Nothing in architect Rodney Roberts’ cordial, pleasant January 17 briefing of City Council members on the La Cima Family Entertainment Center foretold 40 of the strangest and most twisted minutes in Council history.
When Roberts finished extolling the benefits of the $9 million dollar, 52,000 square foot center, including full-time employment for 30 to 35 Laredoans, and its amenities — 20 bowling lanes, arcades, black light miniature golf, a four-station golf simulator, pool tables, shuffle board, a restaurant, and a bar — Roque Vela Sr., the owner of Jett Bowl, took the podium to disparage his future competitor, Carlos Ibarra, who will build the La Cima project at 9653 McPherson Road.
Though some City Council members would later express incredulity that Vela would use the Council podium for a public ad hominem attack to try to sway their action on the agenda item before them — to approve the issuance of a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) which would allow the La Cima owners to apply for a permit to sell alcohol — others were not surprised at Vela’s sense of entitlement, his cheap attempt to hang onto the bowling monopoly he has enjoyed for 45 years, and the Hail Mary play on the pin drive in his pocket.
Vela, who has purchased land off Loop 20 to build a 42,000 square foot family entertainment venue, told the Council he was there to speak against the CUP, citing “information you don’t have.”
In addition to the litany of concerns he had for the Ibarra property — flood plain issues, public safety, and ingress and egress — he told the forum that there were two criteria to consider before issuing the CUP.
“When you make exceptions for somebody to build something somewhere in our fair city to improve the quality of life, it’s not only the project itself, it’s the people that are building it also that I feel you have to take into consideration,” he said, adding, “Therefore, I’ll have a short video, about 10 seconds, to give you some more information.”
The pin drive revealed a grainy video image of the interior of the Jett Bowl and in the distance a few people including a man in black with his back to the security camera. “Mr. Ibarra had some incidents at my place of business, and this is what I want to show you,” he said of a blurry pan of his business. He wanted eyes focused on a man and what was about to transpire.
Questions rose quickly about Vela’s introduction of the video, District VI Council member Charlie San Miguel asked, “Mayor, if I may ask legal, is this permissible?”
Taken by surprise, interim city attorney Kristina Hale said, “It’s related to the topic. I’m not sure exactly what this is. I can’t see it.”
Mayor Pete Saenz asked of Vela, “What is the purpose of the video?”
“The purpose of the video is to show the character of Mr. Ibarra and what happened in our place of business,” Vela said.
“It’s not directly related to the zone change,” Hale counseled.
“You are issuing a permit to sell liquor, and I believe this is associated with that,” Vela said.
“It would be up to the Council,” Hale said of whether to allow the video to continue.
“I don’t see the relevance,” San Miguel interjected.
Trying to pull the plug on Vela’s sideshow, the Mayor asked Vela, “Is it done?” When the video reached the point of the man in black and a woman in a fray, the Mayor’s tone changed. “Well, that’s personalities frankly.”
Vela answered, “No it is not personalities. It’s assaulting a lady in a place of business that he wants to build that sells alcohol. Assaulting and hitting a lady because he was drunk. And that’s what you’re gonna’ be dealing with. That’s why you are trying to make a decision to issue a permit to sell alcohol.”
“OK, we saw it. We’ll take it into consideration,” the Mayor said.
Vela seemed unable to leave the podium and chided San Miguel for phone calls he did not return. “It seems to me you are pre-determined to try to circumvent the rules, or change the rules, to help them to be able to compete with somebody who has been trying to talk to you for a while and someone who has been doing business in the City of Laredo for 45 years and providing wholesome family entertainment,” he said accusingly.
“Mr. Vela, just like I support their business plan, I support yours, too,” San Miguel said. “There’s no reason why we would oppose anybody coming to open a business. Mr. Vela, let me ask you, do you own property right next to La Cima?”
“No, I don’t,” Vela answered.
“Then you are just here to oppose another business that is going to give you competition,” countered San Miguel.
“No, it’s not,” Vela said adamantly to a crescendo of laughter and titters from the audience. He said it was the permit to sell liquor that he was opposed to and not the business Ibarra wanted to establish.
“Do you sell liquor at your bowling alley?” San Miguel asked.
“Yes, I do, and that’s why I went the correct way to purchase a piece of land and have it re-platted and re-zoned for the correct purpose of this type of business because public safety is very important to us and it should be to you, too. Thank you,” Vela said.
