County workers show up with bulldozers on day her case was dismissed
PRESIDIO COUNTY — On August 23, Redford resident Barbara Baskin filed a notice to appeal a district court decision that shielded the county against her claims that a pattern of neglect, discrimination and shoddy engineering led to the catastrophic breach of a county-maintained retention pond designed to protect her property from flooding.
On the night of May 27, 2023, floodwaters burst through the dam above her home below Highway 170 and County Road 18, leaving a gap of about 12 feet in the pond wall. Water and debris flowed in from both sides of the road, knocking over Baskin’s gate and submerging her field and her historic adobe home in around 2 feet of water. “Only luck and quick thinking prevented Ms. Baskin and her dog, Lucy, and two mules from being swept away and dying or sustaining severe injuries,” Baskin’s attorney John Sopuch wrote in her lawsuit’s original complaint.
The suit outlines some 13 years of work done by the county on land around her home, including the retention pond — all of which she said was faulty and never maintained properly. She alleges that then-County Judge Cinderela Guevara directed Road and Bridge Director Ruben Carrasco to do maintenance on the pond and adjoining land numerous times, but the work was never done. “Over the course of many years, Carrasco simply ignored multiple direct instructions from county judges and commissioners to make repairs,” Sopuch wrote.
Just two months before the flooding, Baskin was slated to present to the Presidio County Commissioners Court on the status of the retention pond dam. The timing was uncanny –– she was worried about what would happen if a heavy rain sent water rushing down from the Bofecillos Mountains into arroyos that flowed toward her home. Those flood events were supposed to be retained by the pond with a spillway directing water on a path to a historic acequia — an irrigation canal built in the 19th century for farming. County Judge Joe Portillo pulled the presentation from the agenda for lack of time, Baskin said, and later wouldn’t return calls to reschedule.
Baskin told The Big Bend Sentinel that in the months after the flooding, no county officials reached out to her to see how they could address her situation — with the exception of Precinct 2 Commissioner Margarito Hernandez, who visited the site of the flooding but didn’t have any quick fixes. Since Baskin filed the suit on October 31, 2023, county officials said they couldn’t comment on the case.
Under Texas law, counties have immunity from most negligence claims. During a hearing on March 4 before District Judge Roy Ferguson, Presidio County asked for Baskin’s case to be dismissed.
Baskin’s attorney argued that in Baskin’s case there was an exception to immunity because the law allows for some claims on damages involving the operation of motor-driven vehicles. He asked the judge to at least let the case go to discovery to get a better understanding of how bulldozers, backhoes and other motorized equipment played a role in the damages. The county’s attorney, Denis Dennis, argued that case law made very narrow parameters for allowing the exception.
Ferguson ultimately ruled in favor of the county on Tuesday, July 30.
Something else unexpected happened that day. Even before Baskin was notified of the ruling, county bulldozers showed up near the broken dam and got to work, moving dirt along the water’s route toward her house and the acequia. “It looked like they were trying to help,” Baskin said, although she was bewildered because no one from the county had contacted her. It seemed extremely odd to her that the county’s workers had never come to the site in 14 months –– only to show up on the day of her court ruling.
More work was done the next day, and Baskin said it appeared the workers were constructing a large berm to direct water toward the acequia as it should flow. That particular project was never completed –– workers showed up on Thursday, August 1, to retrieve the county equipment. Drone photography of the work appears to show a large gap after the berm where water would then flow directly to Baskin’s house. “It looked like they were doing the right thing, then they left, and now I’m worse off than before,” Baskin said. “If another flood event happens, I’m in trouble.”
Since August 1, no equipment or workers have returned. Baskin suspected that county officials were sending her a message to back off or were taunting her. The Sentinel filed an open records request for Carrasco’s work notes for the week of the ruling along with all emails to or from him and his text messages. The county released the work notes and emails, but has not yet supplied text messages.
On Monday, County Attorney Rod Ponton said that he discovered the work on the drainage was ordered by Commissioner Hernandez. Carrasco wrote in his notes about a phone call with Hernandez and a scheduled Tuesday, August 27 meeting, to “satisfy Baskin[s] illegal requests” and to “do as BB asked.” Baskin said she never asked Commissioner Hernandez or anyone else to do the work.
Carrasco’s Wednesday notes state: “[workers’ initials] to continue in Redford by BB area on instructions given to [workers initials]. [worker initials] said he needs tomorrow too and that he might finish tomorrow.”
Carrasco did not respond to an email for comment. Hernandez did not respond to a call and text asking for comment. If Baskin continues her appeal, it will be heard before the Texas Eighth Court of Appeals in El Paso.
This story was updated on August 29 at 9:45 a.m. to better clarify the exception to immunity information and to add a correction that it was County Judge Joe Portillo who pulled Baskin’s presentation from the Commissioners Court agenda.