Mission council meets with Mike Perez after action on city manager’s contract

Mike Perez, a well known former city manager of several Rio Grande Valley municipalities, spoke with Mission City Council Monday just two weeks after council approved some sort of undisclosed agreement related to current City Manager Randy Perez’s contract.

Randy Perez didn’t attend Monday’s council meeting. According to the city, he’s taking time off for a trip.

Council spoke with Mike Perez behind closed doors in executive session during a conversation on personnel issues.

Council took no action following the discussion.

After the meeting, both Mike Perez and Mayor Norie Gonzalez Garza declined to elaborate on that chat, though Gonzalez didn’t rule out the chance that Mike Perez could be replacing Randy Perez.

“Is it a possibility?” Garza said. “You know, I’m not sure where the chips are gonna fall, but certainly it is — it wouldn’t be impossible.”

Randy Perez didn’t comment on Monday’s meeting except to note that he didn’t attend.

On February 27 council voted to approve an agreement related to Randy Perez’s contract.

It is still not clear what the council agreed on. An open records request asking for that agreement and any related documents turned up nothing, and Gonzalez said Monday that documents still haven’t been finalized.

“As soon as we get formal execution of whatever kind of documents that our attorney’s working on, then we can certainly let you know what’s going on,” she said.

In December, in the middle of a financial controversy about liquidity issues at the city, Randy Perez announced his retirement and then rescinded it days later.

The city finally appeared to have put the liquidity controversy behind it by late February when City Attorney Victor Flores suddenly resigned, characterizing the decision as mutually amicable and being motivated by the job’s demands on his personal time.

The decision didn’t relate to the liquidity controversy, Flores said.

It’s doubtful anyone in Hidalgo County has quite the amount of city manager experience Mike Perez can bring to the table.

He’s perhaps best known for his 21-year run as McAllen’s city manager, which ended in 2014.

At various times he’s served as city manager of Harlingen, Mercedes and Weslaco, working for a stint as Hidalgo’s interim city manager and advising the Peñitas Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone in 2021.

Currently Mike Perez works as a consultant on special projects for Hidalgo County.

“I’ve known Mike Perez for a very, very long time. Forever. And he did a great job in McAllen,” Gonzalez said.

In late 2014 Mike Perez signed on as city manager in Weslaco.

The city was in crisis — plagued by controversy and scandal.

Weslaco hired Mike Perez to fix its problems. By all appearances, he accomplished that goal over the next seven years, earning himself praise and a reputation as a successful reformer.

“He’s just top notch,” Hidalgo County Judge Richard F. Cortez said Tuesday. “You just can’t find any better than Mike as far as knowledge and skill. He’s been through all the crises — he’s dealt with civil service issues; he’s dealt with emergencies. I mean, you just can’t find anybody with more experience than Mike.”