A city contracted towing company has been putting drivers and police officers in danger, and some say the city council is to blame.
The City of San Antonio requires contracted towing companies to arrive at the scene of an accident within 30 minutes.
However, according to city records, Assured Towing has left drivers stranded longer than 30 minutes more than 300 times this year.
That is if the towing service showed-up at all. On dozens of calls, records show Assured Towing was a "no show" or simply "refused" to come.
"Our main concern is the response time,” said San Antonio Police Chief William McManus. “It's a public safety matter. It puts too many people in danger when they have to be out there for an extended period of time standing along the side of the highway."
"They are not protecting our residents,” said Councilman Phillip Cortez. “They are not doing what they are supposed to do."
However, if council members did what their staff recommended them to do, the city wouldn't be in this mess.
Why did the council choice Assured Towing against its own staff's advice? The I-team followed the money trail.
Less than six months after the city awarded Assured Towing a contract, Cortez received a campaign contribution from Mark Hull, the Vice President of Assured Towing.
Cortez also received contributions from Jorge Herrera, Assured Towing's attorney, and so did Councilman Justin Rodriguez and former Councilwoman Lourdes Galvan.
Also within six months of awarding the contract, more money poured into Rodriguez's, Galvan's, and Councilwoman Mary Alice Cisneros' campaign. This time from attorney Gerardo Menchaca or his law firm, Bozada P.C.. Menchaca is a registered lobbyist for Assured Towing.
In fact, every council member who voted to give Assured Towing a contract, including former Mayor Phil Hardberger, received campaign money in the past two and a half years from someone directly connected with Assured Towing.
"Council members just need to be careful, not only on this contract, but all contracts that we have the appearance of objectivity as well as actually having objectivity on contracts," said Councilman John Clamp
Councilman Clamp was one of only four council members last October who voted against giving Assured Towing the city towing contract for the west zone.
Based upon the city's staff evaluation, Assured Towing should have been given the east zone, but at the last minute, the city council voted to switch zones
Assured Towing was given the larger and more lucrative west zone, despite a lower evaluation score than its competition.
"It is theft,” said Mitra Kermani, the owner of Allied Towing.
Her company scored higher than Assured Towing but was awarded a smaller zone.
"I was robbed," she said.
Councilwoman Cisneros proposed the switch. She said she didn't like the way her staff scored the companies, and said Assured Towing was the most qualified company to handle the west zone.
“Our decision was based on experience, on background, (and) on qualifications," said Cisneros.
However, in the first nine months on the job, Assured Towing has proven to be anything but qualified to handle the larger zone, and the San Antonio Police Department says it's become a safety issue.
The I-Team obtained several emails written by police officers to the city complaining about Assured Towing.
One officer wrote, "This is very dangerous for the officers out in the field … something needs to be done before somebody gets seriously hurt."
Assured Towing issued the I-Team a written statement in which the company stated it "suffered from staffing shortages and equipment failure that sometimes caused delayed service."
The current city council suspended Assured Towing for three weeks in October.
During that time, Allied Towing had to fill-in and did it on-time.
City council members adamantly deny campaign contributions influenced their towing contract decisions, but admit there are concerns about Assured Towing’s performance.
Despite these concerns, this month the city put Assured Towing back on the street.
Members of the current city council said they will be keeping a close eye on Assured Towing, and if the company cannot correct the problems that led to its suspension, termination of its towing contract will be considered.
