San Elizario Faces Serious Questions After Alleged Fabricated Proposal Surfaces

According to documents obtained by El Paso Political Blog, the City of San Elizario is facing troubling allegations involving what appears to be a fabricated response to a Request for Proposal (RFP) for social media and digital marketing services. The documents - released through an open records request - suggest that someone within city government may have created and submitted a fake proposal using the name and branding of a local marketing firm without its knowledge or consent.

In an email included in the records, Gina Roe-Davis, Owner and Founder of Rave Marketing and Events, states unequivocally that her company did not submit the proposal attributed to her firm. She goes on to say that the unauthorized use of Rave’s name and logo “constitutes unauthorized use of my company’s trademark and logo, amounting to trademark infringement and false designation of origin. Furthermore, by fabricating and submitting a proposal falsely attributed to my company, the City of San Elizario has engaged in fraudulent misrepresentation and potential forgery.”

If accurate, Roe-Davis’s claims could give rise to civil action. It is unclear, however, whether the alleged conduct could extend into criminal territory - an issue likely to hinge on who created the allegedly fraudulent documents and with what intent.

What is clear is that the trio of proposals released by the city - purportedly from three separate El Paso-area marketing firms - raised immediate red flags. All three were only a single page in length, an extreme rarity in professional procurement processes. None listed a point of contact. And all three featured logos that appeared pixelated or low-resolution, inconsistent with materials marketing professionals typically use.

After reviewing the proposals, El Paso Political Blog reached out directly to each of the firms listed. All three confirmed they had never submitted a proposal to the City of San Elizario. In other words, all three documents appear to have been fabricated.

The documents can be dowloaded and reviewed by clicking here, here, and here. 

This discovery raises two central questions for the City of San Elizario: why were fake proposals created, and at whose direction?

Those questions may be addressed - at least in part - during an emergency city council meeting scheduled for Monday, previously reported by El Paso Matters. The agenda for that meeting suggests a situation with potentially far-reaching implications.

One key item involves an employee slated for discussion in executive session. Notably, the agenda also includes a separate item specifically discussing whether the mayor should be present for that portion of the meeting. Excluding a mayor from executive session requires a clear and compelling reason, suggesting significant internal friction or concerns about the mayor’s involvement or proximity to the issue.

Another item - this one placed on the agenda by the mayor - calls for the removal of the city’s current legal counsel. On the same agenda appears an issue related to a breach of the mayor’s city email account, discussions of a former employee, and, strikingly, a proposal to waive attorney-client privilege so that certain matters can be discussed publicly.

The combination of these items - fake proposals using local businesses’ identities, questions about internal access and authority, legal counsel upheaval, and the potential public disclosure of privileged information - points to a rapidly escalating situation inside San Elizario’s city government.

Monday’s meeting is poised to be a consequential one, carrying implications not only for the officials involved but for the city’s governance, transparency, and legal exposure.