'Maybe I didn't work hard enough': Pasadena city attorney kills scholarships promised to 2 students

PASADENA, Texas (KTRK) -- What started as an exciting opportunity for two Pasadena students turned into a city feud.

Council member Emmanuel Guerrero is fired up, saying the city attorney axed a scholarship he was trying to start after it was already on the city agenda and promised to two young Latino students.

In the middle of this back and forth are two students, young women on their way to college who were both promised $500 from Councilmember Guerrero's district fund.

The promise was cut down when the Pasadena city attorney denied giving out the checks.

"They're taking it away, and it makes me wonder what was the reason behind it. Maybe I didn't work hard enough, or my hard work didn't pay off?" scholarship recipient Ana Pineda questioned.

Pineda is one of two students from Pasadena High School who were picked from a scholarship competition by Pasadena Councilmember Emmanuel Guerrero's office.

She was seen pictured next to Guerrero on June 4 when she was presented with the scholarship at a council meeting.

Pineda is headed to college with big dreams of being an engineer and says the scholarship money never came.

"It kind of puts me in a struggle because even though it's small, it would help me a lot," Pineda said.

Pineda was left with many questions. Guerrero told ABC13 he was too.

"Since then, up to this point, I have had no explanation of why that occurred, and we followed all the proper channels and process to the point where it even went on the agenda," Guerrero said.

He says the city attorney pulled both of the $500 checks for Pineda and the second scholarship recipient before they were paid out.

"The agenda is created by him and reviewed. Why did it make it to the list?" Guerrero questioned.

ABC13 started asking questions, and on Wednesday afternoon, the city of Pasadena sent us a statement:

"Our local students are the lifeblood of Pasadena's future, and these young ladies should not have to suffer because this junior Councilman, Emanuel Guerrero, would have potentially violated the Texas State Constitution. It's common sense to realize that since these checks were cut from city funding, that's taxpayer dollars. Mr. Guerrero announced in a council meeting that he was creating the 'Guerrero Scholarship.' This information was not posted to the agenda, so we had no reason to believe he would possibly violate the Texas State Constitution Article 3, Section 52(a) to award taxpayer dollars for private purposes. Sadly, had these checks gone through, it would have potentially violated the Texas State Constitution and possibly been illegal. To prevent such an error by Mr. Guerrero, the city legal department pulled those checks so they could review the process. Had he asked for direction in the first place, all this could have been avoided. The hard work of these young ladies should not be denied because Mr. Guerrero doesn't know how to do his job. This administration has found a donor to give double the amount these students were promised by Mr. Guerrero. We know that imitation is the best form of flattery, and we hope that others who made such promises will come forward and fulfill their obligation legally."

Guerrero says the money was coming from the $3,600 allotted city budget for his district, which he says he can use at his discretion.

The city mayor told ABC13 the money is taxpayer money and said Guerrero should have asked for direction so this could have been prevented.

According to the Pasadena City Ordinance, the council does have the discretion to authorize donations, but only to tax-exempt organizations for public purposes.

Councilmember Guerrero sent ABC13 a follow-up statement Wednesday evening:

"The last 48 hours have been a whirlwind. Even though I was unable to attend the Tuesday morning meeting I promptly found out about it and began to see what could be done about it. First, my heart goes out to the two young ladies who this has affected. Their hopes have been temporarily crushed, but their spirits are stronger than ever. The funds each council member gets are for "public purpose." This term is very vague at the very least. In recent times, other council members have used this discretionary budget of $3,600 to buy turkeys and deliver them to voters, among donations to HOAs for gift card raffles and other community items (see image on the definition of public purpose). It is important to point out that the City attorney creates the agenda, views it, and approves it. The checks cleared the financial department as well as the legal department. Unfortunately and magically, they were pulled last minute. The city attorney approved this measure twice, yet he cites my inexperience and calls me a junior councilman. The City Attorney approving the measure at every verification, if it is determined that it is faulty, puts his years of experience and skillset in question. The Mayor sets the agenda. So, on various levels, it was a lack of due diligence, experience, and a failure from city leadership to do their job. Further, during a phone call with a reporter the Pasadena city attorney Jay Dale said 'these checks are for citizens' so what is he trying to say about these Latina girls and their families?"

As for the two original scholarship recipients the mayor confirms will both be receiving $1000 from a generous donor and not taxpayer money.

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