PRESIDIO—The executive director of the Presidio Municipal Development District (PMDD) resigned on Wednesday. In his resignation letter, John Kennedy accused members of the PMDD board of conflicts of interest and cited controversy over a recent lawsuit as reasons for his departure.
The PMDD’s mission is to promote economic growth, business development and community improvements in Presidio, and its board members are appointed by the Presidio City Council.
The PMDD board has been plagued by minor scandals for several years. The previous executive director resigned along with the board president in 2023 amid allegations of corruption. Kennedy held the position for three years. He spearheaded a lawsuit against the federal government to compel a flood survey to be completed as a part of the potential border wall construction.
“Recent PMDD Board and City Council actions, including the disrespectful treatment of myself
and other longtime public servants, have led me to conclude that I can no longer continue in this role,” Kennedy wrote in his September 14 resignation letter addressed to PMDD Board President Cristian Montoya, Mayor John Ferguson and City Secretary Brenda Orenelas.
In his letter, Kennedy accused Montoya of holding a conflict of interest between his role on the board and his day job at the QinetiQ, a subcontractor company for the Department of Homeland Security at the aerostat site near Valentine. Montoya also serves as a Presidio City Council member. He denies that there is a conflict of interest. QinetiQ could not be reached by comment on their conflict of interest policies.
“I don’t hold a grudge against John. I truly like the guy,” Montoya said in an interview with Big Bend Sentinel. “He resigned, saying there is a conflict of interest. If there was, why didn’t he bring it up back in February when I made the motion?”
Montoya was referencing a resolution that the district previously passed on March 4 that outlined how the PMDD would be working to protect the public safety of its constituents and its economic interests by authorizing Kennedy to reach out to federal officials, conduct a flood study and seek ways to ensure the city — and particularly Presidio’s levees — would not be negatively impacted by border walls.
Kennedy did initiate those efforts, but he went a step farther by filing a lawsuit from PMDD — along with a nonprofit, Democracy Now — against DHS claiming its plans were a threat to Presidio. The plaintiffs argued the plan could lead to “deadly” flooding in the region if not engineered correctly.
The lawsuit garnered widespread attention with its claims that those federal agencies violated the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 in its plan to construct a border barrier along Presidio’s levee system without consulting with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The federal government responded by waiving the Rivers and Harbors Act in the region.
Montoya and PMDD Board Member Laura Portillo said they were completely surprised by the filing of the lawsuit, something the board did not vote on. Montoya said rescinding the resolution giving Kennedy authority to seek out information on the levees — which occurred in a September 2 meeting — wasn’t a matter of thoughts on the wall, which he said he opposed, but rather the intention was to make sure board members were kept “in the loop.”
“The board received updates throughout this six-month matter, and the litigation has been handled pro bono at no cost to PMDD,” Kennedy told the Sentinel, noting that they had ignored previous memos on potential legal issues and often missed meetings or failed to make a quorum.
Reached via text, Laura Portillo said she did not have time for comment, but in reference to Kennedy said, “Godspeed to what he’d like to traverse next in his future.”
Hydrologists in the area have warned that the confluence of the Rio Grande and Conchos rivers puts Presidio at unique risk of flooding, which may worsen with the border wall catching debris. Communities elsewhere with a border wall have seen an increase in flooding events. No plans for flood mitigation or impact have been released by the Army Corps of Engineers to the general public.
“Protecting Presidio’s flood control infrastructure remains an essential economic development and public safety objective,” Kennedy said in his resignation statement. He encouraged the public to let the board know their feelings about the withdrawal of support of the flood safety resolution.
“We have no plans of stopping the flood survey,” Montoya told the Sentinel.
