José Menéndez has a successful record of using his office to keep developers happy and further the interests of Stewart Title, a title insurance company.
José Menéndez attended numerous Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs Board meetings and personally advocated for 10 projects, pleading for millions of dollars in tax credits. All 10 of those projects won government waivers and the funding he seeked, and the developers involved then spent hundreds of thousands of dollars with his employer, Stewart Title.
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State Legislator & Business Executive, successfully secured preferential treatment and government incentives for pet projects, lining employer's pockets with taxpayer's money.
Summary:
San Antonio Politician,
Vice President / Senior Business Development Officer at
Stewart Title
Current:
"His dual role as a lawmaker who works on behalf of affordable-housing developers and an executive whose company counts as a client of one of the largest and most successful firms in the industry raises questions about potential conflicts of interest."
About me:
José Menéndez
Experience:
Values:
José Menéndez spoke out against San Antonio’s tree ordinance that
protects our aquifer, cuts down on smog and stopped the mass cutting of trees by developers.
Accomplishments:
Cevallos Lofts
$155,842
Bottom line:
-Stewart Title made $35,492 on title insurance for Cevallos Lofts when NRP received the property in 2007, and $120,350 when the Cevallos Development Corporation signed a partnership with San Antonio Housing Trust Public Facility Corp.
AFTER THE TDHCA BOARD DENIED RECOMMENDATION OF THE PROJECT,
JOSÉ MENÉNDEZ AND HIS BUSINESS PARTNERS FOUGHT UNTIL FINALLY FORCING THE BOARD INTO GRANTING $7 MILLION IN STIMULUS FUNDING TO THE PROJECT.
Sutton Homes
Bottom line:
IF ONLY JOSÉ MENÉNDEZ WOULD ADVOCATE FOR SAN ANTONIO
THE WAY HE DOES FOR HIS BUSINESS INTERESTS.
Four Seasons @ Clear Creek
-José Menéndez spoke at the 6/28/08 meeting in favor of a Fort Worth-area project by NRP Development, which was on appeal.
-José Menéndez had no other connection than through NRP.
-Stewart Title received $105,000. and a representative of the NRP Group was also there to advocate. In 2010, they received $5,365,000 in TCAP (stimulus) loans.
Bottom line:
JOSÉ MENÉNDEZ'S COMMITMENT TO HIS BUSINESS INTERESTS DOESN'T END AT HIS DISTRICT'S LINES.
HIS ADVOCACY FOR THIS PROJECT IN FORT WORTH RESULTED IN A $105,000 PAYDAY FOR STEWART TITLE AND BUSINESS PARTNER NRP RECEIVED OVER $5 MILLION IN STIMULUS LOANS.
