Cameron County Good Government League v. Ramon

• Decision Date: 04 June 1981
• Docket Number: No. 8627,8627
• Parties: CAMERON COUNTY GOOD GOVERNMENT LEAGUE, et al., Appellants, v. Ray RAMON, et al., Appellees.
• Court: Texas Court of Appeals

Page 224

619 S.W.2d 224

CAMERON COUNTY GOOD GOVERNMENT LEAGUE, et al., Appellants, v. Ray RAMON, et al., Appellees.

No. 8627.

Court of Civil Appeals of Texas, Beaumont.

June 4, 1981.

Rehearing Denied July 9, 1981.

Orrin W. Johnson, Jim Denison, Paul C. Greenwood, Harlingen, for appellants.

E. R. Fleuriet, Brendan J. Hall, Jr., Harlingen, Hector Yznaga, Brownsville, Mary Joe Carroll, Austin, for appellees.

DIES, Chief Justice.

Plaintiffs below, Cameron County Good Government League, Gustavo Barrera, and Orrin W. Johnson sued Cameron County Judge Ray Ramon, and others, as defendants, for injunctive and declaratory relief. Plaintiffs alleged various violations (hereafter discussed) by the Cameron County Commissioners' Court. Trial was to the court, without a jury. After plaintiffs rested their case in chief and without hearing any evidence from defendants, the court granted defendants' motions for judgment. From this judgment, plaintiffs have perfected this appeal. The parties herein will generally be referred to as they were below or by name.

In a written opinion, the trial court, while finding many of the acts of the Commissioners' Court were "ill advised," found that plaintiffs failed in their burden of proving such orders were not reasonably supported by substantial evidence.

In a non-jury trial, when the plaintiff rests, the defendant may move for judgment, and the court applies to such motion the same rules which would determine the propriety of instructing a jury to return a verdict. Casey v. Sanborn's, Inc. of Texas, 478 S.W.2d 234, 236 (Tex.Civ.App. Houston (1st Dist.) 1972, no writ); 4 R. McDonald, Texas Civil Practice § 16.04 (rev.1971). Plaintiffs, therefore, are entitled to the most favorable construction that the evidence they produced will bear and to the benefit of all reasonable inferences arising therefrom. Rhinetubes, Inc. v. Norddeutscher Lloyd, 335 S.W.2d 269 (Tex.Civ.App. Houston 1960, writ ref'd n. r. e.); Evans v. Houston Printing Corporation, 217 S.W.2d 85 (Tex.Civ.App. Galveston 1948, writ ref'd n. r. e.).

Basically, plaintiffs contend defendants violated statutory requirements or failed to observe specifications required in the following categories:

1. In including Comprehensive Employment and Training Administration Employees (CETA) in a county group insurance contract without first seeking competitive bids.

2. In awarding a contract for the purchase of caliche road material in violation of county specifications.

3. In holding meetings of the Commissioners' Court in violation of the Texas Open Meetings Act, Tex.Rev.Civ.Stat.Ann. art. 6252-17 (1970).

4. In purchasing four fire trucks without full compliance with the competitive bidding requirements.

C.E.T.A. Group Insurance Award

On August 27, 1979, the Cameron County Commissioners' Court ("Court") awarded a group insurance contract covering the county's Comprehensive Employment and Training Administration ("CETA") employees to defendant Occidental Life Insurance Company ("Occidental"). The other county employees were covered previously by Occidental. The Court extended the contract to the CETA employees because the County Judge said it had been the Court's intention to include all county employees under the health insurance for employees. CETA is a federally funded Manpower Training Agency of the county under regulations of the Department of Labor requiring, among other things, competitive bidding of contracts.

Selden Snedeker, the District Attorney for Cameron County, testified he informed the Commissioners' Court that the competitive bidding law requires that the contract bid be given to the lowest responsible bidder. After this particular contract bid was accepted, he advised the Court to "rebid the contract."

He also advised the County Judge that the county must comply with the "procurement statute." The County Judge responded that the contract had already been let.

Charles Willette, attorney for CETA in August 1979, testified he advised rejecting all the bids and rebidding the entire health plan with the CETA employees added on it. He saw a letter from the district attorney to the County Judge stating that if the CETA insurance bid exceeded ten thousand dollars which he knows it did to follow government bidding requirements. He definitely advised that if the CETA employees were not included in the first bid "that definitely the group policy should be rebid, period. And, that is exactly what P-X 81 says...."