A gentleman approached the podium, introducing himself in perfect Spanish as Carlos Ibarra. “I am president of Ibarra Ventures. I’ve never in my life seen the man who just finished speaking, and so that there is no confusion, I have never been in that place. When he referred to Mr. Ibarra, possibly he was referring to my son David Ibarra. And if it is our sons we are referring to, I think there we are going to finish well,” he said, adding, “So that there is no confusion, I have never played in that place,” he said.
“As we have told some of you and some in the public, we want for Laredo to take a leap forward,” Ibarra continued. He spoke of the feasibility study he’d had done and the due diligence he and his consultants had taken to work with the City.
“To be clear I don’t know that man. He cannot refer to me in that manner,” Ibarra said.
Vela returned to the podium and said without looking at Ibarra, “Apologies to Mr. Ibarra,” adding that he was obviously talking about Ibarra’s son. Vela took the opportunity to continue to speak about his own project that he said followed city code to the letter, and that the Ibarra project was located at a place on McPherson Road that was unsafe because there was no traffic light.
Mayor Saenz told Vela that Laredo was open for business to everyone and thanked him for his investment.
And just when it seemed character assassination and calamity had taken a timeout, District I Council member Roberto Balli asked Roque Vela, “How long ago was this incident involving violence on women, or this woman?”
Vela answered, “October of last year, and she happens to be here. She is the president of the Tamaulipas bowling league.”
Balli asked Ibarra if his son would be one of the investors in the family enterprise, and Ibarra affirmed that his son was indeed part of the corporation. He told Balli that there is a police report that would clear up whether or not David Ibarra had been under the influence of alcohol at the time of the Jett Bowl incident.
“Whether or not he was, it’s obvious he was attacking a woman ‘sin defensa,’” Balli countered.
“I appreciate your concern, councilman, but it is beyond the scope of this Council. I think we’ve heard enough,” Mayor Saenz asserted.
“Mayor, if I can’t ask questions…I still have questions. And if I can’t ask, I’m not going to support it,” Balli dug in. “If I’m allowed to ask questions, I might support it. And so I would like to hear more.”
The Mayor asked Balli, “Why is this incident so relevant now?”
“Because the other part of this is the Conditional Use Permit for alcohol, and are we deciding on the alcohol today or the establishment today?”
“You are dealing with a Conditional Use Permit for a bar,” City Planner Nathan Bratton broke the agenda item down in short form for Balli.
Balli told Ibarra that the violence was of concern to him. “Es preocupante,” he said.
Saenz reminded Balli that the City Council was not the forum for deciding such matters.
“Maybe we should see the video again,” Balli said to the laughter, groans, and jeers of the audience. “Seriously,” he said. Seriously.
“I think we’ve heard enough,” Mayor Saenz said.
Tensions calmed when District IV Council newbie Albert Torres asked for information on the Conditional Use Permit. He also asked Bratton if what they were acting on that day would allow the Ibarras to move forward with licensing from the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission.
“The list of conditions is part of your packet,” Bratton told Torres and proceeded to enumerate them, including adhering to TABC regulations.
“We’ve heard enough of the incident. We are not triers of fact,” the Mayor said after Council member George Altgelt said that the woman in the video “was the assailant who had come out swinging punches.”
Newly elected District V Council member Nelly Vielma, the attorney who recently defeated Vela’s son, former Council member Roque Vela Jr., reminded the Council that both the woman and the man in the video were “innocent until proven guilty.” She said the incident in the video had nothing to do with the permit decision before Council and that the focus should be to get the business up and running as a new entertainment venue.
Mayor Saenz said that if it did have relevance, the TABC would handle the matter.
Vela returned once more to the podium to “make things perfectly clear,” to share his knowledge and understanding of zoning and permits, and to reiterate that the site he chose for his enterprise would not put the public or his customers at risk. He said he had gone by the rules and asked for a “fair, level playing field.” He said that by offering the Ibarra project a CUP, the city was altering the level playing field and going against the guidelines of the City’s comprehensive plan to move as many bars downtown as possible. He called the Ibarra project “a 50,000 square foot bar with no way to get in and out safely.”
Just before the 8-1 Council vote for the CUP, San Miguel reflected on the discussion that had spanned the last 40 minutes. “I can’t believe we just witnessed what we witnessed here tonight. I don’t understand the relevance to the CUP. I’m still kind of in shock.”
District II Council member Vidal Rodriguez who had asked not a single question nor commented in a discussion about either the Ibarra project or the Vela project, voted against the CUP.
