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Bojorquez says Bastrop leadership is ‘a house divided’
BASTROP — Citing irreconcilable differences among the city’s leaders, the Bojorquez Law Firm has ended its association with Bastrop and managing partner Alan Bojorquez will no longer act as the city attorney.
“Given the current climate at City Hall, I have determined our present relationship is not sustainable. It is my hope that you can benefit from different legal representation,” Bojorquez wrote in his resignation letter dated Nov. 25.
City Council accepted the resignation at its Dec. 10 meeting. Bojorquez’s last official day serving Bastrop will be Dec. 31.
“I am dismayed we’re losing the caliber of legal services the Bojorquez Law Firm has provided to the city since 2017,” said Mayor Lyle Nelson. “The integrity and professionalism with which Mr. Bojorquez has led the City Attorney’s Office will be difficult to replicate going forward. (He) will be missed.”
Nelson said the firm has represented the city on many issues, including real-estate acquisitions, land-use and development deals, charter elections and a backlog of lawsuits from before the firm was hired.
Lately, however, embattled council members seemed to be calling upon the city attorney to arm them against each other, according to City Hall observers.
Bojorquez recently was asked by one council member and the mayor to draft an ordinance calling for sanctions against City Manager Sylvia Carrillo- Trevino. Other council members objected to the ordinance and questioned the attorney during a meeting, virtually dragging him into the conflict.
Bojorquez cited the difficulty of representing a city where leadership is a “configuration of fragmented relationships that have yielded a house divided,” and said the situation has put him and his firm in an untenable position.
“Bastrop is engaged in a transition that is best left to proceed without my staff’s involvement (and without me overseeing your legal matters),” he wrote. “The time has come to redirect our energies and allow you the opportunity to continue upon your trajectory without us.”
The Bojorquez Law Firm specializes in municipal law with 24 attorneys representing 65 local government clients, mostly other cities.
In the years Bojorquez has worked with Bastrop, his firm has provided legal guidance through leadership changes that included five city managers, four police chiefs, two mayors and three mayors pro tem.
The firm also worked with the city through fires, floods and the pandemic.
“Serving Bastrop the last seven years has definitely been a highlight of my career,” the attorney said. “I have great fondness for this organization and for the community and I’m proud of all the work that we’ve done together.”
He added, “I think we’re at a point where the relationship has sort of run its course and perhaps it’s time for y’all to have some new representation, and I’ll go off and serve other communities and y’all recruit someone new to guide you. I appreciate all the support I’ve received the last seven years.”
The council directed Carrillo- Trevino to start searching for a new city attorney, and to coordinate services between the Bojorquez Law Firm and a yet-to-be-named interim city attorney to provide for the transition of legal services.
