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Council member Emmanuel Guerrero created the “Guerrero Scholarship”, which originally would have been worth $500 for each scholarship from his district’s funds to go to two Pasadena High School students.
The City of Pasadena is providing double the amount of two scholarships through a partnership with a private donor after the scholarships were canceled last week.
Emmanuel Guerrero, the youngest city council member to serve in Pasadena’s history and the first Latino to serve District C, created the “Guerrero Scholarship”, which originally would have been worth $500 for each scholarship from his district’s funds to go to two Pasadena High School students.
Guerrero said that while he was out of town, the city attorney canceled the funds. Earlier this week, he said he had plans to bring up this matter at city council next Tuesday.
“Pasadena has a history of sweeping things like this under the rug. And no, first of all, let’s identify this as a problem. This should not be accepted, nor will it be accepted moving forward,” he said. “And I plan to call it out, and I will continue to push for these checks because I gave those young ladies my word that they would have them.”
On Monday, the city said the matter had been sent to Pasadena’s legal department for more research. Guerrero said he was disappointed by the lack of transparency and said this was “targeted”.
“There has been no clarification from legal, or from any other department, or communication, had another council member not communicated this to me,” he said, adding that it was disrespectful to council members and the community.
According to the Texas Municipal League, gratuitous donations or gifts by a city are prohibited by the Texas Constitution. On Wednesday afternoon, Mayor Jeff Wagner released a statement where he said the administration found a donor that will double the originally promised amount the two students would receive.
The full statement can be read below:
“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 full their obligation legally.”
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