PRESIDIO — On Monday afternoon, the Presidio City Council appointed two members from within its ranks to serve 60-day temporary terms on the Presidio Municipal Development District (PMDD). Mayor Pro Tempore Christian Montoya and Councilmember Bianca Martinez Bailon will help the taxing entity fulfill a quorum for the next two months after former Board President Patricia Runyan and Treasurer Juanita Bishop were abruptly removed from the board at last week’s meeting without discussion or explanation.
Last Wednesday morning, PMDD Executive Director John Kennedy addressed county officials during the public comment section of last week’s commissioners court meeting. The week prior, he alleged that Bishop, her husband and a Presidio County Sheriff’s Office deputy entered the PMDD office without board authorization and he would be pursuing legal action. (Bishop, reached by phone that morning, said she had entered the office with a key to grab materials she needed to meet a looming budget deadline.)
In a formal letter shared with the The Big Bend Sentinel, Kennedy said that Bishop’s conduct “raise[d] serious legal and ethical concerns including but not limited to abuse of authority under color of official capacity, potential civil rights violations, breach of fiduciary duty and violation of PMDD governance norms [and] unlawful entry and/or trespass by third parties under the direction of an elected official.” (Bishop declined to comment further for this week’s issue because she was in the process of retaining legal counsel.)
PMDD is a taxing entity that skims a small percentage of sales tax off purchases made in Presidio with the goal of boosting local economic development. The laws governing its structure is laid out in the Texas Local Government Code. The PMDD board has seen a lot of shakeups over the past few years. It was almost completely reorganized after controversy over board leadership at the beginning of 2023 and has suffered numerous abrupt resignations since then.
Kennedy got involved with the board in an advisory role in 2024 before taking the reins as executive director, a paid position. In addition to proposing green infrastructure goals for the city, he’s helped to spearhead a project that could bring a geothermal power plant to Presidio — “the most significant economic development opportunity in the region’s modern history,” he wrote in a press release for The Sentinel in May.
In this week’s editorial section, former PMDD President Patricia Runyan outlines a number of her concerns, including serious allegations of nepotism, corruption and improper use of taxpayer funds. (Kennedy’s response is also included on page 5. “This past week [Juanita] Bishop and I were simply trying to do the necessary work of oversight and proper financial management,” Runyan wrote. “In no manner did we ever challenge Mr. Kennedy about his actions in such a way as to justify his subsequent behavior towards Judge Bishop and myself.”
At Monday’s meeting, Kennedy explained that rebuilding the board to fulfill quorum requirements couldn’t wait — the board was in the middle of finalizing agreements for the geothermal project. “I think we all agree that it’s very important that we get the right people on this board,” he said.
Montoya and Bailon will serve for 60 days to keep board business moving along, at which point they can choose to apply to fill one of the three seats with unexpired terms. The city will be seeking applicants from the greater community. Interested applicants must be a resident of the City of Presidio for at least six months and must be eligible to vote.
