offered her a pay-off of $13,000 to $15,000 after first suggesting she get an abortion to keep her job.

Padilla said Treviño fired her, giving her a payoff to "leave quietly."

But Treviño, who called Padilla a "disgruntled" employee, said her resignation was a personnel matter whose details he couldn't disclose.

City Attorney Jan Cassidy said in a June 3 press release the city did not pay Padilla a "settlement."

Instead, it appeared the city paid Padilla for vacation time and sick pay, Cassidy said.

On Thursday, Cassidy re-issued the press release that stated the two checks drawn from a payroll account "appear on their face to compensate the former employee for vacation and sick time."

But records show the city paid Padilla $8,730.72 for 480 hours worth of regular work time in a check dated Oct. 18, 2007.

The check also paid Padilla $728.47 for about 40 hours of sick pay, records show.

Records also show the city paid Padilla $1,862.19 for about 102 hours' worth of vacation time in the check.

But a $1,462.49 payroll check dated Oct. 16, 2007, shows Padilla only had about four hours of vacation time available, records show.

Treviño, who said he could not remember the checks' details, said commissioners approved the payment.

"I didn't do anything wrong," Treviño said.

City Commissioner Celeste Sanchez denied commissioners approved the payment.

"There was no settlement approved by the commission," Sanchez said. "We were never told the amount of money. The checks were never presented to us."

Commissioners at the time only discussed the payment of accrued vacation time and sick pay, Sanchez said.

"We were only told she was going to get money in back pay," Sanchez said.

Commissioners recently asked City Manager Manuel Lara to investigate the payments, Commissioner Jack Garcia said.

Garcia speculated Treviño may have offered Padilla the money as part of an arrangement in which she agreed not to file a lawsuit against the city.

"I would not use public funds when we have good insurance to protect the city from litigation," Garcia said.

Treviño said he could not comment on whether he paid Padilla as part of an agreement to avoid a lawsuit.

Commissioners on Thursday and Friday referred questions to Cassidy.

Cassidy did not respond Thursday and Friday to several telephone messages requesting comment on the payments that appeared to include salary payments as well as vacation pay for which Padilla wasn't entitled.

In a May 20 Civil Service hearing, Padilla testified that Treviño had suggested she get an abortion to keep her job. Instead, she took a payoff of $13,000 to $15,000 to "leave quietly," Padilla testified.

Padilla testified she was fired.

Treviño called the accusations "a gross misrepresentation," stressing Padilla's pregnancy was not a factor behind what he described as her resignation.