The August 27, 1979, meeting of the Court minutes reflect it had been the Court's intention to include all county employees under the health insurance for employees, and, since Manpower employees (CETA) were not regarded as county employees, they should not be included.

Kenneth Lieck County Purchasing Agent said that in the bid package for group and health insurance, CETA employees were not included. Prior to CETA employees inclusion in the Occidental policy CETA employees were covered by another policy and the "CETA staff was satisfied with their policy."

D. J. Lerma, County Commissioner, testified that when Occidental was given the award for inclusion of CETA employees, it was done without a bid.

Michael Puckett, County Treasurer and Chairman of the Insurance Committee, said that in 1979 the committee recommended Blue Cross-Blue Shield, but that the Court chose Occidental which was the highest bidder. He also felt that the bid specifications were designed for Occidental's plan.

Bill Posey also testified that Occidental was the highest bidder in 1980, but received the bid. He said that including the CETA employees should help make the rates lower and had their 1979 bid included CETA employees their bid would have been lower.

Daniel Downs was Director of Personnel with CETA in 1976. He testified he resigned because the award to Occidental was "without advertising for bids."

Caliche

The 1979 county bid specifications required, with respect to bank run ("Item B") caliche material, that it shall be screened, and oversize shall be crushed and returned to the screen material again in such manner than a uniform product will be produced. "Item A" caliche material was required by county specifications to pass through a one and three-fourths inch sieve or screen.

Plaintiffs produced much evidence to show irregularities in the purchase of caliche for the county roads.

Jack Langley, a laboratory owner, tested caliche from the pit which supplied the county. He said the county's specifications called for "a more refined product," which this was not. The evidence shows that two types of caliche were purchased, A and B.

Jessie W. Gothard, a lab technician, tested the caliche and testified, "B passed and A didn't." He further said, "It was out on the No. 40 sift."

Julia Monsees cast doubt on the quality and size of the caliche saying, "It looked more like sand and huge boulders." The witness put reflectors on the road because of an accident when a lady hit a large boulder. The witness recounted another accident where a man hit a boulder which turned over his vehicle.

John Frank Phillips, Jr., prior General Manager for Valley Materials Transport and acquainted with caliche, explained the necessity of putting crushed and uniform caliche on a road, and the danger of failing to do so. He inspected some county roads and was not satisfied with the caliche he saw. Examining the county specifications, he concluded some of this caliche did not conform to the specifications. He went through several tests reported by laboratories on caliche and found that they all failed when compared to the county specifications.

Mr. Luis De La Rosa, a realtor, testified to many large rocks on "Breedlove Road." They were not crushed. He had experience with caliche crusher.

Daniel T. Hinojosa testified that the caliche account with Cameron County was indeed substantial in sum of money.

David Crowder, reporter for the Brownsville Herald, inspected the "Monsees Road" and saw a large number of rocks "which could not pass a one and three-quarter inch screen."

David Gelfer inspected a county road and found many large caliche rocks on it. He said, "I've been over that road and some other roads in that area and it's a fair accurate description of the roads in that area that I've been over."

John L. Boughton also had observed large rocks on the roads that had not been crushed.

Adolfo De La Fuente also inspected two county roads and saw rocks which had not passed through a one and three-quarter inch screen.

Raul Tijerina, Jr., a rancher and co-owner of the pit from whence the county caliche came, testified, "The material ... supplied ... was uncrushed and unscreened...."

Daniel P. Hinojosa, a partner in the firm which sold the caliche to Cameron County, admitted the material was not crushed. He said, "I've never seen a crusher." He also admitted delivering some wet caliche to the county (which weighs more per yard).

The county auditor testified that from April 30, 1979, until March 1980 the supplier of the caliche was paid $474,964.38 for type A and B. He said federal guidelines require compliance by state officials with state law in using federal funds.

Mr. O'Bell of the County Judge's office stated in one of the Court meetings that he was aware that number two material being received was not meeting specifications "and that he had let it go on because he knew they were small companies and they needed the business."

Kenneth Lieck, the County Purchasing Agent, testified that under the original specifications only one bidder made the grade; not C & H which got the award for the caliche. He said that in 1979 Cameron County had gone to the consolidated road system. He took some samples from the pit where the county got the caliche for testing. They did not meet specifications.

Gary E. Putt also testified that tests on the county caliche did not meet the county specifications.

Tony Lisaukis, a TV news reporter, showed a video tape he...