Audit Shows “Excessive” Gas Card Use by City Reps in OTHER Years

According to the El Paso Internal Chief Auditor, new audits show the same two city representatives “excessively” used their city-issued fuel cards in years before 2023.

The gas expenditures by City Rep. Cassandra Hernandez and former Rep. Claudia Rodriguez came to light following an audit last year. Now, the same city auditor says further audits reveal the same two representatives outspent their city council peers in 2020 and 2021 as well.

Internal Chief Auditor Edmundo Calderon says an audit shows that Hernandez spent $4,839.64 in 2020 and 2021 while Rodriguez spent $5,523.74. Former Rep. Rodriguez isn’t saying too much publically. But Rep. Hernandez, who is running for mayor, fired back calling the audit “politically motivated”.

After interviewing Cassandra Hernandez and self-appointed “Watchdog” Max Grossman, I’m still left with questions.

1.)   Was there a limit on how much the gas card could be used?

2.)   How do these representatives compare to the rest of the council?

It was and still is my understanding that there WAS NO limit on how much the cards could be used. However, Representative Hernandez told KFOX-14 that her gas expenses were below the annual allowance. But, if there was no limit, how did Hernandez stay under that limit? Was there ever a limit? If so, why did it take an audit to show the purported excessive use? Some of you might be lucky enough to have a company expense card. Don’t most of those “self-report” if you go over the limit. That’s how it works for the people I work with.  If you exceed whatever the limit is, the card freezes until the next period.

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As far as the second question, how do those compare to other council members…it’s hard to get a good read on it. The more recent audit shows that the THIRD most prolific gas-card-user was Rep. Alexsandra Annello at $3,127.70 for the same period. That’s a difference of between $1,400 and $2,400 respectively. It’s a good chunk of change but without knowing what all the City Council reps made. I think a good move would be for the auditor to reveal how much EACH representative put on their taxpayer-funded cards.

Cassandra Hernandez, the mayoral hopeful, says this is all a political hit job. “The Chairman of the FOAC (Calderon) has mayoral aspirations”, Hernandez told KFOX. That, she says, is why the auditor is targeting her.

Auditor Calderon says the audits are part of the normal process. He points to the part of the audit that shows both Reps. Hernandez and Rodriguez both used their cards to purchase fuel on consecutive days. Meaning, how far are you driving that you have to gas up two days in a row?

The audit also shows that Hernandez, the candidate for mayor, made fuel purchases using her card on the SAME day four times during 2020 and 2021.  Also, the new audit shows that on January 25, 2021, Hernandez used her card to make two different purchases. The purchases, for different amounts, both happened at 6:20 p.m. on 1-25-21.

The audit also shows that former Rep. Rodriguez regularly purchased different types of fuel using the same card.

It sounds sort of like…perhaps…the two Reps. were filling up more than one vehicle. But, LOTS of people have more than one vehicle. Was there any rule saying they COULDN’T use the cards for different vehicles?

All of this kind of becomes a moot point if it’s true that no one sets a limit on how much could be purchased or how often. I mean, somebody has to come in first in second.