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Harlingen resident alleges easement transfer and conflict of interest affecting family farm
Summary
At the Nov. 13 joint meeting a Harlingen resident, Diana Padilla, told commissioners she and neighbors face potential loss of land and value after an easement transfer; she said the transfer and a $40,000 planned waterway widening would benefit developer Leonard Simmons and alleged conflict of interest involving city staff and the mayor's family.
At the Nov. 13 joint meeting of the Harlingen City Commission and Planning and Zoning Commission, Diana Padilla used the citizen-communication period to describe a longstanding dispute over irrigation easement rights affecting her family's 75-acre organic farm on Morris Road. Padilla said the matter has progressed to court, including a hearing on an injunction and a temporary restraining order.
Padilla said the dispute began when "mister Leonard Simmons took part in a decision to transfer easement rights over our property to the city based on a 1912 law that created a regional blanket easement for the irrigation rights." She told commissioners the transfer enabled the developer to use easement rights for a subdivision and avoid constructing a detention pond on his property, while the Padilla family has lost land and value. Padilla also alleged a conflict of interest, saying a former city engineer, Andy Vixto, designed the subdivision and now works for a company (Choice Developers) owned by Simmons, and that the then-mayor's wife is Simmons' sister.
Padilla disputed the city's claim (as she recounted it) that the area floods and that surveyors were denied access; she said her property is on higher ground and that neighbors have provided evidence that their land does not flood. She urged the city not to spend taxpayer money on the waterway enlargement (Padilla said a $40,000 allocation would benefit Simmons) and warned the family may have to pursue a condemnation lawsuit if the city proceeds and the land is later returned to them by the courts.
Transcript records show Padilla raised these allegations during citizen communication; the meeting record does not include a direct on-the-record reply from city staff during that segment. The claim that the city attorney "said we denied access and they need access because our area floods" was made by Padilla as a recounting of what city counsel said at a court hearing; the transcript does not include a recorded rebuttal from the city within the citizen-comment segment.
Next steps and context: Padilla said a court hearing on an injunction and temporary restraining order took place the same day and indicated legal proceedings are in progress. Commissioners moved on to the consultant presentation and the public-hearing agenda items; the transcript does not record any immediate administrative action by the commission in response to Padilla's statements.
