The City Council voted in favor of affirming restrictions of Mayor Johnny Rodriguez Jr.’s keycard access to the Justice Center pending an investigation.
BALCONES HEIGHTS, Texas — Tensions flared during Monday night’s Balcones Heights City Council meeting as incumbent Mayor Johnny Rodriguez Jr. sat in the spotlight of scrutiny following allegations of misconduct.
Rodriguez, who’s running unopposed in the May 2 election, is accused of abusing his authority, yelling at fellow officials and threatening to fire city employees. The mayor stressed he’s the one being unjustly crucified for his leadership style and attempts at bringing prosperity to the city of more than 2,500 people. Rodriguez first served as mayor of Balcones Heights from 2000 to 2002.
The Balcones Heights City Council ended up voting 3-2 to further restrict Rodriguez from being granted keycard access to the municipal Justice Center and City Hall while the misconduct investigation is carried out.
“I’m running up the hill with a saber in my hand and I’m going ‘charge, charge.’ I look back, nobody’s there. Help me, help you because I’m getting tired,” Rodriguez said. “I’ve followed the rule of the local government code under general law A. This is not my first rodeo and this is not the first time I’ve had aggression and all the ugly things that have been done to me.”
District 3 City Councilmember Jimmy Hernandez sought legal guidance from the Texas Municipal League as it relates to exploring the action of restricting Rodriguez’s ability to access the Justice Center.
“The council concluded that we have a duty to protect our employees and to prevent any possible retaliation. We therefore moved forward with a resolution, 2026-11, temporarily restricting the mayor from contacting employees and limiting his access to secure not public areas at the Justice Center. The goal was to put reasonable boundaries in place until an independent third party investigation could be completed, especially because he does not office here at the Justice Center, his office is located at the Wonderland of the Americas.
Hernandez reflected on one alleged interaction Rodriguez had with a city official.
“On at least one occasion, he stormed into the city administrator’s office and raised his voice at her despite the council’s clear direction. Because of that I wanted to make sure that I sought that legal counsel,” Hernandez said.
During the city council meeting, Hernandez recalled that Balcones Heights Police Chief Roger Cavazos called him on March 3 and revealed two of his senior officers had submitted resignation letters in response to Rodriguez allegedly targeting them after the council approved the Mark 43 public safety system, which the mayor opposed.
“According to the chief, the mayor had directed the city administrator to issue written disciplinary actions to those officers for speaking with me, encouraging my support for the agenda item,” Hernandez said.
Rodriguez has pushed back against the accusations, denying wrongdoing and criticizing the council’s actions as politically motivated. He argues the proposed restrictions would interfere with his ability to lead and carry out city business.
Among the cascade of verbal spats in response to criticisms of his leadership, Rodriguez questioned the legal expertise and motivations of City Attorney Cynthia Trevino as it relates to actions to limit his authority. He also scrutinized the ethics behind Councilmember Hernandez hiring a stripper for the entertainment of Mayor Pro-Tempore Jack Burton, to which Hernandez affirmed that had nothing to do with trying to win over anyone’s vote.